Black man walks into Panda Express behind another customer, then says the same rules suddenly do not apply: ‘the last initial of your name?’
The difference in how the two customers picked up their orders caught his attention.
A man says he questioned why a Panda Express employee asked him for extra information when the customer ahead of him appeared to pick up her order without the same verification. The two customers entered the restaurant around the same time and walked to the pickup counter one after the other, according to his account.
The man said the employee asked the customer ahead of him whether she was picking up an order, took her name, and handed over her food. When he approached the counter, he said the employee asked for his name, had him spell it out, and then asked for the last initial of his name before giving him his order.
In a video shared by TikToker @project.chai, the man described the interaction as possible racial profiling, pointing to the different treatment he said he received. His account does not establish why the employee asked for additional verification, but he said the difference in the two interactions left him wondering why the same process did not appear to apply to the customer before him.
He says the interaction got weird after he gave his name
The man said he visited Panda Express around 3 p.m. to pick up a plate he had ordered ahead of time. He described the restaurant as relatively quiet, saying about five people were sitting inside and eating when he arrived.
According to his account, a Hispanic woman entered at roughly the same time and reached the pickup counter just before him. Both customers had their phones out as they approached the counter, and he said he watched the employee help the woman first.
The woman reportedly gave the employee her name after the employee asked whether she was picking up an order. The employee then handed her the food without asking for another form of verification, according to the man.
When it was his turn, he said he gave the employee the name listed on his Panda Express account. He said the employee appeared confused by the name, so he repeated it and spelled it out for her.
The employee then repeated the name back to him, and he confirmed that she had it right. He said her demeanor seemed to change at that point, describing her as more suspicious of him.
The man said the employee then asked for the last initial of his name. He gave her the letter “M,” and she handed him his food.
That extra question stood out because the employee hadn’t asked the customer immediately before him for the same information. He also pointed to the employee’s change in demeanor as another reason he believed race may have played a role in the interaction.
The video doesn’t explain why the employee asked
The man acknowledged that he could not know why the employee handled his order differently. He said he was polite throughout the interaction and ultimately took his food and left, but felt the difference was unusual enough to share the experience online.
Panda Express’ public ordering information doesn’t establish a specific last-initial requirement for pickup. Panda Express tells customers to select a pickup location and arrive during their designated pickup time, but it doesn’t explain what information employees should request at the counter.
That leaves an important part of the interaction unanswered. The video shows the man describing a different experience from the customer ahead of him, but it doesn’t show why the employee decided to ask for additional information or what she was seeing on her screen.
That doesn’t invalidate the man’s concern. He noticed the employee asked him for more information than the customer ahead of him, and he said her demeanor changed after hearing his name. Those details are what led him to question whether race played a role.
At the same time, the interaction alone can’t establish what motivated the employee. Without an explanation from the restaurant or the employee herself, the reason for the different treatment remains unknown.
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