For diehard fans of Panda Express (you know they're out there), here's a fast food Chinese experience that adapts Panda's tactics and improves on them in every category. The Loop's Fast Foo's takes the immensely easy "two item combo" approach, situates the items in its culinary glory up in front for you to choose, pours on a buttload of rice, and charges you $5.35. So yes, pretty Panda-like, but the food here seems fresher and less processed, the dining room stays classy and dimly lit (and no sticky tables), and spending money here gives you the self-satisfaction of not contributing to some board meeting demographical breakdown (if you're in one of those anti-corporate kind of moods).

The menu proudly declares that its food contains no trans fat, no MSG and no artificial color or flavor (i.e. all that stuff that's reportedly killing us). The entrees without the two item combo are pretty cheap in and of themselves – $2.95 at the cheapest (stir fried vegetables), $5.65 at the most "expensive" (orange shrimp). Of course, the two-item deal allows for a little variety, and Fast Foo's is a nice place to experiment with stuff like the spicy and Americanized Ma-po tofu, the broccoli chicken pasta and the Kung-Po shrimp, as there's considerable leeway to take a risk when you have another dish on standby. Add the usual appetizer egg rolls (with a vague cinnamon flavoring?), crab Rangoon and hot wings and you've still got a junkpile of food for less than $9.

While Fast Foo's works as standard take-out joint for a plethora of Loop employees, the dining room is pleasant enough to stick around and shovel in your food while sitting down. Nothing wildly special in there, a few Oriental ornaments and a totally boss postmodern painting are about it. But hey, it's clean!

Average cost: <$10

Centerstage Reviewer: Andy Seifert