Yakima’s Oldest Restaurant Dish Still Going Strong After 88 Years

If you blink, you'll miss it: Yakima's oldest restaurant, The Golden Wheel. It carries so many memories, 88 years worth of them, each bringing a love of Chinese and Cantonese cuisine to the forefront.

Today I wondered what's Yakima's oldest dish and instantly remembered that the answer could be found inside the Golden Wheel. Thankfully for me, I didn't have to look too far for the answer because they reveal the answer to us on the front page of their website.

Come for the Almond Chicken, Stay for the Divey Vibes

Three generations of the Chin Family have been making hungry folks happy at theGolden Wheel Restaurant and Lotus Room.** The restaurant will always have an important place in Yakima's history. You can find it on the corner of Yakima Avenue and South 1st Street.

The oldest meal in Yakima --that's still being served today, helped put Golden Wheel on the map: it's the Almond Chicken.

Golden Wheel via Facebook

You can find Almond Chicken on the menu in the Cantonese Cuisine section. The restaurant describes this dish as "battered, deep fried chicken served with gravy and garnished with crushed almonds." If you order it by itself it comes with rice, but you can also make it a combo with some of their other family-style dishes.

"Our traditional favorites, like our well-known almond chicken, reflect the recipes that helped make Golden Wheel a Yakima staple." - Golden Wheel

Golden Wheel is open at noon on Mondays through Fridays and at 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Closed on Sundays. Reservations might be needed if you have a large group. Located at 9 South 1st Street.

Other Chinese Food Hotspots to Try Near Downtown Yakima

Other Chinese food hotspots to try nearby, although not as steeped in Yakima's culinary history, include Tea Garden (110 S 4th St), KikI (505 W Yakima Ave), and Great Shanghai (54 W Nob Hill Blvd).

**The Lotus Room, a sultry dive bar-y place where locals go to "get Lotusized" and sing karaoke. If you walk through the swinging red double doors from inside Golden Wheel, it leads you right to it. Late at night on the weekends when the restaurant is closed, you can enter through the alley door behind the building.