UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The Clermont County area’s first Panda Express has opened at 4458 Glen Este-Withamsville Road, celebrated with a ribbon cutting and a $1,000 donation to a local food pantry.
The Clermont Chamber of Commerce said this week it hosted the grand-opening ceremony, joined by restaurant employees, chamber officials and the chain’s panda mascot. As part of the celebration, Panda Express donated $1,000 to IPM Food Pantry, the chamber said in a Facebook post.
IPM Food Pantry, formally known as Inter Parish Ministry, has served families in the region for six decades. The nonprofit was founded in 1964 to assist families living in impoverished conditions along the Little Miami River near Newtown and now operates mobile and pop-up pantries across 112 ZIP codes in Clermont, Hamilton, Adams, Brown and Highland counties from its facility on Aicholtz Road in Union Township.
Panda Express traces its roots to Panda Inn, a sit-down Chinese restaurant Andrew and Peggy Cherng opened in Pasadena, California, in 1973. The couple launched the fast-casual Panda Express spinoff a decade later, in 1983, inside the Glendale Galleria mall. The chain, now headquartered in Rosemead, California, has grown into one of the largest Asian restaurant chains in the country, with more than 2,200 locations.
The new Union Township restaurant serves the chain’s menu staples, including orange chicken, broccoli beef and honey walnut shrimp, according to the chamber.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont Chamber of Commerce.