Sam Wo's in San Francisco...is it for real?
 

I've been watching Conan O'Brien this week and he keeps pumping a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant called Sam Wo's. Is it for real? And where is it....how do I find it? If it's on Conan, of course I must find it!!

Most definotely for real

Sam Wo, 813 Washington St

"definitely" . . . .

i taped the show and watched it very early this morning before work - Robin Williams was great - what an excellent show! Conan is so funny. Yes, Sam Wo is for real - I thought it was kind of weird 35 years ago...and I think they are still using the same plates today! It is a curiosity, but I would not eat there anymore, personally. I now appreciate food more than when I was a flower child.

Is it the same Sam Wo that's part of the Toronto-based Sam Wo chain? If so it is very famous. I know that Sam Wo very well, used to eat there all the time when I worked in Toronto. Among N. American Chinese it has the reputation of having the best chinese roast pork, duck and chicken. They apparently have this secret family recipe to make the roast meat extra crispy and juicy. I have heard it has around 5 branches and one is supposed to be in SF.

Mels: It's an experience to say the least, I won't go there for the food.

flatfeet: Not sure if it's part of the Toronto chain, this one has been around forever.

flatfeet: The chain is Sam Woo.

It's still there and functioning, but not the same as when the legendary Eddie Fong (actually, Edsel Ford Fong) who served tables upstairs, made his reputation by being the rudest, most offensive, and most tyrannical waiter in the history of waiters. He would make Parisian cafe waiters bow down in abject awe. Being "served" by Eddie was always like being in the old Monty Python skit about the room for an argument. "No, this is Abuse. Argument is next door."

Eddie is gone, as is his brother Henry Ford Fong, who worked downstairs. Havn't been back in the 20+ years since he went. Assume the food is still okay, (never all that good, but cheap) but the atmosphere is... ?

We ate there when I was in SF 3 years ago. The food was really good, but the portions were huge. At the time we went (on a Monday lunch time) we were the only non-chinese people there. It was a good experience. We sat upstairs.

Good Lord! the Fong brothers' names remind me that many Chinese parents come up with some of the craziest names for their kids. (My mom also confessed to making names up or going with what she 'felt' the name was going to be.)

Sounds like someplace I might try for a quick, cheap lunch on the day I run errands for fo chong and snake bile. I assume they'll be open on Memorial Day...?

Skip it, Mels.

Lots of better places to eat in Chinatown that are holes in the wall.

Shanghainese is correct, the chain is "Sam Woo", excellent chain. Love the one in Irvine, it's our favorite Chinese restaurant in Greater LA.

This one is "Sam Wo", no relation and serving bad food merely on the reputation of a rude waiter is not my idea of good food for good money. Tourista trap as far as I'm concerned.

Try the R & G Lounge on Kearny.

Or the Far East Cafe on Grant (quality is up and down at this place because it is so huge).

For dim sum, try New Asia or Miriwa on Pacific.

Personally I tend to stay away from the touristy places like Kan's, Empress ofChina, Brandy Ho's, etc.

Everyone has a favorite hole-in-the-wall in Chinatown, maybe you'll get other ideas.

Happ dining Mels! (Hope they will have knuckles for you! :) )

I would also skip it. As others have said there is much better food to be had in Chinatown. But it is an experience to eat at a classic hole in the wall like this. I thought the food was pretty good (and cheap!) in the early 1970's as a college student, not as great when I returned years later. Edsel was gone too, which made for a lesser dining experience as well.

Ahh Sam Woo?! Thanks Sahnghaiese and Easytraverler, sorry about the confusion. I loved Sam Woo!

Mels: It is open on Memorial Day from 11 am to 3 am the next day, closed on Sundays , on the corner of Grant Street. Accept cash only, no chicken feet and pig knuckles to satisfy your cravings.

I second ET's recommendation of R&G Lounge, Hakka food, also known as keja food. The place is bright, clean, nice servers, great bar, it's my 2nd choice for GTGs if I can drag the Fodorites away from the Grand Cafe.

As a thrice removed SF Bay Area native (born and raised, how many can say that), I have been going to Sam Wo (which means Three Flowers, not someone's name) since 1974, when I discovered it by accident.

Well, maybe not by accident so much as by standing on the corner of Grant and Washington (in the heart of SF Chinatown) and seeing which door the wizened Chinese locals seemed to be entering the most. Walked in, and the rest is history.

I have (fond???) memories of being abused by Edsel, and, after he got to know me, memories of him displaying his scrapbook. Really a wonderful, gentle, kind man, his waiter act was just that, an act for the tourists.

The food has gone downhill a bit since his demise, but the wonton soup is still a bargain, and the topless dancers still show up after the bars close (Sam Wo is open until 4 am).

Yes, there are better restaurants in SF, but I still go there each time I'm in town, and still enjoy it. I do miss Edsel, though...

I assume you go at 4:01 am lol

Here is the SFgate description:

Sam Wo's: Cheap, late-night bar hidden behind a kitchen at the top of three flights of stairs. It's riding on its reputation -- notoriously rude former owner Edsel Ford Fung died about 10 years ago, and Herb Caen used to write about it all the time.

Now tell me please, was Herb Caen writing about this restaurant, or about Edsel's death all the time?

One would think a major newspaper writer would have a better way with words :))

"sam" = "three" in Cantonese.

Three is a lucky number. Four is not. Therefore you will see lots of "Sam"s, maybe some are a person's name, LOL!

"Sam Woo" - "Three Harmonies"

"Sam Wo" = "Three Harmonies" ("hahahaha" -that's Edsel Ford Wong still laughing)

Hmmm, I was actually thinking of going not for the quality, but for the novelty so i can take a photo and show my nieces that "I went to the restaurant featured on Conan O'Brien." We got good Chinese food in Honolulu, too, so it's more for the novelty. Then again, I don't want to get sick! Just so you know, when I'm running around doing errands in San Francisco Chinatown, I usually stop at Louie's Dim Sum on Stockton and I eat standing up. Yikes! Poor Chinese etiquette, I know.

Topping - info on the Grand Cafe that all the Fodorites keep talking about for GTGs? OK, so I just googled Grand Cafe to find that its not Chinese. R&G Lounge looks great. Need reservations? Sorry, but I'm not familiar with Hakka food. Help anyone?