Panda Restaurant Group, Inc

choi

Tejal Rao, The $3 Billion House That Orange Chicken Built; Panda Inn, the parent of the Panda Express chain, undergoes a renovation. New York Times, Feb 19, 2025, at page D1 (section D was Food).
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/dining/panda-inn.html

Note:
(a)
(i) The report has not been translated int Chinese and shown up in cn.nutimes.com.
(ii) The homeless shelter where I had stayed served orange chicken unlike anything I had as Chinese food. (It tasted terrible. Mushy, not "crunchy.") I thought the dish was an American concoction, and it is, according to this report.  
(b)
(i)
(A) "Tejal (Devanagari: तेजल) is an Indian feminine given name. table: Origin: Sanskrit"  en.wikipedia.org for Tejal.
(B) Sanskrit-English dictionary:
* तेजस् (noun neuter; romanization: téjas): "brilliance"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/तेजस्
(C) official scripts of India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_scripts_of_India
("The official languages of the Indian Union are Hindi and English, whereas the Devanagari script is used to write Hindi and the Latin script is used for English")
(ii) The Indian surname Rao (distributed in southern and western states of India and Orissa) is "found in several communities based on Sanskrit [noun masculine राजा, romanization:] rājā king."


(c) "At Panda Inn, the Pasadena restaurant that started Panda Express [熊猫快餐 in Chinese-speaking economies and katakana for English pronunciation (パンダエクスプレス) in Japan; there are Panda Express restaurant in Japan but not in Taiwan, Hong Kong or China] * * * When the Cherng family opened Panda Inn in 1973 [in Pasadena, Calif, as 聚丰园, whose English name would be Panda Inn], it was a popular Chinese restaurant that catered to the neighborhood. Early menus from the 1970s and '80s included a bone-in tangerine-peel chicken * * * It was a nice, sit-down restaurant that also did a bit of takeout and catering. It appealed to local families, but also local developers, who asked the owners to come up with a restaurant concept for the expansion of the Glendale Galleria mall. That restaurant was Panda Express.   Panda Express developed its orange chicken in 1987and, depending on whom you ask, the dish was either the natural evolution of tangerine-peel chicken or a lightning invention of Andy Kao [I fail to find his Chinese name], a chef for the chain. * * * Along with Panda Express [whose parent, along with that of Panda Inn, is Panda Restaurant Group], the group owns Uncle Tetsu, Hibachi-San and more
(i) Glendale Galleria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale_Galleria
(a mall in City of Glendale, County of Los Angeles)
(ii)
(A) Panda Restaurant Group does not "own" Uncle Tetsu, but is its sole American Franchisee in the United States.
(B) Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tetsu%27s_Cheesecake
("It originally opened in Japan in 1990 as a bakery shop on Oyafukou Street in the ward of Hakata-ku [博多区] in the city of Fukuoka [福岡市]. The founder, Tetsushi MIZOKAMI 溝上 徹思 * * * )
sells Japanese cheesecake. See Our Menu. Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake (USA), undated
https://uncletetsu-us.com/our-menu
("fluffy and bouncy consistency")
• Quite a few kanji share the same CHINESE pronunciation "tetsu": 鉄, 哲 (as in 哲学), 徹, 撤.
• Regarding Oyafukou Street. There are two systems to romanize Japanese, which are mostly the same except symbols for long vowel. One system uses ō, and the other ou (simply because this is how Japanese themselves signify a long o in kana (both hira- and kata-). Si that street may also romanized as Oyafukō Street whose kanji is 親不孝通り Unfilial Children's Street, where 親 (parent(s)) is Japanese pronunciation, 不 and 孝 Chinese pronunciations (of respective kanji) -- and 通りcan be from ordinary street to thoroughfare in width.  The ja.wikpedia.org for 親不孝通り advances wo theories (both theories claim the name started in 1970s (as a joke), one asserting the original store of Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake conferred this name (without explanation).
• 博多, pronounced Haka-ta, where haka as kanji 博's pronunciation is neither Chinese nor Japanese -- but used in (place or human) name only; the ta is kanji 多's Chinese pronunciation.
• For origin of the place name Hakata (represented with kanji 博多), See 博多
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/v
(section 2 定義・名称: "「続日本記」において、博多の町は「博多大津」と称された。博多にある大津、すなわち海上貿易都市である。そのため博多とは、羽の形をした湾に面する干潟、すなわち那珂川の西側エリア（福岡）を含めた博多湾の旧沿岸の全域を指したものである")
• my rough translation: Under the authority of [において] 続日本記 [written nothing but in Chinese and compilation completed in 797年; there had been 日本書紀 (also known as 日本紀, written in Chinese only, finished in 720)] , the town of 博多 was called 博多大津 [津=harbor], meaning the big harbor at 博多 -- 海上貿易都市. 博多 faced a bay that was 羽の形 [modern 博多 has concrete-ined harbor, and is no onger shaped liked that]
• 博多は「鶴の羽の形をしている？」  Ishimura Man-sei-dō 石村萬盛堂 (which sells wa-kashi 和菓子 in 博多; 石村善太郎 1905 創業), undated
http://xn--https-mz3im82gjs1a7bcb42c//www.ishimura.co.jp/corporate/affection/vol04/
, whose top illustration is explicit, and second one, implicit. See also 株式会社　石村萬盛堂
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000012.000006803.html
• 羽の形 is pronounced hane-no-kata.

Japanese-English dictionary:
* 羽 【はね】 (n): "(1) feather; plume; down; (2) wing"
(C) Lisa Jennings, Panda Restaurant Group Founders to Grow Uncle Tetsu. Nation's Restaurant News (NRN), Sept 14, 2016.
https://www.nrn.com/restaurant-f ... to-grow-uncle-tetsu

first two paragraphs:

"Hoping Americans are ready for Japanese-style baked goods, the founders of the Panda Restaurant Group are moving forward with growth of the Uncle Tetsu cheesecake concept in the U.S.

"The first mainland location for the Japanese cheesecake brand opened in Arcadia, Calif. this month after making its debut in Hawaii earlier this year.

(iii)
(A) A restaurant chain Hibachi-San is NOT a subsidiary, but rather a brand, of Panda Restaurant Group.
(B) Our Brands. Panda Restaurant Group, Inc, undated
https://www.pandarg.com/our-brands.html
has brands: Panda Express; Panda Inn (the website uses traditional Chinese 聚豐園); Hibachi-San -- Japanese kitchen (teppanyaki and sushi), besides stating, "Other Concepts We Support: Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers; Urbane Cafe -- hand crafted, fire baked; Yakiya; Pieology Pizzeria; and Great Panda."
• Of note, there had been 聚豐園
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/聚丰园
("無錫聚豐園創建於 * * * 1867年")
that is still running.

Panda Restaurant Group, Inc's co-founder Andrew Cherng 程正昌 (with his wife) was born in 1948 in 江苏省扬州市, northwest to 無錫市.
• hibachi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibachi
("In North America, the term hibachi refers to * * * ")
means different thigs in Japan and North America.
• Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_Cane%27s_Chicken_Fingers

Panda Restaurant Group is a franchisee of Raising Cane's in Alaska and Hawaii only. See https://en.wikipedia.org under this Group for section 1 Companies.


(d) "Why is sushi on the menu? Because people love sushi, and because honey walnut shrimp [蜜汁合桃虾 (核桃 is the traditional Chinese), NOT known to be invented by the Cherngs or related to Yokohama] was begging to be converted into a sloppy but delightful [sushi] roll, but also because the restaurant's founder and first chef, Ming-Tsai Cherng, lived and worked for some years in Yokohama's Chinatown.   Why Taiwanese popcorn chicken and stone bowls of Taiwanese braised beef on rice? Because in the 1950s, Mr. Cherng worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan."
(i) I surmise that Yokohama is mentioned here due to the sushi connection, not honey walnut shrimp.
(ii) Time Line. Panda Restaurant Group, undated.
https://www.pandarg.com/about-us/timeline.html

"1975  Andrew Cherng and Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng open the doors to the first Panda Inn in Pasadena, California. The menu is inspired by the flavors of Mandarin and Sichuan cuisine.  

"1983   After a decade of success with Panda Inn Restaurants, Andrew and Peggy Cherng opens the first Panda Express at the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. Peggy Cherng customizes the restaurant's operating systems to assure the very best food and service.

(iii) But who was Ming-Tsai Cherng? It turns out to be Andrew Cherng's father!  See Panda Express
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_Express
("The Panda Restaurant Group, parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express, and Hibachi-San, was founded by Andrew Cherng, Peggy Cherng and Andrew's father, Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng")
(A) So back in Note (d)(ii), the photo next to "1975  Andrew Cherng and Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng open the doors to the first Panda Inn" Andrew was actually standing on the left, NOT in the middle (though his father looked like what Andrew does today)..
(B) Therefore, the nest/ last sentence makes sentence, because this NYT report mentioned just ONE Cherng -- not Andrew but Ming-Tsai, AND necause Andrew was too young (merely four years old) in 1952. See 程正昌
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/程正昌
(section 1 生平: 其父亲程明才是一位江浙菜厨师，專精於川揚菜[3]，因國共內戰，1949年程正昌随父母搬迁至台湾台北市，其父親擔任圓山大飯店廚房長，曾為蔣中正總統掌廚。1963年，隨其父母移民日本橫濱，其父親繼續擔任廚師，程正昌就讀橫濱中華學院高中部，為第九屆畢業生")
(iv)
(A) popcorn chicken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_chicken
("Popcorn chicken is a dish consisting of small, bite-sized pieces of chicken (about the size of popped corn kernels) that have been breaded and fried. The idea was originally developed by KFC in 1991, but heavily inspired by fried chicken street food in Taiwan")
(B) Presumably this dish was based on Taiwanese fried chicken  鹹酥雞
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_fried_chicken

It was everywhere in Taiwan (my observation is that the Taiwanese dish is likely not seen before 1975 or 1980), but I did not taste it for fear of high salt and thus hypertension.

choi

----------------------NYT
This orange chicken has not been waiting for you on the steam table. It has not been bouncing and sweating in the darkness of a clamshell container while you wheel your luggage to the gate.

At Panda Inn, the Pasadena restaurant that started Panda Express, the orange chicken is made to order, strewed with whole dried chiles, scallions and a few threads of orange zest. It arrives craggy and glistening on a blue stoneware plate.

Is it good? Trick question! It is sticky, and it is familiar. It is relentlessly crunchy, with a flatly precise and habit-forming ratio of sweetness to acidity to heat. It is better, though not dramatically different from the one that waits on the steam table — always there, always waiting — but sometimes presentation can be everything.

Orange chicken, all dressed up, reminds me of when my parents set out cloth napkins and silverware while unpacking boxes of takeout, transferring everything to serving plates (yes, even pizza). I used to find this absolutely unhinged, but now I see it as a tender gesture that underscored the luxury of their taking the night off from cooking — they did it so rarely.

When the Cherng family opened Panda Inn in 1973, it was a popular Chinese restaurant that catered to the neighborhood. Early menus from the 1970s and ’80s included a bone-in tangerine-peel chicken, sizzling beef hot plates and a “Chinese Pasta” section of noodle dishes.

It was a nice, sit-down restaurant that also did a bit of takeout and catering. It appealed to local families, but also local developers, who asked the owners to come up with a restaurant concept for the expansion of the Glendale Galleria mall. That restaurant was Panda Express.

Panda Express developed its orange chicken in 1987 and, depending on whom you ask, the dish was either the natural evolution of tangerine-peel chicken or a lightning invention of Andy Kao, a chef for the chain. Either way, it helped to embed a sweet, crowd-pleasing idea of American Chinese cuisine into the global culinary consciousness, now deployed through 2,500 or so fast-food counters.

It also propelled the family’s small business into a privately held empire: Along with Panda Express, the group owns Uncle Tetsu, Hibachi-San and more, and the Cherng family has a net worth of more than $3 billion.

At the end of last year, the company completed a major renovation to the Panda Inn in Pasadena, with a red carpet that leads into a sprawling, glamorous, wood-paneled dining room. The ceilings are high and vaulted. There are lush pots of violet orchids at the host stand and bar.

The vibe would seem clubby if Panda Inn weren’t warm and welcoming, always peppered with shouty families celebrating birthdays and special occasions. On my most recent visit, an impeccably well-dressed man in his 70s enjoyed a multicourse meal on his own, while the two men next to me chatted in Armenian over beers, kung pao chicken and sushi.

Why is sushi on the menu? Because people love sushi, and because honey walnut shrimp was begging to be converted into a sloppy but delightful roll, but also because the restaurant’s founder and first chef, Ming-Tsai Cherng, lived and worked for some years in Yokohama’s Chinatown.

Why Taiwanese popcorn chicken and stone bowls of Taiwanese braised beef on rice? Because in the 1950s, Mr. Cherng worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan.

You’re not thinking about all this as you sit down for a big meal at one of the round tables for 12, spinning the lazy susan with glee until the dish you want most is finally in front of you. But Panda Inn in Pasadena isn’t just a place for Panda Express superfans to come and pay their respects; it’s a devoted corporate flagship — a grand, Disneyfied spin through the family’s story that reframes this restaurant as proof of the American dream.

On the newly designed menu, there’s a photo of Ming-Tsai Cherng, born in Yangzhou, wearing a cook’s shirt and tossing food in a wok. Below, in a story about the immigrant family’s journey, Panda Inn describes itself as “a restaurant that embodies the pursuit of a better life for all.”

Such a frictionless story of the American dream seems fanciful if you so much as glance at the news, but it also doesn’t have much to do with why the dining room is consistently packed.

Even though Panda Express was never my go-to, the orange chicken will occasionally stand in for the fried and glazed thing that I genuinely long for, but can never have again: the sweet-and-sour pork at a restaurant called Peking Inn that once existed in suburban London.

For my ninth birthday, I asked my parents to make me that sweet-and-sour pork, along with the sweet corn and chicken egg-drop soup. We had just moved 300 miles away, to France, and I was still angry and depressed about it, but I didn’t know how to say all that.

Instead, I dared them to try and make me happy. I dared them to recreate a dish from my favorite Chinese restaurant (impossible!), one whose vast pleasures and disappointments are still hard-wired into my brain.

Those particulars are different for everyone, but they fill out the story behind Panda Inn’s greatest hits, embedded like core memories. On any given night, there’s an order of orange chicken on nearly every table — a dish that isn’t just tangled up in its own corporate mythologies, but tangled up in our own.