The San Francisco Factory That's Been Crafting Custom Fortune Cookies Since 1962

San Francisco has plenty of famous destinations to experience, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Lombard Street, and Swan Oyster Depot, a seafood joint Anthony Bourdain loved. Among these must-dos is visiting Chinatown, one of the biggest and most famous in the country. Rich in Chinese culture and restaurants, this area is home to a tiny sweets shop that many might walk right past but should be on any visitor's checklist: the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. It opened in 1962 in Ross Alley, one of the most iconic locations in the sprawling city, and certainly in Chinatown.

Even if you accidentally blink and miss the storefront, the smells coming from within will undoubtedly lure you to turn around. Up to 10,000 fresh fortune cookies are made daily right in the middle of the store. Visitors can even customize fortunes for personal events and celebrations; they'll be made and stuffed into cookies right before your eyes. Of course, if you want to put your own fortune inside at home, a microwave can help you open up the cookie sneakily. In the shop, you'll find the classic vanilla fortune cookies, as well as chocolate, green tea, and strawberry flavors along with glazed and decorated versions.

The city of San Francisco itself recognized the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in 2016 when it named the shop a "San Francisco Legendary Business" and again in 2018 when it declared June 8th as "Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company Day."

The fact that customers are allowed to "tour" the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory is pretty extraordinary considering how tiny and cramped the shop is. One can hardly maneuver around the bags of pre-made cookies and the three actively working employees who are operating the vintage iron cookie-making equipment. Once the batter is pressed into small, flat rounds, the workers have seconds to place the paper fortune inside, then bend and fold the cookie into its traditional shape. If they wait too long, the cookie stiffens and ultimately breaks. But co-owner Kevin Chan wouldn't have it any other way, even though he knows it slows the cookie-making process down. He told BBC in 2019, "My goal is to serve people, to offer them Chinese hospitality, to teach them about Chinese culture." 

Chan acknowledged that his family's way of making fortune cookies doesn't rely on large-scale mass production using current technology, but rather on his mother's original recipe and time-honored traditions. As of 2019, Chan was waking up every morning at 3am to write original fortunes. Indeed, the company's 10,000 cookies per day production pales in comparison to other, larger companies like Wonton Food in New York, which produces the most fortune cookies in the world. The shop is a wonderful example of a mid-century, immigrant-owned business started by a family and surviving through hard work, determination, and an excellent product. San Franciscans and fans around the world can only hope Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory continues to thrive and make these delightful treats for generations to come.