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Traveling Diners: Pekin Noodle Parlor - Butte
Author: Traveling Diners
Traveling Diners
The Pekin Noodle Parlor opened in Butte in 1911. It has been a Butte favorite since it opened.
We have been planning to visit the Pekin Noodle Parlor for several years; but, it doesn’t open until 5:00 pm and the timing was never right for us to visit. So, we recently made a special trip to Butte to visit a few local stores, do a little sightseeing (and reminiscing) and eat at the Pekin Noodle Parlor.
It has been over 45 years since the last time I ate there – and the food was great. A couple of years ago the Pekin Noodle Parlor won a prestigious national award – the James Beard Award for excellence in the restaurant business. At that time we really were excited to go – but then we started hearing of bad experiences.
Of course, after winning the prestigious award people started flocking to the restaurant. Wait times to get in were horrendous. Then we started hearing the food quality had dropped considerably; several people that we know said it was awful. So, we took the Pekin off our list of priority places to visit.
However, we were given a gift certificate for the Pekin Noodle Parlor; so we decided it was time to schedule a trip to Butte and dine at the restaurant. First, we stopped at a few stores including “Isle of Books” on Broadway in uptown Butte. It is an independent bookstore and almost as good as the two Townsend bookstores. Well worth visiting if you are in Butte.
Then we did some sightseeing and ended our tour with a stop at the historic Helsinki bar. The bar has been remodeled and refurbished and is very pleasant. It was about 4:30 when we stopped so we were the only people in the bar and had time to chat with the bartender. We asked about the Pekin Noodle Parlor. The bartender said it was one of his favorite places in Butte; but, the quality had dropped to the point that he quit going. However, he said in the last year the problems had been fixed and he is very happy with the food again. That gave us some hope we would still get a James Beard-worthy meal!
The restaurant is upstairs in a historic Butte building; the stairway up to the restaurant is narrow and very steep. We did not see any ADA accommodations in the old building.
The Pekin looked exactly like it did the last time I visited – back in the late 1970s. We were seated in a roomy cubicle with a curtain for privacy. Since we had a gift certificate and it was a long trip back to Butte, we decided to order a lot of food. Chinese food heats up well and is a great takeaway.
To begin with, we ordered Egg Rolls and Crab Rangoon. Both were excellent and were almost enough for a meal themselves. We also received 2 sauces: a sweet ginger sauce and a spicier sauce. Both were very good.
For the entrees we decided to try two of our favorites: General Tso’s Chicken and Szechuan Beef along with an order of fried rice. Our server was a very personable young lady who advised us on the best fried rice dish – we decided to get the special fried rice that comes with shrimp. Both entrees came with a side of plain rice or noodles. Since we ordered fried rice we both got the noodles side dish.
Both the General Tso’s Chicken and the Szechuan Beef were very good. The noodles were very plain and unseasoned served in a broth. The noodles were forgettable by themselves but, were excellent when paired with one of the entrees or with one of the sauces that we received with the appetizers. The fried rice was excellent.
As expected, we had a lot of leftovers to take home. We had them for dinner the next night and we believe they were even better than they were the first night.
We only used about half of the gift certificate; so we plan to go back again – soon.
We do recommend the Pekin Noodle Parlor both for the food and the chance to step back in time in Butte’s history. Ignore any bad reviews that you might have heard about the Pekin over the last couple of years. They have fixed their problems and the food is great!
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Image 2 Caption: Dinner at the Pekin Noodle Parlor
Photo Credits: Traveling Diners
