Costco and Panda Express

Costco's Cheese Pizza is most likely the reason I haven't dropped more weight since losing 50 lbs last year.  It is definitely my guilty pleasure.  For only $1.99 for a slice and $0.59 for a refillable Diet Pepsi, it's fast easy and tastes pretty good.  Sure, it's not like pizzeria quality pizza, but for a fast quick lunch, it's hard to beat.

Costco is always nearby for me.  I had one less than a mile from where I lived, but when I moved, it's perhaps 6 miles away now.  When at work, it is only 1 mile away.  It's always close by and because of this, I end up there a lot.

I went there today, got my Cheese Pizza Slice and a Diet Pepsi but on the way home, I drove by a Panda Express.  Since I had my new Canon G7X Mk II camera with me (it will always be with me going forward since it's so small), I wanted to try shooting something more than just pizza.  So I drove up to the Panda Express... something I NEVER DO!

Really, a Chinese guy at a Panda Express?  NEVER!!!  But I had to try it.

I ordered an Orange Chicken with Chow Mein Bowl for $6.30 plus tax.  Wow, this thing was pretty small.  If I went to a Chinese carry out like Chopsticks in Rolling Meadows, I would have had perhaps 3 times the amount of chicken and twice as much fried rice (yes, I got chow mein, but if it were fried rice, it would have been at least twice as much at the carry out).  On top of that, I would have had a free Diet Coke can too for the same price as at Panda Express!

The taste of the orange chicken was decent, but nothing special.  The chow mein had a bit of "wok hei" flavoring to it, so that was a bit of a surprise.  Still, I just didn't think it was worth the money and the taste of it all was just very plain.  And where are the Chinese people?  Not a single one could be seen in the restaurant, although to be fair, I was there quite a bit later than most people doing lunch.  Two Mexican women worked the counter but I didn't get to see who was working the wok.  Will I go back, I doubt it, but for those not used to true Chinese food, it's probably not bad.