The Panda and Wildcat Enjoy New Partnership

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 20, 2011) -- Panda-monium has set in at the Student Center as Kentucky’s first Panda Express restaurant officially opens today.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies are scheduled at 11 a.m. today in the restaurant on the first floor of the University of Kentucky Student Center, next to the Cats Den. Speakers include UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy and Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Mock. Special guests include the Panda and UK mascots.

Several representatives of Panda Express corporate headquarters have been at the UK restaurant for several days, familiarizing the UK Dining Services crew with the Panda way of preparing healthy, gourmet stir fried meals fast. Among those is Jenny Yau of the Panda Express Licensing division.

“Colleges students across the country love Panda Express, and Panda Express loves them as well. We continue to seek opportunities to serve more students every year, and UK is our best opportunity to serve more students as well as the people of Kentucky. We are honored to partner with UK Dining Services to open the first Panda Express in Kentucky and to become UK students’ gourmet Chinese option on campus,” said Yau as she relaxed for a moment Tuesday after the UK Panda Express team served more than 500 hungry members of the campus community in a special two-hour pre-opening event.

Specializing in Mandarin and Szechuan cuisine, Andrew Cherng and his father Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng opened the first Panda Inn in Pasadena, Calif., in 1973. Catering to his customers desire for quick-service Chinese food, Cherng opened the first Panda Express in 1983. It did not take long for the restaurant’s fast, delicious, healthy food to become a consumer favorite.  In 2005, Andrew and Peggy Cherng were inducted into the California Restaurant Association’s Hall of Fame. In 2007, the Panda Restaurant Group opened its 1,000 location and achieved $1 billion in revenue for the first time.

For a detailed look at the Panda Express menu, including detailed nutritional information, visit http://www.pandaexpress.com/menu/nutrition.aspx.

For the next two weeks, Panda Express will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. After Commencement on May 8, Panda Express will be open 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday during the summer months.