You’ve probably stood in that mall food court line at least once. Maybe it was the smell of the Orange Chicken that pulled you in, or maybe it was just the most reliable option between a generic pretzel stand and a questionable pizza joint. But behind those steaming pans of chow mein is a story that most people get completely wrong. If you think Panda Express was just some corporate invention cooked up in a boardroom to commoditize Chinese food, you’re missing the actual hustle.
So, who started Panda Express? It wasn't a group of suits. It was a family. Specifically, the Cherngs.
Andrew Cherng and his father, Ming-Tsai Cherng, opened the very first "Panda" concept back in 1973. But it wasn't the Express we know today. It was a sit-down white-tablecloth restaurant in Pasadena, California, called Panda Inn. Andrew’s wife, Peggy Cherng, joined the fray shortly after. This trio basically built a multi-billion dollar empire from scratch, blending traditional culinary training with high-level systems engineering. It’s a wild mix of the American Dream and hardcore data analytics.
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The Pasadena Roots and a Father’s Legacy
Andrew Cherng didn't just wake up and decide to sell fast-casual food. He moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1966. He was a math major. His father, Ming-Tsai, was a master chef who had trained in Yangzhou, China. When they opened Panda Inn, they were struggling. Truly struggling. Some days they had so few customers that Andrew had to hustle outside, offering deals and literally beckoning people into the door.
It was a family affair through and through. They weren't wealthy. They used their life savings. They worked every single shift.
The food was authentic, but the business model was still evolving. For ten years, they just ran the sit-down spots. Then, in 1983, a developer at the Glendale Galleria—who happened to be a regular at Panda Inn—asked Andrew if he’d consider doing a simplified, faster version for the mall’s food court.
That was the "aha" moment.
Andrew realized that while people loved his father’s cooking, they didn't always have two hours for a formal dinner. They wanted the flavor, but they wanted it in ten minutes. Panda Express was born in that mall. It changed everything.
Peggy Cherng: The Secret Weapon
If Andrew was the visionary and the face of the brand, Peggy Cherng was the engine. Honestly, without her, Panda Express might have just been another successful regional chain instead of a global powerhouse. Peggy isn't just a "co-founder" in name; she holds a PhD in electrical engineering.
Think about that for a second.
She left a career at McDonnell Douglas and Comtal-3M to help her husband scale the business. She applied an engineering mindset to the kitchen. She built the proprietary software—Panda Automated Management System (PAMS)—that allowed the company to track inventory, sales, and even the popularity of specific dishes across hundreds of locations long before other fast-food chains were doing it.
She turned the "mom and pop" shop into a tech company that happened to sell food.
The Orange Chicken Phenomenon
You can’t talk about who started Panda Express without mentioning the man who created the dish that practically pays the rent: Chef Andy Kao. In 1987, Kao developed the recipe for Original Orange Chicken.
It was a pivot.
Traditional Bone-in dishes weren't working for the American palate on the go. Kao took the flavors of his native Yangzhou—sweet, sour, a bit of spice—and applied them to crispy fried chicken chunks. It was an instant hit. Today, the company sells over 100 million pounds of it every year. It’s become a cultural touchstone, even if it’s more "Chinese-American" than "Traditional Chinese." The Cherngs have always been transparent about this; they call it Chinese-inspired comfort food. They aren't trying to be a culinary museum; they’re trying to feed the masses.
Why the Company Stays Private
Most companies this size go public. They want that Wall Street money. But the Cherngs? They’ve stayed fiercely private.
Because they own 100% of the company, they don't have to answer to shareholders who might want to cut costs by using cheaper ingredients. They can focus on "Panda Way," their internal culture that emphasizes self-development and "living a healthy lifestyle." It sounds a bit corporate-speak, sure, but they actually put money behind it, offering things like health insurance and professional development to hourly workers long before it was the industry standard.
They don't franchise either. Almost every Panda Express you see is company-owned. This allows them to maintain a level of quality control that’s nearly impossible when you’re selling territory rights to random investors. When you walk into a Panda in New York or a Panda in Tokyo, the Honey Walnut Shrimp is going to taste exactly the same.
The Struggle for Authenticity and Identity
There is often a debate about whether Panda Express is "real" Chinese food. Andrew Cherng has been pretty vocal about this over the decades. He views the brand as a bridge.
When they started, many Americans were still hesitant about traditional Chinese flavors. By smoothing out the edges and focusing on high-quality ingredients and consistency, the Cherngs introduced an entire generation to flavors like ginger, garlic, and soy.
It’s interesting to note that even as they’ve scaled, they’ve kept certain traditions. The kitchens still use actual woks. The chefs are trained in "wok hei"—the "breath of the wok"—which is that specific charred flavor you can only get from high-heat cooking. It’s a massive logistical headache to train thousands of cooks to use woks instead of just using automated stir-fry machines, but the Cherngs insist on it. It’s their way of keeping his father’s legacy alive in a fast-food environment.
Hard Lessons and Business Pivots
It wasn't all easy. In the 90s, they tried to expand into other types of cuisine. They experimented with a Japanese concept and even a Mexican-inspired grill. Most of those failed or remained small.
They realized their strength was the "Panda" brand itself.
They also had to navigate the changing landscape of mall culture. As malls began to die out in the 2010s, Panda Express had to pivot to "street" locations—standalone buildings with drive-thrus. This was a huge shift in their real estate strategy. It required a completely different flow for the kitchen and front-of-house. But again, Peggy’s data-driven approach helped them identify the best locations and optimize the drive-thru speeds to compete with the likes of Chick-fil-A or McDonald's.
Current State of the Empire
Today, Andrew and Peggy are still at the helm as co-CEOs. They are billionaires, but they still show up at the office in Rosemead, California. They’ve expanded to over 2,300 locations.
They also launched the Panda Restaurant Group, which acts as an incubator for other brands. They’ve invested in chains like Just Salad and Uncle Tetsu. They’re basically taking the systems Peggy built for Panda and applying them to other food niches.
What You Can Learn from the Panda Story
If you’re looking at the Cherngs as a blueprint for business, there are a few things that stand out beyond just "work hard."
First, the power of the "side-door" entry. Andrew didn't try to beat the big fast-food giants at their own game on the main street. He went into the malls where there was no competition for Chinese food. He found a vacuum and filled it.
Second, the marriage of art and science. You need the "Master Chef" (Ming-Tsai) for the flavor, but you need the "Systems Engineer" (Peggy) to make sure that flavor can be replicated 2,000 times a day without fail.
Third, the long game. They didn't rush to go public. They didn't rush to franchise. They grew at a pace they could control. That’s rare in a world obsessed with "blitzscaling."
Actionable Takeaways for Your Own Journey
If you're inspired by who started Panda Express and want to apply their logic to your own career or business, start here:
- Audit Your Systems: Peggy Cherng’s biggest contribution was tracking data before it was cool. Look at your own projects. Are you guessing, or do you have a system to track what actually works?
- Identify Your "Orange Chicken": Every brand needs a "hero product." What is the one thing you do better than anyone else that brings people in the door? Double down on that.
- Find Your Niche Environment: Don't fight for space in a crowded market. Like the Cherngs in the 1980s mall scene, find a location or a platform where your "flavor" is the only one available.
- Embrace the Hybrid Identity: Don't be afraid to adapt a traditional concept for a modern audience. Authenticity is important, but accessibility is what builds an empire.
The story of Panda Express is ultimately a story of a family that refused to be just another statistic. They took a struggling sit-down restaurant and turned it into a global icon through a mix of culinary respect and relentless technical optimization. Whether you love the food or not, you have to respect the machinery they built.