The restaurant, 3019 Washington Blvd., closed its doors for good Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012.
It was a 60-plus-year-run for the Chinese restaurant and it was the last of about four historic Chinese eateries that were in downtown Ogden starting in the 1950s. Utah Noodle was the last of the four to shut down.
(Star, Bamboo and China Nite were the other three similar Ogden restaurants.)
Utah Noodle opened just after World War II on Grant Avenue, probably in late 1945, meaning it has been around for about 67 years (despite the sign in the restaurant saying just 60 years). It moved to its Washington Blvd. location in the 1960s.
According to one of the workers, Utah Noodle is being closed because no one in the family would take over its operations. All of its management are in their 80s now. Two nephews who were interested in keeping it going, couldn't, because of health reasons. The original family owners died in the 1990s.
During my last visit, my wife and I both thought our food was as good as always, though the place had went somewhat downhill in recent years and had sported a for sale sign for about a month.
Surprisingly, at 4 p.m. on Sept. 27, it was crowded. Only a few tables were open and about 55 patrons were eating there at the time. It was a long, 40-minute wait, for our food, probably because there was so many takeout orders going out the door.
As one man was overheard to say to waitress near my table, "I've been coming here since before you were born."
After the Ogden Standard-Examiner runs a story on Utah Noodle closing, later this week, I'd hate to be in line to go there on Friday or Saturday.
I'd say Utah Noodle had its peak in the 1990s.
I also believe the restaurant was indeed inconsistent during the past decade. It also didn't promote itself and many of its most loyal of customers died, or ended up in rest homes and were not replaced by a new generation.
In fact, the west seating area of the restaurant was never used in its final years, for lack of business.
The place was always closed on Monday and infamous in my family for closing during several weeks of the year, with little regularity and usually when my family was planning on eating there.
One thing Utah Noodle had in common with my family was that its paneling inside is identical to what's on the wall in my basement family room and hall. My wife's family also went there a lot in the 1980s and the 1990s for extended family meals.
UPDATE: May 2020: Almost 8 years after closing down, the old building that housed Utah Noodle is still vacant ...
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