ANDREW & PEGGY CHERNG
CO-FOUNDERS
PANDA RESTAURANT GROUP
THE MONEY: Owners of the largest Chinese restaurant chain in the U.S., with a group that now counts 2,200 doors, 40,000 employees and over $3B in sales. Aiming to grow at a rate of more than 100 restaurants annually. Company has its headquarters and other operational facilities in the San Gabriel Valley city of Rosemead.
HISTORY: The family-owned business is a long-standing one in Southern California, with Andrew Cherng and Master Chef Ming-Tsai Cherng opening the first Panda Inn in 1973 in Pasadena. The first Panda Express opened its doors at the Glendale Galleria mall in 1983, and nine years later, the first Hibachi-San, a teppanyaki and sushi concept, opened in Bloomington, Minnesota.
GROWTH: The couple opened their 100th store in 1992, 500th in 2002 and by 2007, they had reached 1,000 locations and $1B in revenue.
WEEKEND WEALTHY: The Cherngs have a residence in the oceanfront Strand at Headlands neighborhood in Dana Point, according to property records. It’s not believed to be the primary residence of the couple, who also have pricey homes in and around Pasadena, Las Vegas and Hawaii, according to reports.
PHILANTHROPY: The Cherngs made the top donation to a local organization in 2023: $100M to the City of Hope, which is building a $1.5B campus in Irvine. “As immigrants, we recognize the privilege we’ve been afforded from our communities and want to give back and provide opportunities to those we serve,” said the Cherngs.
LOCAL INVESTMENTS: Family has increasingly been putting their money into commercial real estate. News reports indicate they’ve spent at least $170M on office and land purchases since 2017. Last year, the family paid $22.1M for an office complex in Cypress. The Cherng’s family trust in 2016 invested in locally based pizza concept Pieology Pizzeria.
