Mandy Hom (pictured above), manager of the Parnassus Panda Express, has forged a successful business partnership with UCSF Retail Services that has created a win-win situation for both the restaurant and the university.
“UCSF is a very supportive business partner,” Hom said. “They help us post hiring information on our website and anything else I need for my business. They always respond quickly and make it easier for us to do business.”
And for Hom, business means selling lots of the restaurant’s popular Orange Chicken. “It’s our signature dish,” she said.
It all started in Hawaii in 1987 when Executive Chef Andy Kao invented the dish on a business trip to open the state’s first Panda Express restaurant. Inspired by the citrus on the island and the local’s love for meat dishes, Kao decided to coat an American classic, fried chicken, with tangy sweet-and-spicy sauce, a traditional flavor combination in the Chinese city of Yang Zhou.
“Customers like the balance between sour and sweet and the crispy chicken’s texture,” Hom said. “It truly represents American and Chinese culture and food.”
And if you are looking for Orange Chicken at lunch, arrive early. “The lunch hour is our busiest time,” Hom said.
The UCSF community also works with the Panda Care program, the restaurant’s philanthropic arm. “The mission of the foundation is to foster the spirit of giving,” Hom said. “Our team is active in the community through volunteer work.”
Panda Express opened at Parnassus in March of 1997. “UCSF is a good community and we wanted to be part of it,” she said. “Most of our customers are UCSF employees or students.”
The restaurant completed a major renovation in 2021, replacing the old exhaust system to make it more environmentally friendly, adding energy-efficient appliances, and installing low-flow water fixtures. Some of the innovations used in the redesign of the Parnassus Panda Express will eventually be used on future Panda Express restaurants. “The pilot testing of our energy management systems used at our Parnassus restaurant are part of the plans for other new locations while existing restaurants will be retrofitted with the new systems,” said Hom. “Our commitment to the environment shapes everything in our restaurants from packaging to energy conservation and from waste reduction to recycling.”
