Panda Restaurant Group
American restaurant group best known for the Panda Express Chinese-American fast-food chain.
Last updated October 20, 2026
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Overview
Panda Restaurant Group is a privately held American restaurant company headquartered in Rosemead, California. It is best known as the parent organization of Panda Express, which has become one of the largest Chinese-American quick-service restaurant chains in the United States. The group also operates or has operated other restaurant concepts, including the full-service Panda Inn and the Japanese-inspired Hibachi-San. The company traces its origins to 1973, when Andrew Cherng, Peggy Tsiang Cherng, and Andrew's father, Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng, opened the first Panda Inn in Pasadena, California. The Cherng family had roots in the Yangzhou area of Jiangsu province, China. Panda Inn established the group's initial restaurant identity around Chinese cuisine served in a sit-down setting. Panda Express emerged from a request connected to the opening of the Glendale Galleria shopping center. A developer and regular Panda Inn customer encouraged Andrew Cherng to create a faster, more accessible version of the restaurant for the mall environment. The resulting concept combined Chinese-American dishes with counter service and shopping-center convenience. Its early expansion accelerated during the mid-1980s, when the business grew from five locations to nine in a single year. Panda Express became the group's principal growth engine. Its model emphasizes standardized preparation, highly visible display kitchens, rapid service, broad mall and retail-site distribution, and menu items adapted to American dining habits. Orange Chicken became one of the chain's signature offerings, while chow mein, fried rice, Beijing Beef, and other wok-cooked dishes helped define its menu. By the mid-2020s, reference material described Panda Express as having more than 2,200 locations and as the largest Chinese fast-food chain in the United States. The group has also pursued restaurant development and partnerships beyond its core concepts. Reference material associates Panda Restaurant Group with Panda Inn, Hibachi-San, and support for a number of Asian or other restaurant concepts, including Uncle Tetsu, Yakiya, Pieology, and Ippudo. In 2019, Panda Express entered the Philippines through a joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation, marking the brand's first location in that market. Panda Restaurant Group remains privately controlled rather than publicly traded. The Cherng family has used family-office and charitable structures to manage investments and philanthropy. Through Panda Cares and the Panda Charitable Foundation, the group supports children's health, education, and youth leadership. Reported philanthropic commitments include major gifts to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, and OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. The group's public identity therefore combines large-scale quick-service restaurant operations with family ownership, internal culture-building, and substantial charitable activity.
History
Panda Restaurant Group began as a family restaurant venture in Southern California. In 1973, Andrew Cherng, his wife Peggy Tsiang Cherng, and Andrew's father, Ming-Tsai Cherng, opened the first Panda Inn in Pasadena. The family's culinary background and Chinese heritage informed the concept, while the location placed the business within the growing Southern California restaurant market. Panda Inn established the group's original full-service format. Its menu and service model focused on Chinese cuisine presented in a conventional restaurant environment. The concept later expanded to several California locations, but the group's major national growth came from a different format. During the development of the Glendale Galleria shopping mall, a developer who knew Panda Inn encouraged Andrew Cherng to create a faster restaurant suitable for a high-volume retail setting. Panda Express was developed as a counter-service adaptation of the Panda Inn idea. The concept emphasized speed, standardized dishes, visible food preparation, and convenient locations in malls and other high-traffic venues. The new format expanded rapidly in the 1980s. Reference material records growth from five stores to nine in 1985, illustrating the early acceleration of the chain. Over subsequent decades, Panda Express became the group's dominant brand and one of the most recognizable Chinese-American restaurant businesses in the United States. Its menu evolved around wok-prepared entrees, rice and noodle sides, and dishes designed for broad consumer appeal. Orange Chicken became particularly associated with the brand. Panda Restaurant Group developed a broader portfolio around Panda Express and Panda Inn. Hibachi-San represented a Japanese-oriented concept, while the group also supported or introduced other restaurant brands and concepts, including Uncle Tetsu, Yakiya, Pieology, and Ippudo, according to the supplied reference material. These activities positioned the organization as more than a single-chain operator, although Panda Express remained its principal public-facing business. International expansion was comparatively selective. In 2019, Panda Express entered the Philippines through JBPX Foods, a joint venture involving Panda Restaurant Group and Jollibee Foods Corporation. This gave the brand a local operating partner while extending its presence beyond the United States. Ownership has remained private and closely associated with the Cherng family. The family's investment and charitable activities have been conducted partly through family-office structures, including the Cherng Family Trust. Panda Restaurant Group has also built a major philanthropic platform through Panda Cares and the Panda Charitable Foundation. Since 1999, Panda Cares has reportedly raised more than $107 million for children's health, education, and youth leadership programs. The group's charitable commitments include a reported $10 million pledge to Children's Hospital Los Angeles in 2017, a $25 million gift announced by Huntington Hospital in 2022 for surgical-care improvements, and a $5 million pledge announced later in 2022 for a Panda Cares Center of Hope at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital. These initiatives have reinforced the company's family-owned identity and linked the restaurant business with long-term community investment. By the 2020s, Panda Express had expanded to more than 2,200 locations according to the supplied reference material. Panda Restaurant Group was also included in Forbes' rankings of America's largest private companies, appearing at number 107 in 2024. The group remains an active privately held restaurant operator with its core business concentrated in Chinese-American quick-service dining.
- 2024
Forbes private-company ranking
[1]The group is reported as number 107 on Forbes' list of America's largest private companies.
- 2022
Huntington Hospital gift announced
[1]Huntington Hospital announces a $25 million gift from the Panda Charitable Family Foundation to support surgical-care improvements.
- 2022
OHSU Doernbecher support announced
[1]Panda Restaurant Group pledges $5 million toward a Panda Cares Center of Hope at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.
- 2019
Panda Express enters the Philippines
[1]The brand opens its first Philippine location through a joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation.
- 2017
Children's Hospital Los Angeles pledge
[1]The company pledges $10 million to Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
- 1999
Panda Cares begins fundraising
[1]Panda Cares begins its long-running charitable fundraising and community-support program.
- 1985
Early store expansion accelerates
[1]The group grows from five locations to nine during the year.
- 1983
Panda Express is created
[1]A faster mall-based restaurant format is developed at the Glendale Galleria, leading to the Panda Express concept.
- 1973
First Panda Inn opens in Pasadena
[1]Andrew Cherng, Peggy Tsiang Cherng, and Ming-Tsai Cherng establish the family's restaurant business with a Panda Inn in Pasadena, California.
Products and positioning
A family-owned, large-scale restaurant platform centered on accessible Chinese-American quick-service dining, with additional full-service and Asian restaurant concepts and a strong philanthropic profile.
Chinese-American quick-service restaurant chain · 1983
Panda Express
Panda Express is the group's principal brand and its largest growth platform. It serves Chinese-American meals in a counter-service format, generally combining wok-cooked entrees with rice, noodles, vegetables, and appetizers. Its retail and mall-oriented operating model prioritizes speed, consistency, visible preparation, and menu familiarity. Orange Chicken is the brand's signature dish, supported by other meat, seafood, vegetable, rice, and noodle offerings. Reference material describes the chain as having more than 2,200 locations by the mid-2020s.
Full-service Chinese restaurant · 1973
Panda Inn
Panda Inn is the original restaurant concept created by the Cherng family. It operates in a sit-down format and provided the culinary and service foundation for the later Panda Express model. The concept is associated with Chinese dishes served in a more traditional full-service environment. Reference material identifies four Panda Inn locations, all in California, although the exact current operating footprint should be verified independently.
Japanese-inspired quick-service restaurant
Hibachi-San
Hibachi-San is a Japanese-oriented restaurant concept included in the Panda Restaurant Group portfolio. It extends the group's operations beyond Chinese-American food and is associated with grilled or hibachi-style Japanese-inspired offerings. The supplied material does not provide a complete current location count or detailed menu description.
Japanese restaurant concept
Wasabi
Wasabi is identified in the supplied reference material as an additional Japanese concept associated with the group's restaurant activities. Detailed information about its operating structure, locations, menu, and current status is not provided.
Controversies
Marketing campaigns
- 2022Huntington Hospital surgical-care support
United States
The Panda Charitable Family Foundation gave $25 million to Huntington Hospital in Pasadena to support improvements to surgical care.
Outcome. Hospital expansion and surgical-care philanthropy associated with the Cherng family.
- 2022Panda Cares Center of Hope at OHSU Doernbecher
United States
Panda Restaurant Group pledged $5 million to establish a Panda Cares Center of Hope at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Outcome. Funding for expanded acute-care support and a named pediatric-care center.
- 2017Children's Hospital Los Angeles partnership
United States
Panda Restaurant Group pledged $10 million to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The hospital's sixth floor was to be named the Panda Express Floor in recognition of the commitment.
Outcome. Major pediatric-health donation and facility naming recognition.
- 1999Panda Cares
United States
Panda Cares is the charitable arm of Panda Restaurant Group. It raises funds and supports programs focused on children's health, education, and youth leadership. Reference material states that the program had raised more than $107 million since its establishment.
Outcome. Long-running philanthropic platform with reported fundraising exceeding $107 million.
Brand decisions
2019
Enter the Philippines through a joint ventureM&ABackground
Panda Express sought an operating route into the Philippine market while retaining a local strategic partner.
Action taken
Panda Restaurant Group formed JBPX Foods with Jollibee Foods Corporation and opened Panda Express's first Philippine branch.
Aftermath
The transaction extended Panda Express beyond the United States, although the supplied material does not provide subsequent location or financial data.
1983
Create a fast-service mall formatStrategyBackground
The Cherng family was encouraged to adapt Panda Inn for the new Glendale Galleria shopping center and its high-volume retail environment.
Action taken
The group launched Panda Express as a faster counter-service version of its Chinese restaurant model.
Aftermath
Panda Express became the group's principal expansion vehicle and eventually its largest brand.
Recent events
- 2025
Panda Express reaches more than 2,200 locations[1]
Other
Reference material identifies Panda Express as having more than 2,200 locations and as the largest Chinese fast-food chain in the United States.
- 2024
Panda Restaurant Group appears on Forbes' largest private companies list[1]
Other
The group was reported as ranking 107th in Forbes' list of America's largest private companies.
- 2019
Panda Express opens its first Philippine location[1]
M&A · Other
Panda Express entered the Philippines through a joint venture between Panda Restaurant Group and Jollibee Foods Corporation.
Sources3 sources
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