Chinese food was the first type of ethnic cuisine to become a food considered ‘restaurant food.’ The history of Chinese food is a rich and interesting subject, especially since it helps tell the story of the first major Asian immigration to the United States. The first documented Chinese restaurant, the Canton Restaurant, opened in 1909 in San Franciso. But, what is the oldest continually operating Chinese restaurant in the US?
Oldest Chinese Restaurant That is Still Open
The oldest continually operating Chinese restaurant in the United States is the Pekin Noodle Parlor, in Butte, Montana. The restaurant is located at 117 S. Main Street, Butte, Montana.
The building was built by attorney F.T. McBride during Butte’s boom days as a mining town, in 1909. The noodle parlor opened in 1911 on the second floor when Hum Yow relocated his restaurant there, which had originally been on Mercury Street. He later owned the building.
The downstairs hosted a shop that sold Chinese goods, herbs, and silks and a sign painting business, while the basement, or ‘ground floor’ housed a casino and saloon.
Pekin Noodle Parlor sits in what used to be the heart of Chinatown in Butte, in front of a small passage called China Alley. The restaurant is identified by a neon-orange Chop Suey sign.
Diners have to go up a very plain, and a bit spooky, flight of stairs to get to the restaurant, where they are ushered into their own curtain dining nook.
These nooks are part of legend, as, for many years, rumors dogged the business claiming that they were used by prostitutes to entertain clientele.
