I've been hearing about Yummy Panda since it opened, and finally got around to trying it. I just got some house lo mein to go, but the interior is clean and bright, with a few small tables and even a giant Guess Who? game for the young and young at heart. The lo mein was fully loaded with juicy shrimp, chicken, and beef. The noodles were springy and perfect, the veggies were crisp, and it was the best lo mein I've had in the area, and I think I've tried them all. The menu in the store has an "authentic" section, so next time I'll get some things from there as well as the Americanized stuff. Service was polite, friendly, and prompt, and my takeout was neatly packed and had a fork, napkin, fortune cookie, and soy sauce in the bag. I ordered at the counter and then went next door to the Sensory Toolhouse for a few minutes, so I'm not sure how long it took, but less than ten minutes. Can't wait to go back! read more

See all

We'd heard a lot of good things about Yummy Panda, so we decided to order takeout. We ordered crab rangoon, two egg rolls, a sesame chicken dinner, and a side of rice. Unfortunately, no sweet and sour sauce was included with our order. There wasn't an option to request it when ordering, and it wasn't listed as a side. I've never been to a Chinese restaurant that didn't include sweet and sour sauce with crab rangoon and egg rolls. Without it, both were very dry and ended up being difficult to eat, which made nearly half of our order very disappointing. The sesame chicken was the highlight. I liked that it was only lightly breaded, if at all, and the flavor was good. Overall, it was a letdown. We rarely order takeout and based on this experience, I don't think we'll be ordering from here again. read more

Yummy Panda - Sesame chicken dinner - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

See all

I have eaten here MANY times. Still much more on their menu left to try. Key takeaways. This is authentic food. Think... you are eating at someone's house where they make authentic food. NOT at a "generic, run of the mill Chinese place". The sauces are delicate & light. They are not bold or strong. I got "extra spicy. They added a lot of hot chilis but it didn't make the dish super hot or spicy. If you want that I suggest getting your own hot chili oil or Gochujang. It is traditional food. Another reviewer speaks specifically to this as well. It is similar to Tea leaf 2 but with far better portions, and better They also have a "Traditional menu" that you can order from with stronger Szechuan flavors. Their food is very fresh. You can tell this from how the chicken tastes and looks and the vegetables they use. It is a nice cozy place. The staff are so wonderful and friendly. I recommend calling ahead. If you are particular about what you are expecting, talk to them. They are very knowledgeable about the food they serve and will make accommodations. If you order something deep fried I recommend eating there. I say this about ANY deep fried / battered food. When ANY deep fried / battered food is put in a to-go containers over a short period of time the heat inside the container creates moisture and then the deep fried food is soggy. Soggy sweet & sour chicken or orange chicken is disappointing but that is the fault of the to-go containers. 100% recommend. read more

Tried this place because it was all the rage on the local page. We got beef and broccoli. Broccoli had some moldy pieces and didn't seem to be cooked at all. Sauce was very bland, needed something. The rice was hard and tasted old. Another thing in Olympia that doesn't live up to the hype, Sadly. It's just okay. read more

FOOD... definitely the authentic flavor!!! Someone's grandmother is cooking back there and you can tell. Their place is more of a To-go. I would have liked to have had a small bowl to eat there since we were eating in. Regardless of that, it's worth the drop in. The wonton soup was so comforting (add a little chili oil if you like that spicy life) even the chicken was tender. General Tsao chicken and house fried rice were fresh and not sitting around. Very good portions, easily share if you wanted to. Everything was delicious. I would recommend and come back for sure!! read more

By far the best Chinese food we've had since leaving CA over a decade ago. We will definitely be back! read more

See all

A very solid 4 star place. We went on a Sunday evening and decided to eat in. The inside ambiance is interesting and pirate ship themed, which I enjoyed. Funny for a place called Yummy panda. The servers were nice. The egg drop soup being $5 is a pretty good deal! Crab Rangoons weren't bad but not a necessity. The sesame chicken and chow fun were very delicious and very filling! Around $17 each dish. I had leftover sesame chicken and rice for lunch the next day. The service was a little on the slower side but nothing egregious. Everything came out warm and fresh. Would return for a casual meal here! read more

Yummy Panda - Soup - Egg Drop Soup small size - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

See all

Gas. Came here with my brother after working on the yard, and we loved it. The service was great and the food was better- we both finished our entire plates. We both got the lunch special combo, which comes with an egg roll, soup, fried rice and an entree. I got the Mongolian beef and bro got the orange chicken, both gas. Only thing that's weird is everything came in to-go containers when we were dining in. But even with that, definitely going back soon. read more

I'm surprised some folks gave them a lower score because of a few mistakes because the flavors are amazing! They make everything fresh! Definitely authentic Chinese cuisine. Only thing I would complain about is the lunch special kung pao chicken, they just need to add more chicken and less water chest nuts but other than that it was amazing flavors and amazing food! read more

Came here after seeing all the rave reviews on the Best of Olympia Facebook page. Giving things a little time to improve and settle down. We were greeted and placed our order. We were asked if we wanted to dine in, or take it to go. We opted to dine in. From the table we saw the soup being ladled into a plastic to go bowl. When brought to the table, the soup was super yellow indicative of food coloring. We were also given napkins, plasticware, and packets of condiments as well as our spring rolls. The egg drop soup was extremely bland. Tasing of straight eggs and nothing else. The spring rolls were COLD. Our food came out quickly--as the place was not busy at all. Entrees were just okay. For people to be saying this is the best Chinese style food around is concerning. Please stop serving dine-in orders in to go containers. Just seems weird and wasteful. I would love to say that I would come back and try some other dishes--but, I don't think we will. There are some teriyaki spots around that do better Chinese style food than this. We were definitely not impressed. read more

See all

Tried Yummy Panda in Lacey today. Made an online order for 1 lunch special and some chicken potstickers which we picked up. Food was ready on-time. We split this for lunch and each had a full plate of garlic beef and fried rice. It came with soup and an egg roll. Very generous serving, reasonably priced, and so delicious. Inside dining is available in a small dining area, but it's nice and clean if you want to eat there. read more

Yummy Panda - Special lunch of Garlic Beef with fried rice. - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

I've ordered from this restaurant three times now. This is a review from a real Chinese person, whose family had been in the Chinese restaurant business for over 50 years until our patriarch passed and we just couldn't continue on without him. This place is the real deal. Food always comes blazing hot. The food is real Chinese food too. Like actual Chinese dishes that we would normally eat at home. The food may taste "bland" to you but when you eat real Chinese food, there's a delicate palate you're going for. Trying to fine tune your taste sense. I can taste the scallions and ginger. I can taste the actual shrimp taste, not just some rubber coiled thing that was over cooked. This place has wonderful food! I can't say anything about dining in because I'm usually ordering after work because I'm too tired to cook, but if you want real authentic Chinese food, try this place out and venture out of the norm. You'd be surprised at how much you'll like it. read more

I was highly disappointed with my order. I did take out. 2 x salt pepper pork and an order of kung pao chicken. The salt pepper pork was dry, had no flavor at all. It tasted like a regular fried pork chop. I've had salt pepper pork chop before from other places and this order was flavorless. I moved on to the kung pao chicken. It hardly had chicken. There was A LOT of peanuts and sliced water chestnuts. I had to dig around for pieces of chicken. Again. No flavor. Hardly any spice. And lastly. The rice was dry and hard. It tasted like day old rice. Or the type of rice I would use to make fried rice. Not something I would serve as a side of rice. I was hoping the food would've been better. But basically I wasted my money. Don't waste yours. read more

Fairly typical and average American style Chinese food, served in very large quantities; that means left-overs for lunch the next day, which is always welcome. They're open on Sundays, which is lovely as most Asian eateries aren't, and offer truly daily lunch specials, not excluding weekends. Overall, if you're in the neighborhood, they offer a pretty decent way to satisfy your hunger - and it's locally owned, which is nice. read more

My tofu curry was a pile of peppers, onions, carrots and tofu in at least a cup of oil. I Couldn't stomach it was so greasy. Eaten here once before about a year ago. Maybe this was a one off and unusual but all I know isI am still hungry and I paid $21 for a meal that I couldn't eat. read more

Yummy Panda - Oily tofu vegetables - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

The small staff is pleasant, the food is good and the prices are fare. The place is clean. I forgot to ask if they have military discount to make it even better LoL. read more

hopped on Yelp in search of good Chinese food, and Yummy Panda caught my eye. Parking was easy with plenty of available spots, which was a great start. Inside, seating is limited, but most customers seemed to be picking up takeout anyway. The service was excellent, friendly, courteous, and very attentive. The restaurant itself was spotless and clearly well cared for. I ordered the chicken dumplings, chicken lo mein, and a Coke. The fountain drink was refreshingly crisp. The dumplings were decent, definitely heavy on the cabbage, but the flavorful dipping sauce helped balance it out. I didn't get much chicken flavor, though. The chicken lo mein, on the other hand, was excellent. It was generously portioned, packed with flavor, and loaded with big chunks of chicken. The total came out to around $30, which felt a bit pricey for a solo meal, but the large serving sizes helped justify the cost. read more

See all

I came here because many people praised it and said it was the best they had ever tried. I'm giving my opinion based on fairness and my own experience when I came here to buy lunch. I placed my order person in person. I ordered takeout: orange chicken fried rice and house fried rice. Before me, there were already 2 people who had been waiting a very long time but still had not received their food. The restaurant was not busy, yet the food took an extremely long time to come out. I ended up waiting 40 minutes before I finally got my food. But I received sesame chicken instead of orange chicken. The fried rice was okay, but nothing exceptional. Never be back! read more

I ordered the lunch special of sweet and sour chicken with fried rice instead of plain rice, a veggie egg roll, and egg drop soup vs hot and spicy. The soup was very bland and looked like just plain chicken broth with egg, no green onions or anything. The fried rice was ok, I had to add soy sauce, the sweet and sour chicken, although not very many nuggets, had decent sized real chicken pieces, and the egg roll was also very bland with a bit of veggies and that's it, deep fried. The price was $14.99 so not bad for lunch. read more

NO CONTEST. Without a doubt, the best Chinese food between Lakewood and Vancouver, Washington (unless I've missed anything new recently). The food was 100% on point. I did read a review that the owner addressed about a subpar dish due to a backup chef in training and that happens. Anytime you get a chef change at a Chinese restaurant there can be sometimes significant differences in any given dish. That's the business unfortunately. This place is a real gift for Chinese food lovers in this desert between Lakewood and Vancouver. There's a place in Centralia that's decent, but it's Cantonese style which hits completely different than this type of Mandarin/Szechuan cuisine which is so much more flavorful and if I'm completely honest, much better to look at. There are several restaurants in the area that claim to be Chinese or also sell Chinese food, but they are owned by Vietnamese or Korean folks, which is fine but the taste and styles of the food reflect their backgrounds. So this is a very small place and there is limited seating. And here is my only beef with this restaurant. The chairs. They are very small and very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, many Asian restaurants, especially Vietnamese restaurants it seems are switching to these little steel (very narrow) chairs that are horrendous. I don't even have a big backside and these types of chairs are a problem for me. The owners, however, were thoughtful enough to add cushions to the chairs to ease the experience. All that said, please support this wonderful small business so (we) hopefully can minimize having to resort to the Panda Express chain. read more

Excellent food, so fresh & delicious. Very nice atmosphere & great customer service. Will be back soon! read more

Yummy Panda - Cashew Shrimp - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

See all

I am from the East Coast originally where the Chinese food is outstanding. I just tried Yummy Panda Restaurant for the first time a couple of months ago and the food is so authentic and delicious. It is now my to go restaurant for Chinese food. The owner of the restaurant is very personable . If you're looking for authentic Chinese food that is absolutely delicious this is the place to go. read more

We just moved here (Lacey) and have been on the hunt for good take out places. The food was great! When we went to pick up the food the lady up front was super friendly. The sesame chicken was very flavorful! We will be coming here again! read more

Yummy Panda serves quality chinese food in Lacey. Some of the best Eggplant (in Garlic Sauce) that I've had. Shrimp Fried Rice is solid. Vegetable spring rolls were good but nothing special. Seasoning and flavor on both dishes is right where it needs to be for my taste buds. I would order both the Eggplant and Fried Rice again but am looking forward to trying other shrimp and veggie dishes on their menu. Pro-tip: Do yourselves a favor and order online and give them about 40-50min to fill the order if you are ordering during the dinner rush. This is a family run business with everything made to order who are just getting started and need time to adjust, so they get a pass for now on the customer experience side of things. Like others, I saw in The Olympian that a new Chinese restaurant had opened and had to try it out in hopes of having a good and reliable go-to Chinese Restaurant in Lacey. I made my order online and noticed that the pick-up time was the same time that I made the order which is not accurate. After reading all the initial reviews about wait times, I waited about 20min before I headed over. Once it was all said and done, my order was ready after waiting another 30 min. Despite the counter staff rushing around, they were both kind and apologetic. If anyone has worked food service, we've all been there when everything is new and the customer to staff ratio isn't quite dialed in yet. In the end, the food was worth the wait and I am grateful to have this restaurant in our community. Recommendation to the business owner: Enable the feature of your online ordering system to reflect a more accurate estimated pick-up time (ex. 45min-60min from time of order) as well as push notifications (i.e. texting) when the order is ready for pick-up. This will greatly improve the customer experience and reduce the stress on your customer facing staff. read more

Yummy Panda - Eggplant in Garlic Sauce and Vegetable Spring Rolls - Chinese Near Me - Lacey, Washington

See all

The food came hot. Steam rose like smoke from a cook fire on the plains. You could feel the heat before you touched the box the food comes packaged in. That was good. Food ought to be hot. They knew that here. The flavors were many. Strong. Bold. None of it weak. The kind of flavor that sticks with you, not in a bad way, but in the way you remember when the night is cold and your belly is empty. The sweet was sweet. The salt was right. The spice didn't ask permission. It just came, and you took it. The people were kind. Not soft, but kind. They looked you in the eye and meant what they said. When you asked for something, they brought it. When you thanked them, they nodded like it was nothing. But it wasn't nothing. There was a wait. Sure. You sat at your table or the bench with others and the minutes passed. You waited because you knew what was coming. A man can wait for food like that. You don't curse the river for being wide if you know the fish are plentiful. You finish, lean back, and know damn well you've eaten something real and true. read more

Dear Yummy Panda, My recent takeout order left me with mixed feelings, and I wanted to share my experience to help improve your offerings. The exceptional kindness and welcoming nature of your staff were truly outstanding - they were incredibly sweet and gracious, and the complimentary soup was a thoughtful gesture. This positive interaction unfortunately contrasted sharply with the food itself. I had high expectations, given the praise I'd seen on the "Best of Olympia" page. My order included Orange Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice, and a Chicken Egg Roll. While the presentation was appealing, the taste was unfortunately disappointing. Both chicken dishes lacked any discernible flavor; each bite was a bland experience. The fried rice, while the best item, still fell short of truly delicious. The egg roll suffered from an overly hard, almost brittle, exterior, and the chicken inside mirrored the blandness of the other dishes. I'm unsure if this was a one-off experience due to the time of day or preparation method (perhaps takeout differs significantly from dine-in service?), but the overall lack of flavor in every dish was striking. The complimentary soup, while well-intentioned, unfortunately had a texture I found unpleasant--slimy and reminiscent of reheated leftovers. It's disheartening to write this review, especially as I strongly believe in supporting local businesses. I genuinely hope this feedback is constructive and assists in improving the culinary experience at Yummy Panda. Perhaps investigating your preparation methods and sourcing of ingredients could pinpoint the source of the flavor deficit. Sincerely, Travis M read more

See all

We got our food for pick up, portions are on the smaller size but flavor was decent. Orange chicken was good and curry beef had a lot of peppers in it. read more

The Olympia area used to not have even a mediocre Chinese restaurant, it still does not - it has a very very good one. The food has loads of flavor and good portion size for the price. It is my family's go to Chinese food. read more

The finest fast food Chinese in our area! I love their wonton soup, simple and delicious! The General Tzao Chicken is perfect!

Very very good. Generous servings and the service was delightful. Made us smile and enjoy our meal doubly. Food was fresh and hot and very tasty! We will be back. There's way more on the menu I want to try. read more

Edit to respond to owner: I read other reviews after posting mine and saw at least two other comments about the garlic eggplant - one said it was swimming in oil and another said there was at least a cup of oil in the eggplant meal. At this point both are in the trash, so no pictures. I should have though. The eggplant meal was in a container that the staff tied a plastic bag around and when we got home and saw the bag full of grease where it leaked out even though the container was still closed., I had to put it in the sink to open it up because grease got all over the counter. I didn't consider posting public pictures - I don't expect to be questioned about the dishes further than my explanation. The chicken was dark and looked burnt too, not just the taste of the sauce. Or maybe the sauce took the burned taste of the chicken. Your staff was great though. We were there Friday around 6om. First timers who went on the advice of Best in Olympia FB page. Orange chicken sauce was burned and portion was meh. Garlic eggplant with tofu added - portion was very generous and the tofu was delicious but the eggplant was mushy and the whole dish was floating in grease (luckily the tofu was salvageable) . They were super backed up with takeouts so perhaps that's why but the food suffered, but the price was high for a mostly unpleasant meal and since ours was also takeout we couldn't send it back to the kitchen. We were hoping for a lot better. We *might* try again since everyone has a bad night but I'm reading through the reviews that this has been going on for a while with the eggplant dish being super oily... so idk. I'll update if we try again. read more

Darn It. I really wanted this new restaurant to be good because we live in a Chinese cuisine desert. I was especially excited to see Eggplant in Garlic Sauce on the menu. The flavor was pretty good but it was floating in a hot tub of oil. The twice fried pork was really bad. I got a great fortune in my cookie though . read more

Finally! We have a fantastic Chinese restaurant in the Lacey, Tumwater, and Olympia area. The owner's very nice and the food is always hot and delicious. read more

This seems to be a fairly new business that we found mostly by accident...and we are very glad we did. Only one lunch but it was very good and we plan to order again...try dinner menu this time! As a cook I found the sauce a bit salty but that is just a personal observation...and I ate everything completely! Rice could stand to have a few more little veggie bites but, again, purely personal...it was soo good I am making myself hungry now! read more

I put in a large order to go, and it was all there which is saying a lot these days. The people were friendly too. The food was delicious! I tried lots of different items since we had so many people, and all of it was fire! The chow fun was yummy, sesame chicken, king pao beef, the chicken fried rice, crab rangoons- all soo good! It was nice to have a place still take pride in serving good food. the portions were large and the price was fair for what we got! Thanks! read more

Fresh hot food and large portions. I'm so happy to have a delicious Chinese food restaurant in Lacey! So far we've tried 3 things there (fried rice, chow mein, garlic pork) and they were all delicious. We'll be back to try more! Just beware the garlic pork is very spicy so maybe ask them to make it less spicy if you're shy of spice. They add red pepper flakes to it so they should be able to tone it down I would think. read more

Our neighbors and my wife and I decided to check out the YummyPanda for dinner. We entered to the very small dinning area and proceeded to look at the menu. We placed our order and drinks, no wine or beer available. All of our drinks came in cans, no glasses. Napkins came wrapped with a very flimsy fork and knife. The dinner came on a paper plate but it was the best Asian food I've eaten in a long time. By the time we finished dinner my backside was sore from sitting in a metal chair. I would definitely eat their food again but use takeout next time. read more

At a past visit, the service was very slow, but the food was good. Typical Chinese American fare although they have a number of items labeled authentic Chinese. My most recent visit was a disaster. I ordered in person and was told it would be about 20 to 30 minutes. After 44 minutes I asked how much longer. I was getting hungry. They told me another 45 minutes!! And hour and a half to get my little to-go order. I had them cancel the order. So disappointed. The told me that online and Door Dash orders go through their computer system faster than in-person or phone orders. Lesson learned. It made for a frustrating evening. Not sure I'll go back. read more

Food was good, atmosphere and seating lacked a bit. Soup was a little too yellow for me and seemed weird. Overall I would go again but I would get my food to go since it already comes in to-go boxes even if your dine in. read more

I ordered chicken fried rice, shrimp in garlic sauce and something else soooo delicious. Freshly cocked and flavorful food. Please support this amazing heel of restaurant with quality food. read more