Imperial Chinese Restaurant

Reviews

• DA

  Dan Abrams

  Feb 24, 2026
  5.0
  DELIVERED ORDERED CORRECTLY AND ON TIME
• RF

  Robert Fox

  Feb 10, 2026
  3.0
  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.
• BB

  Barbra Banks

  Jan 30, 2026
  5.0
  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!
• BC

  Beth Cohen

  Jan 28, 2026
  1.0
  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.
• KS

  Keric Shock

  Jan 21, 2026
  3.0
  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.

Frequently Asked Questions About Imperial Chinese Restaurant