Definitely a solid 3.5 for me and will not hesitate to go here again! If no parking out front, there's some more in the back. And if none there, I presume one could park in the large grocery parking lot across the street. There are a handle of tables, so one could certainly dine in, but I wouldn't recommend a party larger than.....8, or so. Even then, there'd have to be some moving of tables. Went here around 1145am on a Friday afternoon, and there were a whole bunch of Latino workers eating or picking up food; which to me, is an indication of good and tasty value - which is certainly is! I found this place after I had a craving for simple, tasty, not-panda-express noodles - and this place delivered. Had the chicken lo mein, and it was cooked wok-fresh. In fact, you can see the cook in the background making the dish, so you know it's fresh. Fresh ingredients and balanced flavors. Also had the orange chicken lunch combo which comes with fried rice (looked great, but tasted ok....can request steamed rice instead), and the orange chicken (my 8 y/o son thought it was too orangy tasting and didn't really like it...he also didn't like the fact that it was quite saucy, which removed some of the crisp from the batter). All in all, if you're not picky about looks and just want good ol'fashioned chinese food, then this is the spot. Will definitely be back! read more

See all

I really liked here! My food was hot and fresh and didn't take long I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. The chicken was super crispy and I loved that it wasn't overly sweet. Cant beat the pricing here. I can't wait to try a few other things. read more

Panda Cafe - Sesame chicken - Chinese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

An order of Singapore noodles was $10.45 which is a pretty good, but I've definitely had better. The portion size was alright but I wish it was a little spicier. Still looking for a good takeout spot in the area, but will likely continue my hunt likely elsewhere. read more

Panda Cafe - Singapore Rice Noodle - Chinese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Ugh. After Hunan gate closed, we have been in search of another great Chinese restaurant. We ordered kung pao chicken, chicken lo mein, and moo shi pork fro Panda Cafe. The kung pao was disappointing - it seems like it was coated in flour before cooked, so it doesn't seem as fresh and healthy as we are accustomed to. It's more like something you'd get in a mall food court. The chicken lo mein was colorless with limp vegetables and a clear sauce - not what you'd usually expect (fried noodles with chicken and lots of vibrant veggies). The moo shi pork was 99% cabbage and 1% meat. It tasted okay but I couldn't finish one pancake worth of it before getting tired of the flavor. Our search continues... read more

Panda Cafe - This is their chicken chow mein. If you are expecting fried noodles with chicken, that's not how they make it. - Chinese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Panda Cafe is a familiar American-style Chinese takeout. One of my dinner guests helped herself to multiple portions of the Singapore Noodles. All the dishes were fine except the General Tso's Chicken. The sauce solidified into a jellied mass with the breaded chicken. I will definitely order again, but it would be nice if they offered an option of reduced plastic, e.g. compostable containers and no sauce packets, even if they have to charge extra for this. read more

The food is consistently delicious and the staff is very kind. I normally order the hot and sour soup and it is the best in the area. The pork dumplings are also really delicious. They have minimal space for seating as is this is mostly a carry out place. read more

Just picked up a late take out order and enjoyed everything! From the kind staff to the delicious food and reasonable prices, Panda Cafe is a total win. Chicken Lo Mein, general tso chicken, and wonton soup were all hits. read more

5 stars for price and experience; this is a quintessential Chinese takeout restaurant that I have been coming to for over 10 years. I'm always satisfied, and it receives 5 stars for delivering delicious, cheap Chinese food quickly. Their lunch special is hard to beat, and they are great for dinner too! read more

Good take out and quick delivery service! I enjoy the sweet and sour chicken along with the beef and broccoli. They honor the menu coupons as well read more

See all

Stumbled upon this place tonight. The food is pretty good. The portions are a good size as well. Will definitely visit again. read more

See all

Overall it is pretty decent Chinese takeout and delivery. I ordered chicken with broccoli combo (Chicken fried rice and spring roll), steamed pork dumplings and wonton soup. The chicken with broccoli was pretty good, the chicken was a little rubbery but I enjoyed the sauce and broccoli. The chicken fried rice that came with the combo seemed overcooked and very dry. The egg roll was also disappointing and wasn't like the usual egg rolls I have had from Chinese places. The steamed pork dumplings were the best thing in my order. Had awesome flavor and the right among of dough in the outer layer. I would definitely get these again. However, the wonton soup was absolutely awful. The dumplings in it were falling apart and the broth had no flavor, I would avoid trying it. Delivery arrived in 40 minutes on a Friday night around 7pm. The delivery guy was nice and the food was all very hot and fresh. It isn't New York caliber Chinese but for this area I felt it was adequate compared to other places I have tried. I would order from here again read more

Panda Cafe - Steamed Pork Dumplings - Chinese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

See all

We ordered hot & sour soup, vegetable spring rolls, chicken fried rice, and orange chicken. I would rate the vegetable spring rolls as 2.5 out of 5. The rest, 2 out of 5. Palatable, slightly lacking, not items we would repeat. The hot & sour soup had a marked molasses flavor. read more

Nailed it!!! Been looking for a good quick and easy Chinese take out. The prices are fantastic, the food is delightful and portions are perfect!! I've been looking for something like Panda Cafe for over 2 years now since we made the move out east. First experience for us was delivery and the food arrived hot and before the allotted time slot. Ordered vegetable dumplings, Kung pao beef, chicken in black bean and chicken in garlic sauce. My one call out is there were mushrooms in both the chicken dishes. I need to personally stay away from them but now I know to order without for next time. Lots of flavor and tons of good veggies without lacking on the protein. Great job!!!! Super excited to make this apart of our Arlington rotation. read more

Probably one of the best places for your basic delivery Americanized "Chinese" food in the area. Prices are fair. Food is fine. No regrets.

My first - and surely last - time here. Takeout lunch for four, $50. No complaints there. Pick up ready on time, and now to the food when I got it home. Fried dumplings: soggy, not crispy, made me think that they were just plain stale with a strange flavor not recognizable as a flour-based product, and insufficiently fried; barely edible. Kung Pao chicken: bathed in grease. Szechuan Pork: ditto, heavy, thick grease. Szechuan String Beans: normally the crown jewels from a Szechuanese menu; they should be snap, crackle and pop in the mouth; these were sleepy and in excessive amounts of grease. Pork Lo Mein: old and tired, and again, ready to stick a dip stick into. Garlic Egg Plant: worst dish of the lot; awash in a sea of grease, with a sickeningly sweet sauce, more difficult to describe than taste. Maybe it was a bad day for the restaurant? That happens, but I will leave it to someone else to follow up on our experience. Enough for us. read more

Soft spot for this Chinese-American hole in the wall that I've gone to for many years. Not a place to dine in, but you definitely get what you pay for, which is perfectly serviceable. Pork fried rice, kung pao chicken, shrimp in lobster sauce, fried meat dumplings, sweet and sour, moo shoo, etc. Nothing to knock your socks off, just good old rib-sticking basics at a good price point for the area. And they give you free spring rolls with more orders. read more

Great classic small Chinese takeout place (mostly? I think there is a bit for dine in). Close to my house and right next to McDonald's so I can satisfy the kids. Love the dinner meals. read more

Yelp has spoken, this is THE best Chinese take out joint in Arlington! My usual neighborhood joint recently took off my go-to order of combination pan fried noodles off their menu (AS IF!) so I called Panda Cafe in hopes of satisfying my MSG fix. The lady on the phone spoke perfect English and assured me that my request could be done....with an hour wait for delivery. Um no thank you! I piled in my car and in fifteen minutes, I was hanging out in my jammies, watching Breaking Band with a steaming hot bowl of pan fried noodle goodness in my hands. My dish was chock full of carrots, mushrooms, crunchy water chestnuts, beef, chicken and shrimp! It was like I had a a full farm in my bowl! There was so much food that I'm still eating leftovers four days later. Best Chinese food I've had in a while! I can't wait till my next rainy day Chinese food party! read more

Now this is the type of Chinese food I have been looking for since moving to the DC/NoVA/MD area, some American Chinese food! My husband is not too adventurous when it comes to Asian food. We found that out quite clearly when we went to Bob's Noodle 66 and A&J's both up in Rockville, MD. This is a mostly take-out restaurant. Rarely was there anyone dining in on a Saturday night. We ordered sesame chicken, eggplant with garlic sauce, and combination pan-fried noodles. All were really good especially for the price. For $30 we had enough food for 2 meals for the both of us and that my friend, is a good deal. read more

Perhaps it's not fair to rate a restaurant based on neighboring options...and maybe I would have been a little less disappointed at the lack of flavor without the competition close by. But when Eastern Carryout offers much better Chinese fare at equal price and about double the portion, I don't think I'll be paying Panda a second visit. Sorry, Panda! :-/ On a positive note, the complementary egg roll was slightly better than Eastern? read more

Panda Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

For take out Chinese, this place is pretty darn good. I would venture as far to say this is the best Chinese takeout in the Arlington area (trust me, I've tried a few). They have great portions, cheap prices, and good food. What more can you ask for? PS: Don't expect to be wine and dined here. This is Chinese take out...but I think you already knew that read more

Do you want Chinese Chinese food? This ain't the place. Lots of really expensive, fancy places for that. You want authentic America bastardized inexpensive Chinese food? That's what you are going to get here--and 5 stars worth too. read more

First I would say that I have not ordered from Panda in quite a while. When I would call to place an order I was told a number of times that the wait time would be an hour and a half. When I did order from them the food was reliably good with very few surprises good or bad. read more

Solid old school Chinese takeout spot. Very good food and great prices especially for NOVA. Get the dinner combo (near the end of the online menu) $8-9 for main, fried rice and egg roll. A lot of the appetizers are less than five bucks. Plus the food is very good and I don't find myself needing to drink a ton of water unlike some other places. I usually get the Triple Delight. And for some strange reason I really like their fried chicken - large wing sections, since we're near DC they of course have "mum-bo" sauce. read more

I'm updating to remove a star. I don't know why I gave it 4 in the first place. It's really not that flavorful. They do give you large portions but overall it's disappointing. I ordered the orange chicken once and it had zero flavor. Id stick with the general Tso and pork fried rice from now on if I do decide to go back. read more

Very good. Order arrived earlier than expected. Will order again from them, specially for days I don't have time to cook.

Ordered takeout of hot and sour soup and Singapore noodles. Not only was the food ready in the stated time, it was delicious! I will takeout from Panda Cafe anytime I'm visiting in Arlington! read more

After living here well over a year and trying to find decent Chinese delivery, I think I finally have! We would normally order food from a much more expensive place for delivery because the quality was always good but the price just got to be too much. Everything I ordered from here tonight was awesome. We had an issue with our chicken and broccoli being spicy. I think because someone else in our family order General Tso's chicken. I called them back to tell them and they immediately fixed it for us by redelivering a new non spicy chicken and broccoli. Amazing customer service! read more

I agree with the other New Yorker. Food here is tasty, fresh, and cheap. Nothing was greasy or burnt, ever. Lunch is like $6. Doesn't include can of soda or small soup...so maybe it'd be more like $8-$10 if you compare apples-to-apples with other Chinese places. Still, it's a good deal. For local take out, it's 4/5 stars for sure. Been in the neighborhood 13+ years, so you know it works. Chicken w/ Broc. tastes like Chicken w/ Broc. Really, maybe the closest to NY American-Chinese I've found. Shrimp Toast - pretty good. They cut into quarters instead of halves, but it was large and satisfying. Fried rice - It's fresh made and fine. Light. I've had better but I'm tough on fried rice. Oh, I've lived in Guandong (Cantonese province) and HK. Fried rice is really an HK way to use up leftover rice. It picked up popularity in Guandong and the other southern provinces (hunan, Sichuan, etc.) and it's just stir fired leftover rice. Vietnamese and Thai do the same thing, so don't get all snooty about it Why 4 stars? They ALWAYS forget the spring roll that's supposed to be included with the combos. read more

We have had many items on the menu and always come back for the dumplings. The food is delicious. They deliver and offer carry out. They are also very nice and kind people. read more

Panda Cafe is one of those pretty reliable, solid Chinese food places in the neighborhood that you can count on to come through for you when you're looking for some cheap food that doesn't break the bank. They have some pretty decent deals. A lot of their Dinner Combos are great and they come with chicken fried rice and a spring roll - not to mention it's a ton of food besides that. My favorite thing to get here is the Fried Dumplings and the Special Lo Mein. The dumplings, honestly, are NOT fried long enough, but something about them just tastes so damn good with the soy sauce they give you. If I get an order I'll usually eat one or two and then pop them in the over a couple days later to reheat. That's when they're the best. The special Lo Mein is chicken, beef, and shrimp lo mein. It's an absurd amount of food and it will last you three meals if you play it right. Also, if you order enough food, they have coupons that let you score extra food. We ordered over $40 for me and my two friends the other day and we got a free order of General Tso's and white rice for free because we ordered so much. This is a solid place to get some delivery Asian food so I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for some Chinese. read more

We love this place! The food is good! We only order for delivery and the people who deliver are wonderful too!! Our favorite is Peking Duck for 2, Shrimp with Vegetables, and Shrimp in Lobster Sauce. It is all reasonably price, too and there are coupons to offset the cost! We love it and it is our favorite lunch or dinner option, especially on rainy or snowy nights! read more

This is my new go-to Chinese delivery place. Their prices are really reasonable and they offer free delivery with a $10 minimum order! (A lot of places charge a buck or two and it's often a higher minimum spend, making it difficult for an old maid, such as myself.) Their veggie options are really tasty. I love their bean curd (aka tofu) in black bean sauce and their broccoli in garlic sauce (which they add in tofu for me at no charge). Their delivery guy is really fast and really nice (although he refers to me as "Lady" a lot - it has become endearing). Definitely my fave, after trying a lot of the Arlington Chinese options! read more

Ordered takeout from here, and it was extremely delicious and exceeded my expectations. Though I would have to say my expectations were low as I haven't had the best luck with delivery Chinese around here (my godawful experience with Panda Bowl has scarred my brain). Anyway, solid meal: -egg drop soup: delicious, and nice and hot, just like it should be. -seafood in garlic sauce: really tasty. The sauce was a little different than garlic sauce I have had before, but I liked it. It was mildly spicy too. They were generous with the seafood portions. -sides: we received free spring rolls, and a bag filled with fortune cookies and various sauce packets and utensils. Nice touch. -delivery: speedy and friendly. Next time we are hankering for Chinese food, I would definitely try out this place again. It is nice to find a Chinese place in this area that we can rely on. read more

October 8, 2012 - Lunch on Columbus Day Still the best American-Chinese food take out in the area! I just paid $11 and I got orange chicken, fried rice, 2 egg rolls and hot and sour soup. The orange chicken was flavorful, and not just drenched in sauce! The fried rice actually had something in it! Carrot, onion and peas! Oh my! The hot and sour soup also has mushrooms and I believe tofu in it - tastes great! Portions are extremely generous and customer service is excellent. This place has spoiled me! Every time I go somewhere else, I feel like I am getting ripped off! LOL Highly recommended. read more

We ordered our food at 6:07 pm tonight, it is now 8:05 and according to Panda Cafe, they have no idea where their driver is. This admission came after a call half an hour ago where we were told that the driver had got lost and would be there within 5 minutes. It's unclear what is more upsetting. The blatant lie from half an hour ago, or the complete lack of customer service when we called just now. We have spent hundreds of dollars on their mediocre Chinese food over the years, but tonight they made no effort to acknowledge their fault or attempt to rectify the situation. We just now cancelled our order, but if their driver truly is no longer in contact with them, who knows it may show up sometime tonight. A delivery driver nightmare is one thing. That happens, and it is terrible when it does. But it's also forgivable. Blatant disrespect and lying to good, long-time customers is just unacceptable. read more

Ordered veggie dumplings (smelled sour) veggie mu shi (decent) another person ordered salt and pepper shrimp (good) and hot and sour soup (meh ok) I got food poisoning the other didn't. Never again read more

We've had our share of absolutely terrible meat to write this place off for good. It seems to be VERY hit or miss, but the misses are huge/inedible, and they've happened on more than one occasion now. The place is always packed too. I suppose it's the best chinese in Ballston, but that's not saying much. read more

Awesome value for the price. Super fast, ordered and got food within 15 minutes. House special lo mein had the most meat I've ever seen in a noodle dish. Not crazy about their crab Rangoon, but delicious fried rice and good hot & sour soup. read more

Thus far, I've tried all of the Chinese places in Ballston, and this is easily the best. It's also the cheapest, so, bonus! For less than $10 I got yummy hot and sour soup, and a dinner combo of shrimp and broccoli. The shrimp actually seemed fresh, and were large, not the tiny kind some restaurants give you when they cheap out. I called to order and decided it was easier to pick it up. Food was ready maybe 10 minutes after my call. read more