Post #381321 by SHOBASS on Mon, May 19, 2008 7:27 PM

Well guys and gals, I finally have some time to chime in on the discussion of the Kuo Wah Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. My name is Andy Young, and I am the grandson of the original owners of the Kuo Wah.

My Grandfather Chin Mon Wah and his childhood friend Chin Kwok Yen purchased the building in the late 30'. Prior to placing a restaurant in this location it had at the ground floor a photo studio at 942 and stores at 946, 950 Grant Ave. with the remaining two floors above being the Gum Mon Hotel.

At this time they remodeled the building to house the Kuo Wah Cafe at 942 Grant Ave which served American Style food and 946-950 to serve Chinese food. The Lions Den Nightclub was in the basement and its entrance was at 942. This is where the bar was located at that time. The Lions Den had shows featuring Chinese performers that would sing, dance and tell jokes just like all the mainstream nightclubs of the era. The Gum Mon Hotel still remained. Sometime after WW II, I'm guessing the late/mid 50's the Lions Den Nightclub ceased to exist due to the changing times and became a dining room. It's Bar was relocated from the basement to main floor location of the Cafe which served American food. Many politicians, heads of state and other dignataries were hosted. We have the names of the signatories to the United Nations written in Chinese charactors when my grandfather hosted dinner for them when they met in San Francisco in 1945. The Kuo Wah I'm told was the premier restaurant in Chinatown and was know world wide, as we had very good P.R. people.

In the early 60' my father Andy who by that time became general manager again undertook major construction. The Lions Den basement, main floor Kuo Wah Cafe and second floor hotel rooms were remodeled into a single restaurant called the Kuo Wah Restaurant instead of "cafe". A new bar was built in the basement, the kitchen was relocated from the main floor to the basement. A second remodel of the existing bar took place and the 2nd floor hotel rooms were cleared to make way for a 300+ person dining room. An outdoor courtyard was created at the front entrance of the building so that diners could sit out on nice days to eat or have cocktails. Between 65' and 68' there was nightclub in the basement called the Dragon a' go go which featured local bands. The group that I remember the most are call "The Whispers". They still tour. We also hosted lunch once a month for a "Theater in the Round" where Hollywood movie stars that were in town met the press. I have pictures of Bette Davis, Rip Torn, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, Buster Keaton and others. The general theme of the place was that of an old rustic Chinese Village. This is the period time that we started to offer the free "Tiki" ware with any of the exotic poylnesian drinks. I think we purchased exclusivley from the Otegrei company in San Francisco to supply the Mugs. This continued until 1975 at which time we sold the restaurant to investors which rebuilt once again to make a Hong Kong style dim sum eatery. Those places that have the delicasies pushed around in carts by little old ladies and you can point at what you would like to eat. At this time the restaurant was still called Kuo Wah. Since then the restaurant changed hands two more times to the present. It's name for the last 20 yrs or so has been Grand Palace.

I found a case of the Sil Sengung God of Longevity Mugs that had San Francisco spelled "San Erancisco" so funny. Passed them out all the relatives for keepsakes.

The infrastructure of the building had taken a real beating and in 2005 we started to remodel. I hope another restaurant will take over as the history of the space is amazing.

To Tiki Josh... all your info is correct.

When I have a chance I'll post pix of some of the items I've saved.

Rgds,

Andy