Pekin Cafe and Lounge Inc.

Heads up, the food is not the reason to come here. I ordered the foil chicken, beef and broccoli, and pork fried rice. None of it hit. The foil chicken was extremely salty and flavorless. The beef and broccoli was extremely salty and flavorless. The pork rice was room temperature warm. The pork was chewy and cold. Did I mention it was extremely flavorless and salty? Madison, my server, was polite with a great sense of humor. I made a few requests for items like honey and stickers. She was gracious and provided both items. We had many laughs. The building and many of the items in the building are 1911 original. I really loved being here. It was a wonderful experience. I'd definitely come back, but next time I'm only ordering drinks and snacks rather than full meals.

AuthenticChinese Food in Butte America! It isn't fancy but is is a great experience and it's been in business since 1911! Our server Madison was delightful and very accomplished at waitressing. This restaurant is also the recipient of the James Beard Award! I highly recommend the Orange Chicken and get the egg rolls as an appetizer with their special made in house plum sauce! Will return! :)

DO NOT GO HERE! If i could rate them no stars i would. The food was completely inedible. The noise was insane it was deafening and you can't even talk to the people your with because it was so loud. My partner only got his original soda and never got a refill. I never got the chop sticks I asked for. The inedible food took 45 minutes to get it. The food was cold and mostly uncooked, it was almost like canned food with chopped veggies uncooked and slopped on the dishes. The sauce on my chow mein was some sort of slime and there were no noodles in my, I repeat, chow mein. The "fried rice" was just rice with soy sauce and flavorless. Furthermore there was a large black hair in it. This was the most disgusting and disappointing dining experience I've ever had.

I read about this restaurant on NC and made it a point to try it out when in Butte MT. Was busy that night, but found service still to be fast. Ordered the Chicken Mushroom Chop Suey and was great. When back in Butte, will eat there again. I can definitely see why in business for over 110 years!

Where to start. The sectioned seating was fun, but when you look around it’s filthy. Walls look gross and the ceiling fan had so much dust layered on it. When our food came I was speechless. I ordered a shrimp combo plate. The rice was dry and clumped together, covered in soy sauce. The shrimp on my plate were the canned salad shrimp. They were translucent and not deveined, full of poop. My chow mein was drenched in some unidentifiable sauce. The egg drop soup looked like phlegm. La Choy would’ve been a 5 star experience. My husband had to move my plate away because I literally was going to vomit. Which is what my plate looked like. When the waitress asked if we would like something else instead, I was thinking a barf bag. Instead, we got $1.87 taken off our $50 bill. My husband eats just about anything and he didn’t eat his meal. Very disappointed, and I think that the health department needs to make a visit and shut this place down. Forget tradition and history.

I grew up eating here and was REALLY excited to take my wife to experience such a cool establishment. Longest running Chinese restaurant in the U.S. and the traditions it holds. Food was good, prices were incredible, servings were definitely on point. Ordered a dinner special for 2, it fed 3 and still had leftovers. The fried wonton in sweet and sour was the highlight. I don't have anything negative to say. We will certainly be back on future visits.

This is by far the worst food we have ever been served in our lives. We took two or three bites each. The staff got snappy with us when we said we did want to eat it. The oldest Chinese restaurant is cool but they don’t clean anything to include ceiling fans. The shrimp was canned shrimp dumped on top with all the poo left in the veins. The “chop suey” tasted like sewer water soup. The rice was not cooked and it was inedible. I would tell you go up and check it out but don’t buy any food.

Amazing atmosphere really fascinating history. Mediocre food. The almond chicken chow main was 50% cooked Celery. The fried rice was good but I'm convinced they cook 1 kind of fried rice and then threw cold little shrimp on it. Fried shrimp was good. Egg drop soup was good. The pineapple spare ribs were very good. They were tender and the sauce was excellent. Certainly the star of the dinner

This is a very popular spot and even if you arrive near opening a wait is not unusual. The only drawback to a great and historic dining ambiance. A mixture of seating types are used to fill out the top floor of a building that makes up the oldest continually operating chinese restaurant in the states (at least as near as I can tell). My father and I took up one of the dining booths that provide a surprising amount of privacy to enjoy your dining company and food. The Special M is all two people could ask for with normal appetites, and you can get that rate for everyone in your party for simplicity and variety. Nothing in the lineup failed to satisfy. As to the famous noodles: the basic one l served in a broth that won't win over enthusiasts of ramen or pho, but this classic Chinese style is an interesting legacy of a historic restaurant that rounds out a destination dining experience.

We really enjoyed the history of the restaurant. We had the Pekin Dinner Special, and we were able to try a number of dishes. We also got a side order of the Tomato and Beef Chop Suey, which was really good and probably the highlight of our meal. The restaurant is way more than just the food. It's the history!!!

We were recommended this location from a coworkers friend who's been here multiple times. This is one of the city, staples, and kind of a oddity of the city. Apparently the Chinese restaurant also used to be a brothel. Thought we would give it a try. When you first walk in, you do have to walk up about 20 to 25 steps to get to the top of the building. As the restaurant is located on the second floor. When you go through the door to the restaurant, it is a little crowded and claustrophobic. When I was reading that they had pink booths, I did not really read much into it and thought that it was just kind of upholstered boots like at a normal restaurant. Boy was I wrong, when they say boots, they mean more like private rooms, and the walls are painted pink. We were sat in a booth with a little room to squeeze around the chairs as we did have the radiator right up next to our table. You could tell they were busy because most of the tables had the curtains drawn and the wait staff was running around, like chickens with our heads cut off. Are we just was good she was very attentive to us, but she did disappear for periods of time, knowing that she was busy running up and down because you could hear the trolley cart on the floor. When it came time to order all three of us wanted something to do with the spare ribs but unfortunately we were told they were out. So next plan we had to figure out what else we wanted to eat. We all did get a combo plate, which is a little bit of rice noodles, and then whichever protein we had chosen . I chose to go with the fried shrimp. I played sizes are good but for the price that you pay would've expected to pay a little less or gotten a little more food. I did have the chicken chow mein. It was a little on the weird side because the chicken was cut into strips and just placed on top. When I've had this type of chicken chow mein in the brown gravy sauce, the chicken has been, cubed up and cooked within the entire meal. Also, it was lacking some bean sprouts, which added some of that heft to the meal. My rice was a little on the dry side or overcooked and again it just had chicken strips on top. The best thing out of my meal I would say it would be the fried shrimp and the fortune cookie at the end. If you don't mind mediocre Chinese food, and you want to see the wonder of oddities that light in the restaurant, then I would say this would be a perfect place for you to go.

Since this is the oldest Chinese restaurant in America AND is in an old brothel & opium den, I knew I HAD to have a meal here. Unfortunately, the food was not nearly as noteworthy as the historic facility itself. Upon arrival, you have to climb a staircase to get to the restaurant. That will make it inaccessible to some, so keep that in mind. Each table is inside a small partitioned area with a curtain for privacy. It's kind of neat and makes for a unique dining experience. The food is delivered on a metal rolling cart by the servers-ours was exceptionally personable. That's where things get a little dicey. The food was pretty bad. The flavor was off, the texture of the noodles was nearly unpalatable, and the meat barely tasted like meat. We did not finish our meals, but attempted to politely take a few bites and then push it aside. If I was rating on food alone, it would warrant one star. But strictly due to the history and the unique environment, they garnered a participation trophy. Visit so you can experience the oldest operating noodle parlor, but don't come for the fine cuisine.

Szechwan Chicken 4.3/5 overall. Meat 4/5. Sauce 4/5. Flavor 4/5. Size and value 5/5. Super cool place!!!! The oldest continuously operated Chinese restaurant in America, owned by the same family since 1909! The whole experience there is fun, the bar and bartender were fantastic, the eating booths, and of course an extensive and delicious Chinese menu. Great portions, and fantastic staff! Highly recommend making a stop here!

At least the water was good. The servers really work hard. They deserve better from the backend.

Pekin Noodle bar is the longest continuously running Chinese restaurant in the U.S. First off 10/10 experience. There are a lot of rumors that this restaurant was a brothel. If you don't already know, Butte had a lot of brothels in it's previous life, and the noodle bar has private booths that give cause to the rumors. However, true Butte historians know this restaurant was purchased by the original restaurant owner sometime around 1911, shortly after it was built, and apparently passed down through family/friends for generations now. These booths were very common in Chinese noodle parlors at the time, and they brought the traditional style here. When you walk up the stairs, it's confusing. No signs, but the right door is the bar and the left door is the restaurant. Most people who leave good reviews for this spot leave them for the bar, which can get lively on occasion despite limited hours. 10/10 service, our waitress was honest about the food and extremely polite 10/10 price - cheaper than any Chinese restaurant I've been to which is surprising for sit down service. 0/10 for the food. Do not come here for the food. It is not good and honestly do yourself a favor by ordering something extremely simple like soup, chicken fried rice or something off the vegetarian menu. You will regret ordering any type of meat. This is okay with me, because I came for the experience, not for the food. If they improved the food or changed it, I would have given 5 stars.

This is a must-see place. It's full of history and is incredibly interesting. The ambience is like no other place. The service is very good. Unfortunately, the food is not. The experience is 5 star. The food is 1 star.

Take a picture in front of this historic building, walk up the stairs, look around and LEAVE! Now you can say you were there! Food was not edible. Chicken was processed strips of lunchmeat. The white strips in photo is the chicken strips! Super nice server so tried a bit of our sampler dinner and went to Dairy Queen! Life is short, paid and left! What a travesty! Dairy queen saved our evening and good thing we have a sense of humor! Ps: soap and water is cheap! Clean your restaurant and wash your dividing curtains!

So, here's the thing. The Pekin is COOOOOL! The history is fun to research and when you climb the stairs and enter the restaurant , it is NOT what you were expecting. Unless of course you were expecting wooden orange stalls with a little curtain surrounding each table. It's fun but also in a super weird "this reminds me of Covid times" kind of way. I read that The Pekin earned a James Beard award last year so I was expecting great food. Unfortunately, and I hate to say it, the food was no better than the average Chinese restaurant you find in a small town. It was fine. That's all. We tried the House chop suey (since they invented it) it was fine. Wonton soup? Fine. Sweet and sour wontons? Also fine. Shrimp fried rice? Yawn-it was fine. You know what wasn't just fine? The ghost that moved my bf's tea across the table. I'm not kidding. I watched the damn thing slide 5 inches. More than once! Anyway NOT joking about the tea moving and also I do not believe in ghosts. But that happened.

I have never had a worse experience at a restaurant. The food was completely inedible. We ordered appetizers, soups and multiple, main dishes. There was not one single dish that should have been served the way we received it. ****IF YOU WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY, GO AHEAD, BUT MAKE SURE WHEN YOU ORDER, YOU ASK FOR FRESH CHICKEN. THE OWNER/COOK (JERRY) ACTUALLY SAID THAT. YOU HAVE TO ASK FOR FRESH INGREDIENTS IF YOU WANT THEM INCLUDED IN YOUR MEAL.**** My husband and I have worked in the culinary field for decades, and could not believe that this was an ACTUAL suggestion by the owner/cook. This place is NOT a must-see, and definitely not a must-eat. I wouldn't give this food to my worst enemy. Even they deserve better. You definitely deserve better.

The experience is a must. Historical and memorable. But my dish mes were not good- the chicken in the egg flower chicken soup had processed/pressed chicken strips that were so icky! Sorry- not sorry. I couldn't eat it. The pork fried rice was just white rice doused in some soy sauce, 4 peas, and some poor quality pork pieces. Nothing. $9.95 for a teeny serving. If you're gluten-free, just note that no accommodations can be made. Soy sauce is in everything. I really couldn't eat anything on the menu except for rice and a soup. Our waitress was kind and efficient. The place is quieter than I thought it'd be. I'm glad I got to go, but cannot really recommend it to anyone who likes authentic Chinese food...or good food, in general. This was much like a fast-food style, but not as good. The canned mushrooms and tiny little bay shrimp on others' dishes looked so sad.

I have eaten at Pekin and many other "old school" Chinese restaurants if I may put it that way. The food isn't prepared and served they way it in the new fangled Asian Grill eateries you see now. Pekin and other old restaurants serve food as it was done for generations in the home and will not please palates of today unless you have experienced the best of these old places and recall a past time, long past unfortunately..... This food is good, prepared and served with care, history and tradition.

Cool experience. Great service. I definitely would go there again if I'm in town again, with someone that's never been. The food was pretty good, and you received a lot for the price. It isn't the same ol buffet Chinese you are used to.

Didn't actually dine here. Yelp said they close at 11pm. We walked in at 8:30pm and noticed the paper sign taped to the door saying they close at 9pm. I walked up the stairs and saw the sign at the top of the stairs saying they close at 11pm. Already SO CONFUSING! The two white girls waitressing said they would only be able to do take out because they were closing. Uhhh well I already read all the terrible reviews about the food, so no thanks. As we were leaving I wondered what they do the other 19 hours of a day since they're only open 5 hours a day. -____- I'm disappointed because I was actually kind of looking forward to experiencing the oldest Chinese restaurant in the US.

For our 9 yrs annevesasary took wifee to THE oldest chinese restaurant in the states, no it's not in NY or San Fran, it's actually in Butte Montana believe me or not. How was the food? Forget the food we here for the history in the making. It's not even fair for me to critique as i grew up in Flushing Ny lol But was fun and took a lot of pics

Just left the Pekin Noodle Parlor. This was the worst Chinese restaurant my wife and I have ever eaten in. To begin with, our order took over 1 1/2 hours to get. My wife ordered chop suey and the dish included uncooked green peppers, onions, and cold tomatoes cut up on top of a goopy sauce. I ordered a combination meal. It was supposed to come with soup; never got the soup. It was supposed to be almond chicken chow mein. However, the chicken was sliced sandwich meat. When I asked about it, I was told this was what was used during the depression. The waitress also said that meals were hit and miss at this restaurant. It was definitely a miss. And for this sloppy mess of a dinner, the bill came to a whopping $78 Once again this was the worst Chinese restaurant we have ever eaten in our lives. We will never go back there.

Despite the Yelp reviews we went because we couldn't resist an American Institution and despite the Yelp reviews, we were pleasantly surprised by the food. There is a very important way to order food here. It is so important that I will yell it in all caps - ONLY ORDER FOOD FROM THE SPECIALS COLUMN!!!! I am not exaggerating. Fold your paper menu so that you can't see the "dinners" or the "Chinese foods". Only order from the specials which are wok cooked using fresh vegetables and meats that are not from a can. If you follow this advice, you will be able to focus on how delightful it is to sit in an orange painted booth created by a very Butte-scrappy Chinese American family that figured out how, despite all the challenges thrown at them, to create some pleasure and joy by going out for dinner.

Since I was passing through Butte, I was told I should stop and eat here due to the historial significance. Mistake. I've had better Chinese food at a grocery store. I would have kept the terrible quality to myself, if I hadn't just gotten sick to my stomach, two hours after this meal.

Sadly, the food is very very bad. It's not only the worse Chinese food you've ever had, it's the worse food you've ever had in a restaurant. We were excited to eat here for the history, but it's just very bad all around. Food seems all precooked. The shrimp fried rice is just white rice with soy sauce, then topped with canned mini shrimp. Fried shrimp was so tough, it hurt to bite. I could only take one bite of the egg foo young...it was inedible. My husband's chop suey was even worse. We left and headed to Walmart Superstore to get something good to eat .

I have been eating at the Pekin Noodle Parlor since childhood. Now, as a 71 year old adult, I find myself enjoying it as much as I did back then. The place hasn't changed at all. That's not to say it isn't stylish, but it brings me back to my earlier days, and I like that. Highly recommend it to anyone who wants to eat at the oldest continuingly operated Chinese parlor in the USA.

Iconic Chinese restaurant in Butte, MT. Supposedly it is the oldest running Chinese restaurant in the United States. It's quite as adventure for sure. The private booths are very cool. Go here for the history and the intrigue, but not really for the food. It's definitely not authentic Chinese. It is their take on Chinese-American. I do believe the sauces are all homemade. But again, don't expect unbelievable food. But the experience makes it well worthwhile.

I'd heard such solid reviews and after *decades* of dodging finally tried it. Inedible glop. Although a native Montanan I've lived in Southern California for the past 20 years so might be spoiled for just basic baseline excellence for adequate food at a half-assed food truck level (delicious), but this was proper shite. Shite. SHITE. Like proper you're starving to death with Earnest Shacketon, have already killed the dogs and still turn up your nose at it shite. Please, god. Give me the seal blubber. Give me baby penguins. Give me rancid human flesh. Pekin was sliced canned lunchmeat over a pile of chow problem Costco-fucking mein. Trying to be a good sport, and as a trailer-raised, commodity-nourished rez kid I sampled each portion, gagged, then said fuck it and closed out post haste, embarrassed for myself---nay, disappointed in myself--for not acknowledging each obvious red flag as I recognized it and listening as it came. Took the rest of that plate of half-assed slop to-go because I hate waste. My dog was... semi-delighted? Mildly disappointed? He ate it, un-enthusiastically, to get to his preferred kibble. To be fair, service was polite and competent. Food was notably, notably wretched. Truly, just excrement. I'd rather dine at a gas station. After all, a corn dog and Mountain Dew at least feels like an away game... This is my second Yelp review ever. I mean it.

I was so excited to try this historic restaurant, but immediately upon entering I was disappointed. It breaks my heart to give this place a 1 star review, but it is very warranted. The building is run down and dirty. Yes, the building is historic, but that doesn't mean it has to be neglected as is the case. Shockingly, the staff turned us away and said they were closed despite their posted open hours advertising they should be open for nearly two more hours. The staff was rude and just said, "It has been a weird night and we are closing." This place has been in business for over 100 years, but I cannot imagine It lasting another 100 days. Avoid the filth, disrepair, and unpredictability of the Pekin Noodle Parlor--so many better places to spend your money.

I love the history of this place. Right when you walk in, you can smell how old the building is. The creaky wood floors and the orange paint on the booths are also very odd but pretty cool. The food here is mediocre at the best (too salty for my taste) but I guess that is what they like there, so I am all supportive of it. No change in the menu along with decor. A+ for the history!

Worst Chinese food I've ever had in my life. First, the rice tasted dry and over cooked.... How do you mess up cooking white rice? We ordered to go sweet and sour pork and chicken fried rice. The pork tastes terrible.... But nothing beats the chicken fried rice. The fried rice tasted like regular rice dumped with a bunch on soy sauce and no other seasoning. And instead of mixing the chicken together they just dumped a bunch of chicken that looked and tasted like it came out of a can. Please don't call these Chinese food, it's a shame.

This could have been so much fun. A great old Chinese restaurant going back to the mining days, opium dens, gambling in the basement - all kinds of fun stuff. Funky two-story brick building with photo-worthy frontage, narrow old stairs up to a second story restaurant, and then a row of private, curtained rooms made of bead board painted a hideous orange? My kind of place, seriously. We ordered one small won ton soup, an order of egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, shrimp noodles, chicken chop suey, small fried rice, small white rice. The only problem was the food. Abysmal. The worst Chinese food, possibly the worst restaurant food I've ever had. We were prepared for super old school Cantonese. That's fine. It's nostalgic. We were not comparing it with modern Asian cuisines. The problem was that everything tasted stale, the frying oil needed changing and there was no flavor whatsoever in anything (when have you ever needed to salt Chinese food?). The cocktail shrimp used in the shrimp noodle dish had absolutely filthy veins, something I've never seen with cocktail shrimp. I know it's usually not necessary to devein such tiny shrimp, but on the other hand I've never seen anything like this. The won ton soup and the shrimp noodle were just seemingly sitting in unseasoned boiled water. The sweet and sour pork suffered from stale or overused frying oil. Same with the egg roll. Sweet and sour sauce itself was tasteless, with a faint sweet flavor and maybe a hint of five spice. Great history, absolutely terrible food.

DO NOT EAT HERE!! SAVE YOURSELF THE HEARTACHE....AND HEARTBURN!!! I really wanted to love this place. I took a day of PTO from work and drove 400 miles just to experience it. I mean, a James Beard Award restaurant. It MUST be good, right? Wrong! I don't know how they managed to snag this award. I'm not being mean, just honest. Hear me out. I ordered egg rolls, potstickers, sweet and sour chicken with pineapple, mushroom fried rice, Szechuan chicken with noodles and a #3 dinner (chicken Chow Mein / fried jumbo shrimp / chicken mushroom fried rice). Not a single thing was good, let alone "James Beard" quality. What a ruse! I feel lied to. Cheated even. The egg rolls were crispy, but the filling was mushy and without seasoning. The sweet and sour chicken tasted of old oil and was laden with fat and sinew. The Szechuan chicken should be recategorized and put in the "soup" portion of the menu. It was a bowl of oily liquid, cubed, boiled chicken and over-cooked, mushy noodles. With a name like mushroom fried rice, the mushrooms MUST be the standout of the dish, no? Well, that depends on whether you enjoy eating COLD, CANNED MUSHROOMS. You read that right. The chicken Chow Mein was the worst dish of the lot. Yes, it got worse. The "chicken" looked like thin, wet, pale strips of deli meat. Something akin to an old, dead earthworm. When chewing it, the texture was that of tripe or pure fat. I was mortified by the experience and couldn't believe what had happened. HOW it happened. Last time I checked, quality and the correct preparation/cooking of ingredients was paramount when being considered for such a prestigious award. I reached out to Jerry Tam, thinking he may care about my experience. I was wrong. It took no more than a few sentences to set him off. Like a rocket. Yelling at me, he accused me of not knowing a thing about Chinese food and calling me a "bad person". Repeatedly. Belittling and patronizing me, when he wasn't directly insulting me. Yet, he had no clear explanation as to why the entrees were poorly cooked/prepared. His only rebuttal was "WE'RE A JAMES BEARD AWARD-WINNING RESTAURANT!!" Even with my family's years of culinary background, I must be so obtuse that I don't understand that his sub-par food is actually good food, right? I must not know good Chinese food, right? I must hate Chinese food if I hate his food, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. There's good food and bad food. Period. I've seen Iron Chef's more receptive to opinions regarding their food than Jerry was. Completely rude and disrespectful. He yelled at me and told me that he would give me a refund, but that it "probably wouldn't be today, tomorrow or very soon, because we'll be busy serving people who LIKE our food." Those were his words. He browbeat me for about five minutes, then he hung up on me. Maybe that's how he got the award. Browbeating them until they gave it to him. Customer service, appreciation and manners must have skipped a generation. He should be ashamed of himself and the way he treats his customers. Maybe learn to be humbler and not just rest on your laurels, Jerry. Cuisine from many cultures began with simple, humble ingredients. Nothing Jerry pitched to me is so different from my immigrant family's humble beginnings. All his screaming about my "ignorance" and his accolades didn't convince me otherwise. I called back a week later, to inquire about the refund. He told me that I must not have "gotten the point." That he was not going to give me a refund at all. It's fine. I guess he needs the money more. To help heal his ego. Shame on you Jerry. I hope this review diverts those who have been thinking about dining here. Don't waste your money. Save yourself the frustration and don't let yourself fall for this wolf in sheep's clothing of a restaurant.

Best Chinese food ever with great historic atmosphere. If you are picky and an upitty snot, don't go, it's not for you. But if you know, you know.

I am sorry. This is the worst restaurant I have ever been to. Worst food. Worst food. Gross. I wanted it to be decent. Cool sign.

The worst Chinese food I have ever had. I should have listened to the reviews. Well I did in part. I ordered from the specialty menu that someone said was good. It wasn't. I got Cashew Chicken. It was in a terrible brown gravy like you would put on a pot roast. Not something that goes in a Chinese dish. It was like a packet of bad brown gravy mix. I also got pork fried won ton. It had a very tiny ( you couldn't see it) tough spot in the middle. I guess that was the pork. The only reason we went was because it is a historic restaurant. Don't bother, not worth it.

We were asked how our dinner was and we had to be truthful-basically just barely ok. We had the M menu and chose the pork ribs. Very tough and too much gristle. The won ton soup had no flavor and not much else did either! There is a restaurant in Bellevue, Wa that is absolutely fabulous! This was a trip to say we've been to the oldest Chinese restaurant in USA,‍but it was our anniversary

Wow! Not only is this the oldest Chinese restaurant in the nation, it may be the coolest too. We held a wake there last week. The food was amazing and so was the service. The history of the place makes it worth seeing. The owner came to us at the end of the wake and bought us a toast to the deceased.

Wonderful wonderful and environment. It's like stepping back in time. Good quality Chinese food & friendly service.

Tapped out of the "egg rolls" after one bite. Tried to force down a bit of lunch meat topped whatever it was. Now back in the hotel room downing massive doses of vitamin c and water in hopes of staving off being patient zero in a new pandemic. Please pray for me.

This restaurant is the oldest continously running Chinese restaurant in USA: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/history-first-chinese-restaurant-in-america-180980552/ So, you want to come here for the experience, not necessary for the food. Where else can you still order "Chop Suey" dishes, which used to be the most popular dishes in Chinese restaurants in America. The last time I had a Chop Suey dish was more than 40 years ago!

Food is abysmal. Service is absolutely terrible, especially the bar staff, and management is absurdly rude. Cleanliness and maintenance doesn't exist. No handicap access. The only reason this place stays in business is because of its history.

First time here and I gotta say go for the history, not the food! One star goes to the Pekin Special fried rice and our waitress (who was very patient with crazy Aunt). We ordered the egg roll and fried wonton appys; for food we ordered the PS fried Rice, the Szechuan beef, the pea pod chicken, and the ginger shrimp. Our favorites (I say this very loosely) were the ginger shrimp, the PS fried rice and the Szechuan beef. Everything else was very bland. The appys were edible, very weird because we all though the egg rolls tasted like gravy was inside ‍ very odd flavors. Each meal comes with plain white rice and plain noodles. I wish there was an option to forgo those since we ordered the PS fried rice. The rice/noodles went untouched. I had 2 big issues tonight. The 1st one was that my Aunt had asked for no green peppers and no onions. Our waitress put that on the ticket and the kitchen didn't read it so her food came back wrong. When our waitress went to have them remake, they refused and blamed our waitress (rude much). We were also told how the cooks hate to modify ANY dish. The 2nd issue is this place has been around like over 100 years. Yet they pass on the 4% charge to their customers when a credit card is used. Come to this century please, claim that on your taxes like normal businesses. Needless to say we have zero desire to ever go back. Go for the history, have a beer and then go somewhere else for the food. We went

I expected the food to not be great, I expected it to be pretty rough but nothing prepared me for just how awful it is. Our bartender Cam was so lovely to chat with, really fun convo. The server was also friendly, professional and prompt. The environment is fun and has such an interesting history. And here we go on the rest..... We got the meal for two and it seemed like it might have been prepared in bulk at some point in the week and reheated with some scallions thrown on top of it. The sweet and sour ribs had a really weird texture in addition to the sickly sweet sauce they swam in. The chicken chow mein had cold sliced loaf chicken with super soft and gooey celery. The pork fried rice was beyond salty while the limp noodles sat in what I suspected was dishwater. I hate to write negative reviews. It was just astonishing just how crazy bad the food was. I would say go and get an app/beer and tip very well.

Yummy big egg roll, potstickers and beer!! Can't beat the ambiance or service. Gave 4 stars because last time we ordered large multi course and did not enjoy. Thinking you need to learn what to order. BUT, don't pass this place up! It's amazing and fun!!

The good was beyond my expectation for Butte Montana, but I guess you don't stay in business for this long without it being good! Half Chinese and was very satisfied with flavors and the authenticity of the American dish of chao mian/chow main. Would bring friends here hands down.

A constant positive experience for 50 years! The food is delicious, the service is excellent and the surroundings are unique as the Pekin always has been.

They close at 9 but at 8, after a good time standing waiting for someone to acknowledge me, I get told they aren't seating anymore but I could get takeout...literally the only reason I decided to stay in Butte was to grab dinner here..,

Look, you come here for the experience not because it has a Michelin Star. Oldest Chinese Restaurant in America, open since 1911! Don't be a hater on the Pekin! You need to do it at least once and have a story to tell if you ever find yourself in Butte, MT. 4-Stars from this gal who throughly loved it! UPDATE: The food was fine, nobody got food poisoning.

The food here is completely garbage a waiter spat in my food and kicked me out after i left a 2 dollar tip. They tried to rob me

Cool historical experience! You have to climb a very long set of stairs to the second floor. The staff is super rad but the drinks and food are not that good. Go for the experience, not the food.

The food is consistent and a bit old fashion but, we'll prepared and presented. The service was quick and friendly even though it was during the Folk Festival and crazy busy. The Ambiance is perfect! The first time I eat there was 40 years ago and it's still the same. What a timeless experience.

I'm sorry to say it and I wanted to really love it.... It was awful left me up chucking on the side of the highway.... So disappointed...

Food was gloppy with gravy. Wontons overly fried, maybe oil was old too, as they were "dark brown". Heavy gravy-like sauces also fairly tasteless. The place was very busy, nice historical spot, but we couldn't each much of it.