BUTTE, Mont. — An iconic eatery dubbed the “the oldest continually operating family-owned Chinese restaurant in America” has closed.
The Pekin Noodle Parlor, which has been in business in Butte, Montana, since 1911, closed its doors for the final time last month.
The restaurant, run by the Tam family for generations, counted Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren among its fans. Then-U.S. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana even got Pekin into the Congressional Record, recognizing it on June 23, 2011, the Daily Montanan reported.
“For generations, the parlor has been a centerpiece of Chinatown and an evolving Butte community,” Baucus said at the time.
“Since opening our doors in 1911, when the Tam Family first welcomed guests, this restaurant has been more than just a place to eat,” the restaurant wrote in a social media post. “It has been a part of Butte’s history, a gathering place for families, friends, and generations of our community.”
The restaurant, originally owned by Hum Yow and Tam Kwong Yee, opened 22 years after Montana attained statehood. According to its website, when the restaurant first opened on the second floor of the Main Street Building in Butte, “it catered to a diverse clientele of miners, theater-goers, and wealthy citizens.”
The menu remained consistent through the years, featuring Chinese-American dishes such as chow mein, chop suey and egg foo young.
In 1947, Ding Kuen Tam, the grandson of Tam Kwong Yee, left China and came to the United States in 1947, according to the website. He became known as “Danny Wong” and bought the business from his great-uncle.
America's oldest Chinese restaurant closes for good after 115 years https://t.co/7X9wFVz5LP ("Sad News!")
— Raul R Duran (@raul_r46127) May 7, 2026
Wong ran the business for more than six decades with his wife, Sharon Chu, until his death in 2020. The couple’s son, Jerry Tam, took over the business when his father died.
Butte created “Danny Wong Day” in 2021 to commemorate Wong’s work, the Daily Montanan reported. The restaurant received the “America’s Classics” award from the James Beard Foundation in 2023.
“There is still a future for the Pekin, but it’s not expecting customers to dine out and enjoy each others’ company over hot tea and a warm bowl of noodles, tipping your server, and supporting mom/pop restaurants that made up this great nation,” Jerry Tam wrote in a message to the newspaper. “My father gave me the Pekin to make a decision he could not make for himself or have his beloved daughters do . . . someday having to close the restaurant.
The Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte, Montana has been serving up Chinese cuisine since 1911 https://t.co/bjSahT0DOC pic.twitter.com/GLd9xJl1mC
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) November 23, 2020
“He knew how difficult this line of work was and how people truly behaved.”
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