Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., parent company of

Panda Inn Panda Inn is a chain of sit-down Chinese restaurants in California owned and operated by the Panda Restaurant Group. The company's original founding goal was to bring new varieties of Chinese cuisine, such as Mandarin cuisine and Szechuan ...

Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that serves American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,200 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, where it was founded, and is mainly located in North ...

and

Hibachi-San Panda Restaurant Group, Inc., parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express and Hibachi-San, was founded by Andrew and Peggy Tsiang Cherng Jennings, Lisa"Having words with Peggy Tsiang Cherng: chief executive and co-chair, Panda Restaurant Group" ' ...

, was founded by Andrew and Peggy Tsiang Cherng Jennings, Lisa
"Having words with Peggy Tsiang Cherng: chief executive and co-chair, Panda Restaurant Group"
''Nation's Restaurant News'', August 1, 2005 and Andrew's father, Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng, the family originating in the

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...

region of China's

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

province. They started their first Panda Inn restaurant in 1973 in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Ten years later a developer of the Glendale Galleria, who was a patron of Panda Inn, asked Andrew to start a fast-service version of his restaurant in the new mall. In 1985 the store went from five locations to nine in just one year. The group has its headquarters in

Rosemead, California Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a cluster of cities, along with Alhambra, Arcadia, Temple City, Monterey Park ...

. Panda Express in the largest Asian-American restaurant chain in the United States, with 2,200 branches. In 2019 Panda Express opened its first branch in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, as a joint venture between the Panda Restaurant Group and Jollibee Foods Corp., JBPX Foods.

Andrew Cherng Andrew Cherng (; pronounced ''Chur-ng''; born April 1948) is a Chinese-born American billionaire restaurateur. He is the founder and chairman of Panda Restaurant Group, based in Rosemead, California. He is the co-founder and chief executive offi ...

, age 70, and his wife Peggy Tsiang Cherng met at

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Ar ...

Baldwin City, Kansas Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States, about south of Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,826. The city is home to Baker University, the state's oldest four-year university. History ...

. Peggy Cherng went on to receive her B.S. degree in Mathematics from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. The company debuted on Forbes' 2016 edition of America's Largest Private Companies The Cherngs invest their personal wealth out of their family office, the Cherng Family Trust.

Companies

The Panda Restaurant Group includes Panda Express, Panda Inn,

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is an American fast-food restaurant chain specializing in chicken fingers founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by Todd Graves and Craig Silvey in 1996. History Founders Todd Graves and Craig Silvey were both enrolled ...

(AK/HI only) and Hibachi-San. Panda Express, the most popular, has over 2,000 locations as of 2018, making it the largest

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

fast food chain in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Panda Inn, a sit-down restaurant chain, has 6 locations, all of which are in

, plus Wasabi, a Japanese concept. Panda Group has been aggressively supporting popular Asian chains by introducing them in the American market. Uncle Tetsu, Yakiya,

Pieology Pieology Pizzeria is a Tustin, California-based pizza chain within the fast-casual dining restaurants category. Founded in 2011 by Carl Chang, the brother of former tennis player Michael Chang, Pieology's mission is to "turn one of America's ...

and

Ippudo Ippudo, also known as in Japan, is a Japanese ramen restaurant chain with locations worldwide. Ippudo is well known for its tonkotsu ramen, and has been described as "the most famous tonkotsu ramen shop in the country". History Ippudo was sta ...

are all concepts supported by Panda Group. In 2018 it was ranked 143 on the Forbes list of America's Largest Private Companies.

Philanthropy

The majority of the Cherngs donations are done through Panda Cares, the giving arm of the Panda Group, and the Panda Charitable Foundation, to education, youth leadership development and health. Since 1999 Panda Cares has raised over $107 million. In July 2017, the company pledged $10 million to the

Children's Hospital Los Angeles Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue. The hospital has been academically affi ...

, where the sixth floor will be renamed the Panda Express Floor. In May 2022, The Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California announced a $25 million gift from the Panda Charitable Family Foundation in support of enhancements to the hospital’s surgical care program.The Huntington Hospital announced they will be displaying the family's name on campus as a thank you to their commitment and continuous support of the hospital.

References

External links

Official websitePanda Cares Hoover's Financial Data on the Panda Restaurant Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panda Restaurant Group Restaurant groups in the United States Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Restaurants established in 1973 1973 establishments in California Rosemead, California Privately held companies based in California

Companies

Philanthropy

References

Further reading

External links