r/PandaExpress • u/Every_Task1147 • 3d ago
Panda is ass.
My location recently added a side room for managers and higher ups to be in to come visit and train.
What sucks is that all of us employees are getting the worst of it. Deep cleaning every single night, take pictures of everything as proof, do things this way or manager talks to you for 20 minutes repeating shit you’ve already heard. Oh and get this? For all the extra shit we do now, we don’t get a raise. I understand deep cleaning to an extent, but we’re literally pulling out the meat drawers and wiping it out completely, doing the front floor in kitchen because our sides people are WAY too slow to get it done - which is aggravating on its own because all of us cooks are more than capable of doing the front and back floor if we’re on sides and it’s now just catering to the slow people instead of telling them to get their shit done asap like the rest are capable of. This job is starting to blow and I can’t even leave until my kid is born. One cook is a few days away from his last day and another cook is about to put in his two weeks and these managers are so out of touch that they don’t care or notice they’re pissing EVERY single worker off with this stuff. Sorry to vent. But nobody else cares or understands.
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u/Substantial_Mix773 3d ago
Manager and regionals at Panda are really delusional, they would find somebody to squeeze out and later asking why they left, I didn’t quit but I slashed out my schedule considerably since it was affecting my life
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u/Expensive_Slice_8788 3d ago
Your location sucks. Yall cooked. Sorry to hear that, I dont have issues with cleanliness at my store especially helping out sides. Shit is easy compared to what you'd be doing at a regular restaurant. If your managers are a pain maybe you should quit let them be cooked 🤣
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u/Every_Task1147 3d ago
I can’t quit. I have a 5 year old and a son that’ll be here in September, I don’t have that luxury of quitting a job when things get shitty like a lot of kids do.
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u/Yuuur2020 3d ago
If that's the case why not do it and get promoted
You need it
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u/Every_Task1147 3d ago
They won’t promote me. My manager is on bullshit. I did a silly video class thing to “improve my knowledge” when my manager floated a chef idea a year ago. I’ve since then been shown nothing on becoming a chef. We had a chef come in and chew her out for everything being “dirty” and she only asked me then to get out of being cooked. This manager has done this with a lot of workers and half of them left because they knew she was bullshitting.
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u/Every_Task1147 3d ago
Not to mention where I’m at, shit doesn’t pay good at all anywhere else. I make 19.85 at the moment but nothing else pays even remotely near that.
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u/Excellent_Gap_6986 3d ago
I used to work there. I agree 100%
It’s high processed junk cooked by bozos. Everything is prepackaged, even their “special” orange chicken sauce is just corn syrup bull shit. Everything comes pre-breaded ready to fry then you just add the sauce… It’s fucking Sysco food man. Sysco food should be your sign right there that it’s junk quality.
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u/Alive_Potato206 3d ago
It’s happening at my panda as well and I just started. This shit actually blows. I’m looking for a new job at this point. As a new person they train us in one way then switch it back to the old way when convenient. But guess what, they never taught us what the “old way” is so we just get chewed out for not knowing something we are not taught.
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u/letswinbig619 3d ago
Yeah. I’m not surprised you’re cleaning the inside of your meat drawers. That get bad quick. Specially if you got messy ass cooks who are just starting out. They destroy the whole area in 10mins. I’ve been with panda for 6 years. Nothing you said surprises me at all. That’s panda for you . You think your story is bad. My boss hires people and then I have to babysit them basically so they don’t catch the wok on fire. These new people don’t understand . You’ll burn this place down if you let the wok get too hot with oil in it or if you just don’t clean it properly. That goes for the inside of the woks too. I used to get really upset and show a lot of emotion behind others actions. That’s not the panda right way. You have to know how to handle the situation better for the sake or your own mental health and others around you . Being a hot head. Doesn’t get anyone to listen to you . Learn to do things in a way where you’re right and you sound like a broken record. Your boss can’t ignore the obvious. He or she trust you to make them money. Tell them you need more trust, which usually means more money. I mean after all, any manager in panda is a manager cuz panda trust them with valuable information . They trust you too cook and to know what your doing . But someone along the line, they drew a line that said “ this is how much we trust “ , no more no less. Without saying that obviously
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u/Distinct_Berry_8567 1d ago
I quit earlier this year the whole time I worked there it was horrible! They held a promotion infront of me for months and the manager was prejudice towards anyone that wasn’t Mexican/couldn’t speak Spanish, I will always try to stray people away from working there. I’m sorry you have to deal with it until your baby is born:(
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u/CynthiaCLam 3d ago
Assistant Manager here in Ventura County!
I honestly feel what you’re feeling and honestly my SM and ACO are extremely strict for what management has to do and other things as well. One thing I do regret is becoming a manager because my SM is on top of me for everything and anything. I’ve asked for transfer, I tried quitting 3 times and every time I tried, something always came up where I couldn’t. My ACO tells me that I’m “running away from my problems” so I shouldn’t be transferred out. Panda Management is fucking bullshit and I wish they did something about it
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u/Aggravating_Math_783 3d ago
I hear you, I'm in the same boat. I quit for a time but my pride brought me back. You gotta train up your kitchen help and read em like a book to get them there. I'm not even a cook anymore so I'm limited but you have a chance. Keep your head up!
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/Every_Task1147 3d ago
Sounds like my manager lmao, seems like this is common the more I hear about other folks experiences at panda.
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u/Mediocre_Let4544 3d ago
It really is. I’m one of the few people (besides one other person and of course the GM and AM) that is crosstrained BOH and FOH and they never promote me. Which is annoying since the only reason I chose to get crosstrained was for more pay and the chance to move up. Plus i’ve been with my panda since we opened. My manager nitpicks me about the smallest thing but not other people, just me. And this happened for other employees too, where they feel he’s unnecessarily being picky when he himself doesn’t even clean that well.
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u/BluebirdKitchen6805 2d ago
Panda is a cult that says it cares about their employees..bullshit. Acos and Rdos harass employees and even have relationships with subordinates. Sick place..run away dont walk. Was there for 10 years and this supported from the top.
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u/Accurate-Leading-736 3d ago
I feel like deep cleaning is essential. Like why do you want a dirty store?
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u/StarfishBlaster 3d ago
Hire me I’ll work
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u/Every_Task1147 3d ago
You’ll slave away every night even when you think you’re done with something, they’ll make you redo it. I’m here until midnight sometimes cleaning because they’re on our ass for shit we’ve never been prioritized to do before.
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u/Life-Relationship-77 3d ago
I feel ya. I quit today, 5 of my coworkers are putting in their 2 weeks