Sam Wo, at 713 Clay St, is the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, tracing itself back to 1908, just after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Founded by 3 siblings from Taishan province of China (adjacent to Guangzhou), the restaurant is still open today, having barely survived COVID . The name literally means three peace, referring to the 3 siblings, and may they ever work together peacefully. Sam Wo, having survived this long, is considered an institution of Chinatown , with many people enjoying its authenticity and a bit of dingy ambiance. Plenty of famous people ate at Sam Wo: Allen Ginsberg , Herb Caen , and even Conan O'Brien , but its low prices and very late hours (open till 3AM back in the 2010's) also means it sees plenty of regulars, locals, and late-nighters. Sam Wo is also famous for having the " world's rudest waiter " by the name of Edsel Ford Fung, who had a house rule: "No Booze, No B.S., No Jive, No Coffee, Milk, Soft Drinks, Fortune Cookies....
An exploration of San Francisco Chinatown typically NOT covered by tours