At Pei Wei Asian Diner, there is no MSG (monosodium glutamate), that additive often found in seasonings and Chinese food in particular.

This fast-casual eatery just off of the bustling 106th South in Sandy packs its dishes with pure flavor, not additives.

Upon entering, diners place their order at the register and either find their own table or are seated by a server, depending on how busy it is.

The house was packed on a recent Saturday night, and while we barely fit inside the door at the end of the line, we were surprised by how quickly we moved through it.

The restaurant has an open kitchen, where cooks toss food in large woks, clanging utensils amid servers rushing out plates to waiting customers.

With exposed beams on the ceiling and a floor painted bright red, the atmosphere was fresh and bright, with the lighting dimmed so as to not be overpowering.

We collected our beverages, silverware, napkins and fortune cookies from a bar at the back of the restaurant, but we were a bit leery of the community jars of various dipping sauces and spices and decided to pass them up all together.

The bulk of the menu is divided into noodle and rice bowls, and signature dishes.

We tried the Lo Mein Noodle Bowl with beef (chicken, pork, vegetables/tofu, shrimp or scallops were also options). The egg noodles are cooked with rice wine garlic sauce, scallions, onions, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms and carrots. The beef was tender and juicy, but a bit lacking in quantity. In a huge bowl of noodles and scallions, there was maybe five or six pieces of meat.

From the signature menu, diners choose a dish (Mongolian, Ginger Broccoli, Lemon Pepper) and add your choice of meat (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, vegetables/tofu). Throughout the menu, spicy dishes are marked, as well as items that can be prepared vegetarian style.

We ordered Orange Peel chicken. The stir-fry dish comes with a chile-bean sauce, orange peel, scallions, garlic, snap peas, carrots and peanuts. This dish is marked spicy, and although many times we find spicy Chinese food a bit too much, we found this to pack just enough heat without an uncomfortable burn.

The sauce draped over the crispy pork in the Sweet & Sour pork is worth talking about. At many restaurants, sweet and sour sauce is so bright it nearly glows red. And the sweet flavor drowns out the sour. It’s almost like it’s a candy coating rather than a sauce. But Pei Wei gets it. The sour flavor came through on the pork pieces, onions, green bell peppers and pineapple.

The vegetables in all three dishes were cooked just enough to classify as such, but still crisp to bite into and full of flavor.

And another thing we didn’t need at Pei Wei: soy sauce. While many times stir-fry dishes could benefit from a good dousing of the staple condiment, we found just a small amount on the accompanying helping of rice was plenty to round out our meal.

Apparently at Pei Wei, less really is more.

Pei Wei Asian Diner

Where: 10373 S. State St., Sandy

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Price range: $1.95-$9

Info: (801) 601-1990