The Hidden Chinatown of San Francisco

Grant Avenue is a north-only street in Chinatown, and one of the main streets through Chinatown (the others are Kearny and Stockton). What most people do NOT know was that Grant Ave is the oldest street in San Francisco... Being the first-ever street drawn in today's San Francisco, by its surveyor... an Englishman by the name of William Richardson, in 1835.  William Richardson was a pretty unremarkable sailor aboard a British whaling ship. His special skill was the ability to speak Spanish. In 1822, his ship arrived in San Francisco Bay, and he, the Spanish speaker, was "volunteered" to go negotiate with the local Mexican government. This was soon after the Mexican government had won its independence from the Spanish Crown.  What happened after that was a bit unclear, but the generally accepted story was he was invited to a local fiesta, met Maria Antonia Martinez, and fell for each other immediately. Richardson eventually made it back to the ship the next day smelling of...

San Francisco's Chinatown contains a number of firsts. I've previously mentioned the first Taoist Temple, the Tin How Temple on Waverly St. Here is another one: the first dimsum restaurant in the US... Hang Ah Tea House  (1 Pagoda Pl, SF, CA 94108), circa 1920.  Hidden in an alley called Pagoda Place next to the Willy Woo-Woo Playground, Hang Ah is away from the normal bustle and hustle of Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue. It is near the Stockton Tunnel leading out of Chinatown to Union Square, between Clay and Sacramento. Most tourists only stumble upon this place by accident, unless they sought it out.  The first sign you see is actually written in chalk: Hang Ah's chalk sign The restaurant itself is a bit larger on the inside than the entrance suggested. Go in, make a left turn, down a slight slope (probably for ADA) and enter into the dining area, where you will see about a dozen or so tables. You can order entrees or dimsum.  Entrees are nicely prepared, and ...

A legendary Hong Kong-style cafe in Chinatown, Washington Bakery & Restaurant, has closed its doors for good , after 27 years in business. But what exactly is a Hong Kong-style cafe?  Washington Bakery & Restaurant, circa 2019? A "Hong Kong-style cafe", better known by its Cantonese name cha-chaan-teng 茶餐廳 literally translates to "tea restaurant". I use all three interchangeably. It was exported from Hong Kong during the mass exodus from Hong Kong during the 1980's. It serves casual Chinese food as well as casual Western food with Chinese influences, and often offers combo menus with tea or coffee, thus resembling a Western cafe. In fact, at a tea restaurant, you should not be surprised to see macaroni and Spam (tm) and breakfast sausages on the menu, as breakfast items, alongside Chinese breakfast staples like rice congee, rice noodles, and instant ramen, plus ham and cheese sandwiches. For drinks, you can choose plain tea, plain coffee, soft drinks, or...

In the history of San Francisco, there are two infamous Madams... Belle Cora, and Ah Toy. The former is arguably much more infamous.  There are several versions of Bell's origins, but most historians believe she is the daughter of strict Irish parents who happen to live one house over from a brothel, and Belle and her sister became intrigued with the oldest profession. Later, Belle went off on her own, and after a while, made it to New Orleans, where she met Charles Cora, a riverboat captain who's also an avid gambler. The two became inseparable and decided to make their way West. They tried several cities in California until settling in San Francisco by 1849, just as gold was discovered in Sonoma. They established a parlor / brothel at the corner of Dupont and Washington... with the most beautiful women... and the highest prices, catering to the elite of the city. Belle was the most expensively dressed woman in town, and Charles himself was no slough, believed to have a net w...

If you have been to Grant St. in Chinatown, you may have noticed the street lamps are adorned with twin dragons: Lamppost in San Francisco Chinatown, Grant and Washington This was NOT designed by the Chinese.  The lamps were designed by W. D'Arcy Ryan, for the 1925 "Diamond Jubilee Festival" , to celebrate the 75th year of California Statehood, and 43 lamps were commissioned to be installed from Bush Street all the way to Broadway. The originals were made in China. ( More on Walter D'Arcy Ryan , as he also did the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exposition's lighting, being a lighting engineer for GE at the time.) In 1996, 24 were remade using the original casts by a company in Kansas. Then recently another 23 were made by a company in China, also based on original casts.  But what the Chinese will tell you about dragons is it is reserved for royalty or someone of supreme importance. It is NOT really used for decoration per se.  Please watch Accented Cinema, whe...

The Tongs of Chinatown started off as an attempt to do good, but ended up corrupted by greed and turned into a term of evil. But what are they really?  Tong 堂 literally means the main room or a hall. It could be termed an "association", and they still exist today in San Francisco Chinatown.  Hop Sing Tong, or 合勝縂堂 (lit: united victory main hall) photo courtesy of Wikipedia / Wikicommons The Tongs started as immigrant associations serving people with common former residency, common dialect, or common ancestry. The tongs will help people fresh off the boast to adapt to the new culture. If you can find a tong that is affiliated with your village or your clan or speak your dialect, you will be welcomed. You will be given a bed for the night, then help to find a job, and find proper housing.  The tongs also offered both physical and legal protection. By 1854, the Chinese have been ruled to have no right to participate in the court system . In People vs. Hall, a Chinese witnes...

Most Chinatown tours will likely mention the Tin How Temple on Waverly Pl as the oldest taoist temple in the US, first founded in 1852, and rebuilt in 1910 after the 1906 earthquake.  However, what you probably will NOT know is there is a second temple for the same goddess in Chinatown in an alley two blocks to the south, on Beckett. But let's first discuss who she is.  Mazu, also spelled Ma-tsu, is a Chinese sea goddess who is deified form of a real woman by the name of Lin Mo. The deified form Mazu 媽祖 literally means mother-ancestor (or grandma/granny), also goes by a dozen different names, one of which is 天后 (tianhou) which means Queen / Empress of Heaven.  Little was known about her life in history, as most of her alleged deeds were recorded two centuries after her "return to Heaven". But this is what we pass on today:  She is believed to have been born around 960AD, and her given name was Mo 默 which stands for silence. It was said that she did not cry during or ...

Contestants In a battle between two "beef stew noodle" shops that are across the street in Chinatown, which one will come out ahead?   Utopia Cafe, 139 Waverly Pl ( Google Map )  Spicy Shimp, 150 Waverly Pl ( Google Map ) Category Beef Stew Noodle and variations Background Despite the simple name, it's actually not easy to make a decent bowl of beef stew noodle soup. The beef must not be too chewy, the noodle must be al dente yet not mushy, and the soup must be flavorful.  Utopia Cafe's Chinese name is 牛緬王, or "beef noodle king", so this is their supposed house specialty.  Spicy Shrimp, on the other hand, sound like a seafood place. But if you read their menu (in Chinese) their specialty seems to be brunch hand-made rice rolls where you can order them to add eggs, vegetables, and different types of meat or seafood.  When it comes to beef stew noodles, the advantage would appear to be in favor of the Utopia Cafe.  Results at Utopia Cafe Went in,...

Welcome to the blog: Hidden Chinatown of San Francisco, and I am your guide.  I hope to take you on a journey visiting restaurants, dimsum joints, shops, and other bits of Chinatown you will likely miss if you just walk through the area, or even if you take a tour.  If you have any suggestions on topics to cover, free free to send them to  guyreviews77-hiddenchinatownsf AT yahoo.com