Closings

Rogers Park Chinese Food Mainstay Pekin House To Close

Photo: courtesy Andrew Huff via Flickr

It’s often said that there’s a mystical connection between Jews and Chinese food… sealed on Christmas when they were the only ones going out to eat and open, respectively. Now one of the classic restaurants of Jewish-American-Chinese food in Chicago is closing. Pekin House at 2311 W. Devon Ave. was a mainstay when Rogers Park was a primarily Jewish neighborhood in the city; as the neighborhood became Indian and Pakistani, it’s been an incongruous presence with its old school Cantonese decor and neon sign for at least a couple of decades, but still seems to be an old favorite for those who want classic midcentury Ameri-Chinese, to judge by the warm words on various customer-review sites (including MenuPages).

But Tuyen Nguyen, a member of the family who owns it now (and is, to judge by her name, Vietnamese-American), announced on EveryBlock and other sites that the restaurant will be closing “this month.” Nguyen says they may open another place in the area eventually, but if you want to try what a few customers, at least, call the best egg rolls in the city, you better not wait too long. (Everyblock via LTHForum)

Rogers Park Chinese Food Mainstay Pekin House To Close