Did you know that fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco? They’re still being produced in a small, hole in the wall, “factory” or should I say shop, but you’ll smell this place before you see it, as the aroma drifts up the small side alley off Chinatown’s main street. The Alley is one of the oldest in the city and is lined with murals depicting Chinese American life. This San Francisco fortune cookie factory has been churning out cookies since 1962 and they make 10,000 cookies a day!
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
These fortune cookies are addictive and delicious, and the location is filled with local character. The cookies are made by old Mr. Yee and 2 ladies, who swiftly whip the flat cookie wafers off machines, put the paper message in place, and then fold the cookie over into the well-known shape. You can buy the cookies in the flat disc-like shape they have before the message is inserted or in their fortune cookie configuration. There’s a range of flavors and shapes on offer, chocolate-dipped; sesame; strawberry glaze, green tea, almond – all delicious and relatively cheap. But if you want to take a photo, heed the sign requiring a photo fee.
Tour the Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown San Francisco
You can watch them making the cookies and then sample one hot, straight off the machine. As for the sage messages inside they are still being written by the billionaire and philanthropist C.H. Wang, but there are also bible verses, lottery numbers, and x-rated fortunes, as well as those written in several languages and shipped around the world. If you bring your own message, a marriage proposal, for example, they can put it inside a cookie for you. The Golden Gate Cookie Factory also makes to-order fortune cookies for special events.
Tour groups do bring you to this cookie mecca, on the Chinatown walking tour or the ghost tour for example. If you try to come at the beginning or end of the day you will probably avoid being one of the tourist crowd.
Details: San Francisco Fortune Cookie Factory
Where: 56 Ross Alley, Nob Hill, Chinatown.
Getting there: Parking is scarce, but you will probably be walking through Chinatown anyway, and the factory is off the main Chinatown street – Jackson Street. If you are coming from the Stockton St. end of Jackson St. then the alley is on your right, a little after you pass Duncombe Alley on your left and before you get to St. Louis Alley on your right. Follow your nose, and ask around, although there is a small sign. (their website has more details about how to get there on various forms of public transport).
Tel: (415) 781-3956
Open hours: Mon-Fri: 9am – 6pm; Sat-Sun 9am – 7pm
Note: Not wheelchair accessible. Child-friendly. No credit cards.
Website: San Francisco Chinatown
What else is there to see in San Francisco? Check out these unique travel experiences in the USA.
