Sam Wo Restaurant
Chinese restaurant · Chinatown
713 Clay St, San Francisco, CA 94108
Highlights
Classic Cantonese American eats, famed BBQ pork noodle rolls
Classic Cantonese American eats, famed BBQ pork noodle rolls
"The Chinatown institution will close on Sunday, January 26 after 116 years; chef and owner David Jitong Ho is retiring after 42 years of running the restaurant. Investors had been searching for a chef or family to take over, but a replacement didn’t materialize and the lease ends in January." - Dianne de Guzman
"The 116-year-old Chinatown restaurant will close on Sunday, January 26, 2025: owners had warned fans they were set to close in January 2025 unless they found someone to buy the business, but with the lease expiring this month and chef/owner David Jitong Ho wanting to retire at 68 after working at the restaurant for 42 years, investors' hopes that another family or chef could keep the restaurant legend going have fallen through. "Make your last pilgrimage now while you can." - Dianne de Guzman
"Sam Wo is a two-story spot in Chinatown that’s been around since 1908, and was famously home to “San Francisco’s Worst Waiter” before closing and moving to a new location on Clay Street in 2015. These days, you won’t get yelled at to sit down and shut up, but not much else about the century-old place has changed. BBQ pork noodle rolls and youtiao remain the centerpieces of every table, the plastic plates and bowls are well-worn and mildly chipped, and there’s still a dumbwaiter to ferry food between floors. Get here for a revival in the form of Singapore-style noodles, or any time you want to eat in a restaurant that’s older than a rent-controlled apartment building. " - julia chen 1, patrick wong, ricky rodriguez
"Sam Wo is arguably the oldest Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, though over the course of its more-than-a-century-long run, it did vacate its original home. No matter: Step inside this narrow Chinatown mainstay and you’ll see there’s still plenty of history to go around. It’s a no-frills dining room with nimble if not overly attentive service. Go to experience classic Cantonese American cuisine including favorite dishes such as bouncy barbecue pork rice noodle rolls, ginger-scented jook, and wok-kissed chop suey." - Lauren Saria, Dianne de Guzman
"Like the awning out front states, Sam Wo has been cooking for over 100 years, and is one of the oldest restaurants in SF’s Chinatown. The two-story Cantonese restaurant—complete with a dumbwaiter—was famously home to “San Francisco’s Worst Waiter” before closing and moving to a new location on Clay Street back in 2015. The service these days is decidedly more polite (and they’re no longer open until 3am), but not much else has changed. BBQ pork noodle rolls and youtiao are mainstays on practically every table, and you’re just as likely to see multi-generational families doling out big portions of fried rice as you will a group of 20-somethings nursing hangovers over bowls of fish jook and wonton noodle soup. " - lani conway, julia chen 1
