founded october 1983 ; 33 years ago 1983 10 glendale california u.s. founder andrew cherng peggy cherng headquarters 1683 walnut grove ave. rosemead california u.s. 1 number of locations 1 900 2016 area served united states puerto rico guam mexico 2 canada south korea united arab emirates products american chinese cuisine revenue 2 billion march 2014 3 number of employees 24 995 2014 4 parent panda restaurant group website pandaexpress.com a stand alone panda express restaurant in oakland california with drive through window a mall food court panda express at ala moana center in hawaii panda express is a fast casual restaurant chain which serves american chinese cuisine . it is the largest asian segment restaurant chain in the united states 5 where it was founded and is mainly located in addition to other countries and territories in north america and asia . panda express restaurants were traditionally located in shopping mall food courts but the chain now operates units in many other environments and formats including stand alone restaurants as well as universities casinos airports military bases and other venues . panda express has over 1 900 restaurants located in 50 u.s. states the district of columbia puerto rico guam canada mexico korea and the united arab emirates . the company does not offer franchises . all units are company owned and operated . the chain offers a variety of chinese cuisine inspired dishes e.g. orange chicken ; firecracker chicken breast ; beijing beef ; grilled teriyaki chicken ; kung pao chicken . combo meals are served with customer s choice of either fried rice steamed rice chow mein or mixed vegetables . no msg is added to any of the items at panda express after it has been delivered to the restaurant nor does panda express purchase from any suppliers who add msg prior to delivery . 6 panda express is headquartered in rosemead california . 7 the panda express brand is a casual fast food variation of corporate sibling and predecessor panda inn a chain of upscale table service restaurants . contents 1 history 2 international 3 overview 4 see also 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links history edit a typical panda express in fort worth texas 2014 the panda restaurant group parent company of panda inn panda express and hibachi san was founded by andrew and peggy cherng and andrew s father master chef ming tsai cherng . 8 andrew cherng and his father are from the yangzhou region of china s jiangsu province while peggy was born in burma and raised in hong kong . 9 both andrew and peggy cherng are alumni of baker university in baldwin city kansas where they first met . 10 11 peggy cherng received her b.s. degree in applied mathematics from oregon state university in 1971 and her m.s. in computer science and ph.d. degree in electrical engineering from the university of missouri columbia . 12 andrew cherng also received his m.s. in mathematics from the university of missouri . 13 in 1973 when andrew s parents moved to the united states andrew went into business with his father and opened their first panda inn restaurant in pasadena california . 9 10 at the beginning business was lacking to the degree that andrew had to offer special deals and freebies so that customers would dine at panda inn . 14 in 1982 peggy joined andrew in the restaurant business . 9 while operating panda inn andrew became acquainted with then ucla head football coach terry donahue as well as terry s brother dan who happened to be in the real estate business . 9 it was because of this connection that in 1983 donahue schriber real estate the manager of the glendale galleria invited the cherngs to develop a fast food version of panda inn for the galleria s food court and panda express was launched that october . 15 a second location was opened two years later at the westside pavilion in 1985 . 16 the chain has steadily expanded across the united states since then . at first panda express restaurants were found solely in food courts in major shopping malls . 9 during the late 1980s and early 1990s the cherngs began experimenting with supermarket based branches through a deal with vons and then stand alone restaurant locations . 9 because peggy had worked for several years as an software designer and engineer for defense contractors like mcdonnell douglas panda express computerized its operations early on . 9 10 peggy also brought a systems analysis perspective to the business and worked through the logistics and standardization issues necessary to scale up the concept . 9 10 in 1997 the company opened its first stand alone drive through restaurant in hesperia california . 17 in 2000 they launched panda cares to give back to the community . they provide funding food and volunteer services to children in need and disaster relief efforts . 18 in 2008 the cherngs were the recipients of the city of angels award given by the lax coastal area chamber of commerce 19 for their contributions to the greater los angeles area . 20 on november 23 2009 it was announced that panda express had selected trusonic to provide asian themed background music to its store locations . 21 on the abc news tv program nightline april 18 2011 there was a feature segment on panda express and its success . the segment described how andrew cherng encourages his workers and management to go through self help programs emphasizing landmark education . 22 in june 2013 it was announced that the restaurant chain will pay 150 000 to settle an equal employment opportunity commission action on behalf of at least three female teenagers who were allegedly sexually harassed between 2007 and 2009 by one male kitchen supervisor in kauai hawaii . 23 in november 2013 panda express opened its first location in the western pacific by opening a location in the american territory of guam . 24 the first location in the state of alaska was opened in december 2015 . 25 as of 2014 the panda restaurant group had annual sales of over 2 billion and close to 25 000 employees . 26 they also opened panda innovation kitchen in pasadena with their daughter peggy cherng overlooking majority of the restaurant s business . 27 the idea for panda innovation kitchen is to experiment with new flavours and ingredients to come up with new menu items . in addition they also opened a tea bar to introduce trendy chinese drinks such as boba milk tea and new innovative drinks like the fortune cookie shake . international edit panda express also operates in mexico canada south korea and united arab emirates . the first location in mexico opened in that nation s capital of the same name in september 2011 . 28 in october 2013 the first panda express located in canada opened its doors on hunt club road in nepean ontario . citation needed the first location in south korea was opened in seoul in september 2014 . 29 on may 26 2014 it was reported by arabian business news that panda express would be opening a restaurant in the united arab emirates . 30 the first panda express restaurant in the middle east was open in dubai in november 2014 . 31 in 2001 panda express previously had 8 locations in japan that were operated under a franchise agreement that has since elapsed . 15 overview edit with approximately 1 700 32 locations it is the largest chinese fast food restaurant chain in the united states . the company s highest revenue location bringing in over us 4 million annually is located at the ala moana center food court in honolulu hawaii . 33 see also edit list of chinese restaurants references edit about us . panda restaurant group . dead link panda express . panda express mexico . the tao of panda panda express chinese restaurant . panda express . dead link the tao of panda panda express chinese restaurant . pandaexpress.com . dead link oches sam 2013 07 29 . the qsr 50 asian segment . qsr magazine . retrieved 2016 05 21 . faq . panda express . panda express does not add msg to any of our entrees or sides and we do not purchase products from suppliers who add msg . however glutamate is found naturally in some ingredients . contact us . panda express . retrieved february 26 2010 . dead link panda restaurant group history . panda restaurant group . dead link a b c d e f g h eng dinah 5 february 2013 . how panda express brings chinese food to the mall . fortune . time inc. retrieved 28 june 2015 . a b c d greenfeld karl taro 18 november 2010 . general tso meet steven covey . bloomberg businessweek . bloomberg l.p. retrieved 28 june 2015 . cherngs honored for contributions in l.a. area pdf . baker pride alumni magazine . baldwin city kansas baker university . spring 2008 . osu alumni fellows 2000 osu honors veterinarian animal nutrition researcher and president of panda management . oregon stater association news . oregon state university . 2000 . dead link profile andrew cherng . fremont college board of advisor . dead link leibowitz ed april 20 2015 . the tao of panda express . los angeles magazine . retrieved 2015 12 10 . a b flanigan james october 8 2001 . cooking up a powerhouse of chinese fast food . los angeles times . p. c1 . hirsch jerry august 25 2008 . panda express owner keeps early years fresh fear of no customers keeps andrew cherng focused at family owned fast food chain . chicago tribune . bruce haring august 9 2004 . panda gains higher visibility for chain amid shift from malls food courts . nation s restaurant news . p. 6 via highbeam research . subscription required help . our family story panda express chinese restaurant . panda express . retrieved 2015 12 10 . lax coastal chamber of commerce home . lax coastal chamber of commerce . dead link andrew and peggy cherng of panda restaurant group receive city of angels award honoring contributions to the los angeles area . business wire press release . february 8 2008 . dead link panda express selects trusonic r to provide in store background music . pr newswire press release . november 23 2009 . berman john & rosenberg sarah april 18 2011 . panda express self help courses and zumba are recipe for success ceo says motivational forums not orange chicken make his business successful . nightline . abc news . panda express agrees to early settlement with equal employment opportunity commission eeoc to resolve sexual harassment suit . u.s. equal employment opportunity commission press release . june 3 2013 . retrieved june 20 2013 via the national law review . panda express expansion continues with guam opening . asian journal . november 28 2013 . caldwell suzanna december 17 2015 . alaska gets its first panda express with 9 more locations in the works . alaska dispatch news . panda restaurant group information page . panda restaurant group . dead link hua vanessa june 8 2015 . how panda express grew from family business to global empire . nbc news . retrieved 2015 12 10 . smith kevin september 8 2011 . panda express expands with new location in mexico city . san gabriel valley tribune . panda express opens in seoul . korea herald . september 5 2014 . sambidge andy 26 may 2014 . gourmet gulf set to launch panda express in uae . arabian business . mattar hattem november 11 2014 . food review panda express from the u.s. now in dubai . scoop empire . bartiromo maria november 2007 . positive thinkers . reader s digest . dead link shimabukuro betty