Post #600860 by Trad'r Bill on Wed, Aug 3, 2011 9:56 PM

Sam Wo restaurant in Chinatown is a must-see for me when I visit... the character of this place is thick. Enter at street level through the restaurant's kitchen and head up the narrow staircases to the second or third floor... sit down at a heavily-worn table, and marvel at the stark decorations... I think I saw one map, scotch-taped to the wall last time I was there.

The seemingly annoyed, (but actually sweet) waitress greets you by throwing some menus on your table while she runs past to answer the buzzzzz of the hand-operated dumbwaiter. This notorious rudeness was made famous by former head waiter: Edsel Ford Fong. From Wikipedia:

*"An imposing man with a crew cut hair style, he also was notorious for seating people with strangers, forgetting orders, cursing, spilling soup on customers, hazing newcomers, refusing to provide forks or English menu translations, and busing tables before diners were finished.[5]

Fong was made famous by columnist Herb Caen, who often described the misanthropic Fong during his visits to Sam Wo. Caen would interview Fong on matters of local politics and gossip, then reprint Fong's Yogi Berra-like responses, which Fong would in turn proudly show to his loyal regulars."*

The food is plentiful and cheap (under $10/person) and scores a strong "good" in my rating system. The restaurant is reportedly over 100 years old, but I haven't seen any hard evidence to support this yet. I've also heard this is a former haunt of Kerouac and his beatnik brethren.

Even Conan O'Brien made a commercial for Sam Wo's... hehe.

Definitely worth checking this place out.

-Trad'r Bill

[ Edited by: Trad'r Bill 2011-08-04 16:21 ]