Imperial was founded in 1985 by Johnny Hsu and it has been my favorite Chinese restaurant ever since. Mr. Hsu ran a very tight ship, except that, per my understanding, he had a rocky relationship with the head chef. Ever so often they would have a huge fight, the chef would walk out, and the quality of the food would deteriorate until he came back. This went on for years.
Mr. Hsu retired and sold the restaurant in early 2023. I've eaten here a number of times since then and feel the restaurant has been chronically understaffed since the new owners took over. I've had several strange experiences recently.
I came for dinner a few months ago with two friends. We were seated promptly and received menus and water. We were then ignored for over 40 minutes although only a handful of other tables were occupied. It became clear that one person was both serving the entire dining room (including a large private party) and apparently also doing the cooking.
A woman who appeared to be the manager did absolutely nothing to help and spent the entire evening chatting with a friend in the separate bar area.
The poor, harried staffer finally took our orders and promised to get the food out quickly. Much to my surprise, when we were finally served, the food was excellent. Probably the best meal I ever had at Imperial.
I returned a few weeks later. The restaurant was much busier. We received decent service and good food. No issues.
I was back with my girlfriend last Friday night. The first issue was that the Web site lists a daily closing time of 8:00 p.m. We were coming after a concert and nearly didn't bother, but the 8pm time is clearly wrong. The door lists a completely different closing time of 9/9:30pm and the dining room was very busy until we left just before 9pm.
Service was slow as there were only two servers for a large room and the kitchen also seemed very slow. We started with the fried pork dumplings. These were larger than the usual, very plump with stuffing, perfectly cooked, and delicious, with a great sauce.
We then had the (new to me) Shrimp Wonton soup. Also nicely made and packed with delicious ingredients. Alas, then the meal rapidly went downhill.
We received our entrées after a long wait. The Sesame Chicken looked beautiful, like a magazine photo. Terrific sauce. Unfortunately the chicken itself was horribly overcooked. Tasteless, dry as dust, and so tough it was nearly impossible to cut, much less eat. The server has vanished and complaining seemed pointless after the long wait, so we moved on to our other selections.
Again the Hunan Beef looked beautiful on the plate, but the meat was overcooked. Fortunately, not as badly as the chicken. The sauce was delicious, so we mostly worked on that with a bit of the combination fried rice, which was fine.
The failure of the two main entrées to meet the usual standards plus the slow service were really disappointing. The new owners just don't seem to be managing this Denver treasure very well or with any consistency. I'm sad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Barbra Banks
Our woman’s group met Wednesday for lunch.. the food was phenomenal but the service A+. The male waiter and the sweet young lady delivered excellent service. Good food and bright smiles!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beth Cohen
I’d give it a zero if that was a choice. We were there, 8 of us were furious. The service was AWFUL, the food was cold, she got the order wrong and argued with us. DO NOT GO THERE!!! They don’t deserve anyone’s business.
jim rhye
Denver’s best Chinese restaurant period. Classic style dining room, great service, great food. Edited: This review was a couple years ago before it sold. I’ve been back a few times since, and the quality has dropped significantly. The chicken is very tough and rubbery now. The waiter said “they changed it to cheap cuts”when I asked. Sad when a great restaurant sells and the new owners don't keep the same quality their customers know and expect.
Ryan
Cozy spot for dinner. Old school nice. The Mongolian beef was the best I have had
Shelley Schlossberg
Good was delivered hot & delicious.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Keric Shock
The imperial egg rolls were amazing and the hot and sour soup was great, unfortunatly the prices of both items are way to high for what you get! 9 dollars for 3 egg rolls is insane! 14 dollars for a bowl of hot and sour soup proposterous! If prices were about 2 or 3 dollars cheaper for both items this would be a 5/5.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Randy and Cathy Oglesby
Everything was good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Ryu
Extremely disappointed by the taste of the food. I ordered a wide variety of dishes from this restaurant, including their imperial rolls, shrimp wonton soup, hot and sour soup, hunan beef, seafood birds nest, walnut shrimp, chicken imperial, beef chow fun, and moo shu chicken. Overall, my total came out to a little under $200.
The imperial rolls tasted okay, came in a pack of 3, along with sauce. 3 rolls for $10 is a bit disappointing, considering we were a group of 4, but that's on me for not asking beforehand. 6/10.
Both the wonton soup and hot and sour soup were disappointing in taste and consistency, but were at least edible. $18/$15 5/10
The Hunan Beef was a sad, small-sized 10-odd pieces of EXTREMELY salty beef, that were served in a watery sweet and barely perceptibly spicy sauce. $23. 2/10
The Seafood Birds nest was a disaster. The seafood was in an extremely under seasoned white wine sauce, and was served with a potato nest made of deep-fried potato shreds, almost like a hash brown in consistency. It was practically inedible, and the portion was extremely disappointing for the price. I ended up salvaging the dish later by pan frying it with oyster sauce, fresh garlic, and dark soy sauce at home. $31. 1/10
Walnut Shrimp - Not the best i've had, but edible. Would say that walnut shrimp from Panda Express would beat the taste unfortunately. Around 14 pieces of shrimp in a sad amount of candied walnuts. Disappointing, but at least it tasted okay. $27. 5/10
Chicken Imperial - Like the Birds nest, this suffered from an extreme lack of seasoning and salt in general. For the life of me, I dont know why they added cherry tomatoes to the dish, when it already tastes like practically nothing. Is it for color? The yellow squash was also not seasoned at all from what I can tell, prior to being doused in the sauce. $21. 2/10
Beef Chow Fun - Honestly, not that bad. I asked if the restaurant could possibly substitute shrimp as the protein, and they delivered. Wok Hei was noticeable, the seasonings were good, and the portion, while somewhat modest, was filling enough. It was practically the only thing my family ate that day, asides from the walnut shrimp. $23 6.5/10
Moo Shu Chicken - I had this the next day, and honestly, it was probably the best item that Imperial Chinese had from what we had selected. Good flavor, Wok Hei apparent throughout the dish, chicken tender and moist, and the cabbage and jicama were flavorful. $20. 8/10
Service - Due to being takeout, not much to say, but the staff was nice and pleasant.
Atmosphere - A bit lacking, but it also might have been due to the timing. Decor cant be said to be either tacky nor tasteful. The fish in the aquarium looked relatively healthy, which is good though.
Overall, a lackluster experience. I probably won't come back, unfortunately, but I will say if you have to order anything from here, I recommend the Moo Shu or the Beef Chow Fun.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 5
Meredith
We had a wonderful meal on Christmas Eve. The service was excellent and the food was fresh and amazing. The best Chinese meal in Denver!
It was a lovely dinner and the food yummy.. Christmas Eve is a tough night and the staff made a difference even though the dining room was full. Tough challenge for staff. Food definitely worth going back again.
Jim Barbero
Ya had to use pottie after eating here. Sorry facts..
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
DatLean _
Customer service is horrible. Had an issue with my order and they couldn’t help me. They just keep hanging up and told me to call back in a week or 2 because there was no manager available. Meanwhile, I’m out of money because I had to cancel my order and no one wanted to help with processing a refund.
Service: 1
J Bleux
I enjoyed the food here and the service.
I’ll definitely return!
I love the fish tank 😍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
eva marquez
I ordered online and didnt realize it adds the tip automatically! I just paid 7 bucks unwillingly...... Be careful when ordering..
Imperial was founded in 1985 by Johnny Hsu and it has been my favorite Chinese restaurant ever since. Mr. Hsu ran a very tight ship, except that, per my understanding, he had a rocky relationship with the head chef. Ever so often they would have a huge fight, the chef would walk out, and the quality of the food would deteriorate until he came back. This went on for years.
Mr. Hsu retired and sold the restaurant in early 2023. I've eaten here a number of times since then and feel the restaurant has been chronically understaffed since the new owners took over. I've had several strange experiences recently.
I came for dinner a few months ago with two friends. We were seated promptly and received menus and water. We were then ignored for over 40 minutes although only a handful of other tables were occupied. It became clear that one person was both serving the entire dining room (including a large private party) and apparently also doing the cooking.
A woman who appeared to be the manager did absolutely nothing to help and spent the entire evening chatting with a friend in the separate bar area.
The poor, harried staffer finally took our orders and promised to get the food out quickly. Much to my surprise, when we were finally served, the food was excellent. Probably the best meal I ever had at Imperial.
I returned a few weeks later. The restaurant was much busier. We received decent service and good food. No issues.
I was back with my girlfriend last Friday night. The first issue was that the Web site lists a daily closing time of 8:00 p.m. We were coming after a concert and nearly didn't bother, but the 8pm time is clearly wrong. The door lists a completely different closing time of 9/9:30pm and the dining room was very busy until we left just before 9pm.
Service was slow as there were only two servers for a large room and the kitchen also seemed very slow. We started with the fried pork dumplings. These were larger than the usual, very plump with stuffing, perfectly cooked, and delicious, with a great sauce.
We then had the (new to me) Shrimp Wonton soup. Also nicely made and packed with delicious ingredients. Alas, then the meal rapidly went downhill.
We received our entrées after a long wait. The Sesame Chicken looked beautiful, like a magazine photo. Terrific sauce. Unfortunately the chicken itself was horribly overcooked. Tasteless, dry as dust, and so tough it was nearly impossible to cut, much less eat. The server has vanished and complaining seemed pointless after the long wait, so we moved on to our other selections.
Again the Hunan Beef looked beautiful on the plate, but the meat was overcooked. Fortunately, not as badly as the chicken. The sauce was delicious, so we mostly worked on that with a bit of the combination fried rice, which was fine.
The failure of the two main entrées to meet the usual standards plus the slow service were really disappointing. The new owners just don't seem to be managing this Denver treasure very well or with any consistency. I'm sad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Our woman’s group met Wednesday for lunch.. the food was phenomenal but the service A+. The male waiter and the sweet young lady delivered excellent service. Good food and bright smiles!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I’d give it a zero if that was a choice. We were there, 8 of us were furious. The service was AWFUL, the food was cold, she got the order wrong and argued with us. DO NOT GO THERE!!! They don’t deserve anyone’s business.
Denver’s best Chinese restaurant period. Classic style dining room, great service, great food.
Edited:
This review was a couple years ago before it sold. I’ve been back a few times since, and the quality has dropped significantly. The chicken is very tough and rubbery now. The waiter said “they changed it to cheap cuts”when I asked. Sad when a great restaurant sells and the new owners don't keep the same quality their customers know and expect.
Cozy spot for dinner. Old school nice. The Mongolian beef was the best I have had
Good was delivered hot & delicious.
Food: 5
Service: 5
The imperial egg rolls were amazing and the hot and sour soup was great, unfortunatly the prices of both items are way to high for what you get! 9 dollars for 3 egg rolls is insane! 14 dollars for a bowl of hot and sour soup proposterous! If prices were about 2 or 3 dollars cheaper for both items this would be a 5/5.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Everything was good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Extremely disappointed by the taste of the food. I ordered a wide variety of dishes from this restaurant, including their imperial rolls, shrimp wonton soup, hot and sour soup, hunan beef, seafood birds nest, walnut shrimp, chicken imperial, beef chow fun, and moo shu chicken. Overall, my total came out to a little under $200.
The imperial rolls tasted okay, came in a pack of 3, along with sauce. 3 rolls for $10 is a bit disappointing, considering we were a group of 4, but that's on me for not asking beforehand. 6/10.
Both the wonton soup and hot and sour soup were disappointing in taste and consistency, but were at least edible. $18/$15 5/10
The Hunan Beef was a sad, small-sized 10-odd pieces of EXTREMELY salty beef, that were served in a watery sweet and barely perceptibly spicy sauce. $23. 2/10
The Seafood Birds nest was a disaster. The seafood was in an extremely under seasoned white wine sauce, and was served with a potato nest made of deep-fried potato shreds, almost like a hash brown in consistency. It was practically inedible, and the portion was extremely disappointing for the price. I ended up salvaging the dish later by pan frying it with oyster sauce, fresh garlic, and dark soy sauce at home. $31. 1/10
Walnut Shrimp - Not the best i've had, but edible. Would say that walnut shrimp from Panda Express would beat the taste unfortunately. Around 14 pieces of shrimp in a sad amount of candied walnuts. Disappointing, but at least it tasted okay. $27. 5/10
Chicken Imperial - Like the Birds nest, this suffered from an extreme lack of seasoning and salt in general. For the life of me, I dont know why they added cherry tomatoes to the dish, when it already tastes like practically nothing. Is it for color? The yellow squash was also not seasoned at all from what I can tell, prior to being doused in the sauce. $21. 2/10
Beef Chow Fun - Honestly, not that bad. I asked if the restaurant could possibly substitute shrimp as the protein, and they delivered. Wok Hei was noticeable, the seasonings were good, and the portion, while somewhat modest, was filling enough. It was practically the only thing my family ate that day, asides from the walnut shrimp. $23 6.5/10
Moo Shu Chicken - I had this the next day, and honestly, it was probably the best item that Imperial Chinese had from what we had selected. Good flavor, Wok Hei apparent throughout the dish, chicken tender and moist, and the cabbage and jicama were flavorful. $20. 8/10
Service - Due to being takeout, not much to say, but the staff was nice and pleasant.
Atmosphere - A bit lacking, but it also might have been due to the timing. Decor cant be said to be either tacky nor tasteful. The fish in the aquarium looked relatively healthy, which is good though.
Overall, a lackluster experience. I probably won't come back, unfortunately, but I will say if you have to order anything from here, I recommend the Moo Shu or the Beef Chow Fun.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 5
We had a wonderful meal on Christmas Eve. The service was excellent and the food was fresh and amazing. The best Chinese meal in Denver!
Restaurantji Recommends
It was a lovely dinner and the food yummy.. Christmas Eve is a tough night and the staff made a difference even though the dining room was full. Tough challenge for staff. Food definitely worth going back again.
Ya had to use pottie after eating here. Sorry facts..
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Customer service is horrible. Had an issue with my order and they couldn’t help me. They just keep hanging up and told me to call back in a week or 2 because there was no manager available. Meanwhile, I’m out of money because I had to cancel my order and no one wanted to help with processing a refund.
Service: 1
I enjoyed the food here and the service.
I’ll definitely return!
I love the fish tank 😍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I ordered online and didnt realize it adds the tip automatically! I just paid 7 bucks unwillingly...... Be careful when ordering..
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
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