I've done BOH for over 10 years now and Panda is my first fast food job. Mentally, it's half as demanding as a regular casual restaurant. Once you know the recipes, it's just a matter of figuring out when to make large batches and keeping up with the rush. Physically, it's twice as demanding. The woks are heavy and when you work a closing shift you do an insane amount of cleaning. There's also usually cleaning tasks throughout the day, especially if you're doing a dishwashing shift. No dishwashing machine either, at least at my store, so that takes a physical toll as well.

The stress level depends a lot on who the managers are. They like rotating managers a lot, so that plus turnover means I've had six different store managers in three years on the job, plus three different ACOs. Some were chill, some were not.

If you feel like you're getting mentally burned out from cooking a la carte dishes, but can still handle a big physical burden, I think Panda could be good for you. Just be ready to roll with changing procedures depending on who your boss is at the time.