Anti-Chinese Immigration Laws Fueled Chinese Restaurant Boom in US

The closure of Pekin Noodle Parlor in Butte, Montana, the oldest continuously operated family-owned Chinese restaurant in the US, after 117 years in 2026, prompted reflection on the history of American Chinese food. The restaurant, which opened in 1911, could not survive changing dining habits post-COVID. The article explores how anti-Chinese immigration laws inadvertently led to a boom in Chinese restaurants. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Act of 1917 with its 'Asiatic Barred Zone,' and the Immigration Act of 1924 severely restricted Chinese immigration. However, a 1915 federal court ruling allowed restaurants to qualify for special merchant visas, enabling Chinese business owners to travel to China and bring back employees. Chinese immigrants pooled money to start 'chop suey palaces,' each investor taking turns running the restaurant to earn merchant status. This, combined with American demand for dishes like chop suey, General Tso's chicken, and kung pao chicken, led to Chinese restaurants outnumbering McDonald's franchises in the US today. The article also notes that chop suey, often considered an American invention, may have roots in Guangdong province's tsap seui.