Panda Express Tests Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken in Seven U.S. Markets

A new snack format with Taiwanese roots

Panda Express is testing a portable, shareable take on Taiwanese popcorn chicken, marking the chain’s first walk-and-eat snack format. Guests can also order it as an entrée with a Plate, Bowl or Family Meal. That dual role gives the item a job beyond snacking: it can be a side for people passing through or a main dish for customers already building a meal around the chain’s familiar format. The test also lets Panda Express see whether a product built for eating on the move can fit into a menu best known for plated combinations.

The dish draws on yán sū jī (鹽酥雞), a Taiwanese street food associated with night markets. Panda Express uses dark meat chicken in a light, extra-crispy coating, then adds a dry seasoning blend with tamarind, tomato, garlic and onion. Crispy fried kale stands in for the traditional basil garnish, and house-made Chili Crisp Aioli comes on the side. The combination signals several distinct choices: dark meat for a richer bite, a dry spice mix for flavor across the coating, and a dip that lets customers add another layer themselves. Kale provides a visual and textural reference to the basil garnish, though it’s an adaptation rather than a direct recreation of the customary presentation.

That distinction matters. A chain translating a street food for a different menu has to make decisions about portion, packaging and ingredients, not simply copy a dish’s name. Here, Panda Express is framing the result as Taiwanese-inspired while connecting it to the company’s own American Chinese identity. This is more significant than it looks: the product’s appeal may depend as much on whether customers understand that relationship as on whether the chicken is crisp and well seasoned. A familiar format can make a less familiar culinary reference easier to approach.

“Popcorn chicken is a familiar favorite for many Americans, so pairing it with Taiwanese-inspired flavors and street food culture felt like the most natural way to tell our American Chinese story,” said Evelyn Wah, Panda Express vice president of brand innovation. She described the format as an on-the-go option with bold flavors. The quote lays out the company’s intended balance: recognizable food, cultural specificity and convenience. Those goals can sit together, but they aren’t identical. If you're working in this space, the interesting question is whether the flavor and presentation communicate the Taiwanese reference clearly once the product leaves the menu description.

Frankie Gaw’s collector bucket

For the launch, Panda Express worked with Taiwanese American designer, author and food creator Frankie Gaw of Little Fat Boy. His work explores Asian and American influences through food, culture and storytelling. The partnership gives the launch a creative voice beyond the menu itself, with Gaw’s background connecting the product’s Taiwanese inspiration to personal and popular food memories. That can make a limited-time item feel more like a cultural collaboration than a routine menu addition, though the design still has to work as packaging customers can carry and use.

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Gaw created a limited-edition bucket inspired by Taiwanese night markets, American movie theater memories and Panda Express’ American Chinese identity. He called the project a “full-circle moment” after growing up eating at the chain, and said the design draws on his Taiwanese roots and childhood moviegoing. The bucket links the food to a second kind of nostalgia: street markets on one side, the familiar ritual of carrying a snack at a movie on the other. That connection gives the packaging a narrative role, not just a container for the chicken.

Collector packaging can also shape how a launch travels through social media and conversation, especially when the design has a story customers can recognize or share. But the bucket’s appeal is necessarily limited by availability and by whether customers want a keepsake alongside a meal. It’s a supporting part of the launch, not evidence by itself that the new format will become a lasting menu fixture. And this is the part most people overlook: the collectible may attract attention, while repeat orders will depend on the food and its fit with the rest of the menu.

Regional test and bucket availability

The chicken is available at participating locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix and Reno, plus select nearby markets. Starting September 9, customers in those test markets can get Gaw’s collectible bucket with a large à la carte pail order, while supplies last. The regional scope means customers elsewhere can’t assume the item is available, and the bucket has a separate purchase condition tied to the large pail. Customers will need to check participating locations for the test item and its packaging.

A regional test gives a restaurant chain a way to put a menu idea in front of customers across several markets while keeping the rollout bounded. The format can reveal practical questions that a recipe description can’t answer: whether customers treat the chicken as a snack or a meal, how it works alongside existing orders, and whether the portable packaging matches the way people actually eat it. The source doesn’t describe the test’s duration or say how Panda Express will judge its results, so any claim about a wider rollout would be premature.

What the test could tell Panda Express

The launch brings together three bets: a familiar chicken format, flavors linked to Taiwanese street food and packaging built around personal and cultural memories. Each can help the others. The recognizable popcorn chicken may lower the barrier to trying the seasoning, while the story and bucket give the product a distinct identity in a crowded fast-casual menu category. Yet those elements also create a high bar for execution. If the food reads as generic fried chicken, the cultural framing may feel like decoration; if the reference is too unfamiliar, the product may struggle to reach customers beyond those already interested in Taiwanese food.

Here's the thing: a test can be useful even if the company hasn’t promised a permanent menu slot. It lets Panda Express explore whether a walk-and-eat item can sit alongside meals organized around Plates, Bowls and Family Meals, and whether customers respond to a story that blends Taiwanese influences with the chain’s own identity. A small-format snack can widen how people use a restaurant, but it also has to earn repeat interest after the novelty of a limited-edition bucket fades.

For now, the clearest takeaway is the experiment itself. Panda Express is pairing a Taiwanese street food reference with a product format designed for convenience, then testing that combination in selected markets. The result will depend on more than the concept. Crispness, seasoning, portion and the experience of eating it on the go all matter. A promising premise, with the proof still to come.