I really really wanted to like this place. I have tried to get here for years with their limited hours. Only open on Thursday and Friday for now. Very limited menu. Im talking bare minimum. The service was great and all the employees that I spoke with were nice. Answered all of my questions. The restaurant looks as I would hope for good Chinese food. The best Chinese food places are run down looking that I have experienced. But the food?? The fried rice has to be the worst I have eaten. The egg rolls were the same. But, I did love the crunch on the egg roll. The sweet and sour sauce tasted like strawberry jelly if thats possible. My Almond Chicken, dry as all hell. The breading was pretty decent. The gravy saved the chicken and made it edible. But for Montanan, its probably the best here. The deluxe dinner with shrimp? They just weren't right. That plate came with chow mein and there was just veggies, no meat. Like a previous review mentioned, the best thing about the dinner was the Ice Cream. The cash or check only took me by surprise. No signage on the door. But I had cash so it wasn't a big deal. I just like to know ahead of time. For a small business I would love for them to succeed. But I just dont know. I guess the locals really love this place though? Maybe thats all they know is "white people" Chinese food. read more

It is a great place to go to for authentic Chinese food! We've been going there for years! Jeff is always there cooking- he's a great chef! I highly recommend Yat Son Restaurant! The prices are reasonable and your meal comes first! read more

I love this place. The food is wonderful. The atmosphere is small town with limited seating. They are only open a few days a week, but it's worth the wait. Get there early fill up fast. We just moved back into town after 45 years and still look forward to eating at Yat Son. Whenever we visited Helena, we would make sure this was a stop. Love their burnt pork ends. read more

Amazing food! And the staff was incredible! Accommodating, personable, efficient and overall magnificent! We will definitely be back! Thank you all! read more

To me, leaving a negative review is a difficult decision. On one hand I want to let people know of my experience, but on the other hand I feel for small family owned businesses especially in the service industry. That being said; I took 4 of my employees here after working in town. We ordered Kung Pao Chicken (without peanuts), egg rolls, the boneless fried chicken, fried shrimp, and the beef and broccoli. To say the food was some of the worst we've ever had is not an exaggeration. The kung pao had peanuts, and the sauce def was not kung pao sauce. The chicken was precooked and cold and some of the toughest meat I've ever had. The Fried chicken was raw and the batter wasn't even cooked all the way through. The sweet and sour dipping sauce must have been out of a packet and sitting under a heat lamp for a while. It was basically a piece of jello. The fried rice had diced pork that was like eating dried pork. You could tell the rice had been reheated and wasn't made that day. We could only eat one bite of the egg rolls. They were soggy and reheated at best. The Beef and Broccoli had stewed tomatoes and tasted more like sautéed beef tips. This was by far the best dish of the lot. And that's not saying much. The beers we ordered were so warm one of my guys resorted to using a glass of ice to cool it down. To top it off, when I got the bill to pay it with our company card, we were informed they only took cash. No signs anywhere. No notification of any kind. I had to walk down to a bar and get cash out of an ATM to pay the bill. The best part of the meal was the store bought ice cream that came with the meal for dessert. I feel for this place and the owner. But c'mon. Take some pride in your food. read more

Awful food, great service. Cash or check only. Closest atm is at the Eagles next door.

The foods was the best I ever had! Friendly and speedy service.The restaurant was clean and uncluttered. This is not a large establishment. Has a small town feel to it. Beware though that sometimes they are not open when they say they are. read more

This is "Old School" traditional American Chinese food, served up to miners and railroad workers in the old West. Sweet and sour pork, eggrolls with thick red sweet sauce, and pork fried rice. Chicken chow mein, with chicken, celery, onion, thick sauce, and best ever egg foo yong, covered with thick, homestyle brown gravy over rice. The best thing is the wonton soup, and pork noodles, huge bowl of broth with noodles and pork. Yum! And free scoop of ice cream for dessert. Only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from 4:30 to 8pm. Enjoy. This is true Chinese diner food. Not fancy, but yummy. read more

I would say it has the best Chinese in town. The restaurant needs a little updating though.

Yat Son is a family tradition! My grandparents have been going to Yat Son for over 50 years! Of course there have been several location changes for the restaurant. I've been going there all my life. My family's favorite dish is the pork noodles. They are so tasty and the barbecued pork that comes with it is a staple of our visit! If it's your first time, get the pork noodles. :) Please, can I have the recipe for your pork and pork noodles? They are so delicious! Thank you for another lovely evening. We'll be back soon! read more

Home of my son's favorite carry out meal in the entire Helena valley. We've been coming back since the 1980s and won't stop anytime soon. read more

Yat Son Restaurant - If th neon is bright, get ready for Yat Sons that night. - Chinese Near Me - East Helena, Montana

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Bland fried chicken and congealed sweet and sour sauce. Fried rice was inconsistent between all four plates and was very crunchy/undercooked. The best thing all night was the Wilcoxson Ice Cream. Very disappointed in the food, especially after reading the reviews on this site. read more

Warning do NOT go to this awful disgusting excuse for a restaurant. The almond chicken is just greasy fried chicken with some brown sludge on it. The fried rice is just over cook Rice a Roni. The spring rolls are greasy little pillows with not taste. This place needs to be closed down so no one else is subjected to this gross,uneatable, sad excuse for food. read more

Second time I've gone to this place disgusting Chinese food nothing in this food is Chinese I even doubt there's a Chinese person cooking very lazy cook came from place long ago never to return $38 and the dogs wouldn't even eat this. a box of macaroni and cheese is better than this if you call this Chinese come by my house I cook better Chinese food. quit feeding good reviews from your staff or I'll start my own restaurant!! read more

More authentic than Jade Gardens. I recommend the pork foo young and the almond chicken. The bbq pork and egg rolls are also very good for apps. read more

We had high hopes for this place, being fans of dive-y Chinese places in strange locations. I had high hopes for my noodles when they came out, thinking I'd won the "unknown restaurant menu selection jackpot": a giant bowl of fresh noodles swimming in broth with piles of boiled egg, BBQ pork, and veggies arrayed around it. The house-made BBQ pork was quite good, but the broth was not (commercial stock) and the noodles were cooked to death (to the point that they couldn't be eaten with chopsticks). The spring/egg rolls were sad, greasy, limp, underfilled little things. I almost felt bad for them. We were underwhelmed, but given the sad state of Chinese food in Helena, we'll probably give it another try. read more

The experience that I had was not good. I tried the almond chicken. Half of it qas burned to the point it was inedible and the rest was untreated and very bland. The egg rolls that I ordered were odd. They are not your typical egg rolls. Unfortunately I will probably not eat there again. I used to live where I could get Chinese food (authentic) any time I wanted and sadly this did not live up to it. We ended up not eating the food because of it. read more

It was a last minute decision to swing in here. The service was friendly, and the food was great! When another reviewer said 'authentic' they meant made fresh, with REAL ingredients, not processed, thawed, or mass produced ingredients. The #2 Meal, Almond Chicken, and won tons were all recommended, ordered, and enjoyed by all our party, which included two children. The *only* problem we had was that OUR waitress was particularly slow. Despite that, everything else was great, and we WILL be going back for another shot at it. read more

Main street in East Helena wouldn't be as great as it is without Yat Son. Take out or dine in with affordable prices and good food. Beats the heck out of fast food! read more

The Almond Chicken is good. The Fried Rice is okay. I make better BBQ pork. The sweet and sour chicken is just okay. You can taste everything that was cooked in the same oil as the chicken. All the other dishes have way too much celery in them. Good service just not great food. read more

You cannot go wrong with Yat Sons! Delicious! Their family has been serving the Helena area since I was a kid and my family and everyone I know loves it! And you can get it to go! Love it! read more

This is real Chinese-American food. The Wongs have been holding it down in Helena for generations. Miss Chinese New Year at the downtown Helena locations. Miss the punk rocker kids that worked there. The East Helena location still has the food, and a lot of the old decoration. read more

I grew up going to the location in downtown, and when they re-opened in East Helena I was thrilled and go every time I'm in town. The almond chicken, pork chow mein, fried rice, and the moo-gu gai-pan are all excellent and some of my favorites. Don't expect anything fancy or consciously "authentic", just authentic American Chinese food that's really delicious. I live in San Francisco and go to some great Chinese restaurants (Mission Chinese, City View for dim sum, Mama Ji's for Sichuan) and still look forward to every trip to Yat Sun. read more

CASH ONLY!!!!!! I'm only giving this place 1 star because the staff was friendly. (And that's the lowest the scale goes). Everything else about the place was awful. For starters, it was dirty. Dust covered all the chairs and the fans were covered in what could possibly have been mold. The food, worst "Chinese food" I've ever tasted. The other reviewers are correct saying it is not authentic Chinese. The chow mein was vegetables and meat (deli meat) mixed with dehydrated canned chow mein noodles (the crunchy kind) The Fried Chicken with Sweet and Sour sauce was just that. Note the sweet and sour sauce came from a bottle. But the biggest downfall was CASH ONLY. We had a large group with a large bill and we had to run to the casino/bar a block away to use the ATM. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!! read more

Small hope in the place. But the best Chineese food and service is always great. Highly recommend.

This was a nice find it was so unexpected the food here is amazing I got the almond chicken and wow so good this is now my new favorite Chinese restaurant in Helena I just wish it was open more then 3 days a week read more

This Chinese restaurant is the best! The food is authentic and so delicious! The owner is wonderful too! Would recommend this restaurant to anyone! read more

Hi, I wish you would print your menu on your yelp site. Or even take closer pictures so when we order takeout we can try new things. Thank you read more

My friend told about this place in East Helena, so I picked her up and we went to dinner. All I can say is....NOM NOM NOM!! I had the sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and it was the best Chinese food I have ever gotten ahold of. The tempura batter is to die for. My friend had the egg rolls with fried rice and she said that's all she ever orders when she goes. I placed an order to go for my husband and he was blown away also with how good his was. I was already making plans to go again before we we're even done eating. :) The staff was awesome too and we will definitely be back. Our waitress got an extra large tip for being so wonderful. I can understand why you have to get there right when the doors open to get a table. We got there right at 4:30pm and within 10 minutes of opening, the place was full. It blows Jade Garden totally out of the atmosphere. I'm so glad places like this mom and pop place exist because it is out of this word YUMMY. :) read more

Awful service, awful food, awful atmosphere. I was awkwardly seated (by a crushingly shy and self conscious waitress) next to an aquarium with all the pumps and filters hanging down by my head. Gross! The tables were so close together we had to tip toe through to not bump into anyone's food. The waitress spilled our food all over when we ordered it. The fried chicken was the worst fried chicken I've ever had. It literally had no flavor and tasted like cardboard. Also- I ordered a PLATE of fried chicken, and I received 3 small pieces of chicken on a monstrous bed of celery (which I can't eat). They also never specified with any sort of signage, but they don't accept cards. So I had to walk to a bar by myself in the dark to get to an ATM. Waste of money. Waste of time. So disappointing. read more

Hate to post it here, but the food is worse than Panda Express. We had heard great things about this place from friends and co-workers so decided to try it. Well we tried it. Didnt leave anything there that would cause us to have to return. Which is the best thing about the experience. Although the service was fine, the food was just about.... Terrible. read more

We were just turned away from this restaurant because they were out of food! They open around 5 and it's currently about 6:30. The waitress told us they were out of rice! How does a Chinese restaurant run out of rice??? We tried to come here about a year ago and the hostess was so rude to us that we left. We used to frequently come here and the food was usually pretty good, but we will never be back. read more

I've dined many times in the last couple of years and I'm always happy withe food and friendly service. Yes it's a little quirky and no it's not the best Chinese food I've ever had but its always yummy. I 'm a huge fan of the egg rolls, BBQ pork, and almond chicken. It's a great example of what I call Montana Chinese and it reminds me a little of the Peking in Butte. It's old school but def worth a stop! read more

This is not Chinese food. People that think this is "authentic Chinese food" have either never eaten actual Chinese food or must think Chinese people eat the same food we do in the States, only with more salt and fat. The "almond chicken" is over-fried chicken in chicken gravy with a few almonds slices on top. There is no almond flavor - only fat and burned panko. The fried rice was the only item that even remotely resembled Chinese food, and even then I'm not sure I'd call this food. This substance is barely edible. The best thing about Yat Sons is that I know where it is so I can avoid it in the future. read more

Delicious food and the workers were super friendly, made an effort to talk to a 3 year old we had at our table as well as my grandfather. The cook himself came over to ask how the food was, and it wasn't a long wait at all. Will definitely come back to this place. Also have a nice fish tank which adds to the atmosphere. read more

Went there for dinner 12-18-14, eaten there before but this was really bad. Had # 1 Chow Mein was more celery 1/2 pc small corn 2 pieces of chicken, Fried rice dry only good thing was the egg foo young (sp) very disappointed with service and food. Not sure I would return. Server forgot to bring sweet n sour until half done eating for husband and mother. read more

Been eating "Helena Chinese food" since I was a kid. Loved it then and still love it now. If you are a food snob, don't go there. It's a little place with tables and chairs and lots of locals. If you are looking for atmosphere, go to San Francisco. If you like noodle parlor fare, Yat Sons can't be topped. read more