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Eric Risberg / AP
Customers line up for one final meal at the the 100-year-old Sam Wo restaurant in San Francisco on Friday.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Heartbroken customers lined up for meal at a closing San Francisco institution — a 100-year-old Chinese restaurant once known for having "the world's rudest waiter." Diners of decades past say he would verbally abuse patrons, slam down dishes, and chastise complainers.
Sam Wo, a Chinatown hole-in-the-wall that typified the kind of ethnic eateries for which the city's culinary scene was lauded before it became a trendy haven for foodies, planned to serve its last customers late Friday and into early Saturday.
David Ho, a descendent of one of the restaurant's original owners, decided to shut down after officials demanded extensive health and safety upgrades.
On Friday, saddened patrons lined down the block to get a seat at one of the eight lunch tables and to mourn the loss of another San Francisco institution over bowls of won ton soup.
"I know change is good, but sometimes you want to hold onto the happy memories," said customer Darlene Lee, 71, who had been coming to the restaurant for 60 years and said its inexpensive fare was comfort food that reminded her of going home.
For those who did not grow up dining at Sam Wo, it became a cultural mainstay in the 1970s through reports by the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and the "Tales of the City" novels of Armistead Maupin.
Both men immortalized the restaurant by writing about the antics of Edsel Ford Fung, the waiter who was known for verbally abusing patrons and slamming dishes on tables.
"The Soup Nazi is the Dalai Lama compared to Edsel Ford Fung," said longtime patron Sam Begler, as he tucked into pork rolls and chow mein. "He is the Don Rickles of restaurants."
Eric Risberg / AP
Darlene Lee, 71, looks out the window after ordering lunch one last time from waitress Fanny He, right, at the Sam Wo restaurant in San Francisco on Friday.
Fung died in 1984 at age 57, but for a long time a sign listing the restaurant's house rules maintained his gruff demeanor. Among its warnings: "No Booze ... No Jive, No Coffee, Milk, Soft Drinks, Fortune Cookies."
Begler, a caterer who had been dining at Sam Wo since 1976, recalled how Fung would refuse to serve people he didn't like the looks of and chastise customers who dared to complain when they were brought the wrong dishes. It was never quite clear whether his crustiness was genuine or an act, but it was always an experience, especially for locals who wandered in to take advantage of the restaurant's 3 a.m. closing time.
Another devoted customer who showed up to savor the last-day atmosphere, Michael Lyons, said it seemed odd for city inspectors to crack down on Sam Wo's managers now for failing to institute modern food safety techniques, when the restaurant's old-fashioned methods, such as chopping and preparing meat dishes on a wood table near the front door, was part of its charm.
"It's always been a litmus test in a new relationship," Lyons said about people he took to the restaurant. "If they can appreciate the humble character of a place like this, they passed the test."
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You know, chopping on a wooden table really is dangerous. Especially meat, but it can also happen with any vegetables that happen to have e coli (such as, occasionally, spinach). The bacteria permeates the wood and then the bacteria can be transferred to whatever is chopped next on that surface. It's not a little issue; it could potentially lead to infections of internal organs and even death. The city is right to object to that. However, this type of problem is easily remedied by putting a plastic surface on top of the wood table. Something removable so it can be washed often, and sterilized daily. Presto, problem solved.
Sorry to see the restaurant go.
I can understand that most people would intuitively suspect that a wooden chopping block could somehow hold contamination. It just seems logical. However one of my step grandfathers was a retired German butcher. He had learned his craft in Germany and carried on as a master butcher here in the U.S. when he migrated here. I had asked him about having a wooden carving block installed when I remodeled my kitchen and he told me that only certain types of wood were acceptable because their composition naturally destroyed any bacteria that might come from the meats and they also had to be hard enough to withstand the rigors of butchery.
As I recall he mentioned oak and hickory as well as teak. I could not afford teak so I went with the hickory. The only problem that I had with it was that it eventually became so marked up and discolored that it was basically unsightly so I replaced it with a marble slab and just used a disposable cutting board from that point on. I still use wood because I am afraid of the contaminants from plastics. I also try to use iron and steel pots as I have heard that too much trace aluminum is not healthy for you whereas iron is.
The point is in all of this is that if this establishment and its operators hadn't poisoned any significant numbers of people in 100 years of doing business I suspect that they knew more about food safety than the bureaucrats did that were making the rules that put them out of business. As some have pointed out I suspect there were some ulterior financial motives at play here. LOL
i guess since the slopes figure they're gonna own this place soon, they might as well give us a preview of how e're gonna be treated.
I love SF. I love restaurants. I live in the best food town in the world; NYC. Durgin Park/Boston is not a big deal re rude; neither is Peter Lugers/Brooklyn. They just don't have a high patience level with amateurs. I've NEVER had an issue at either of these places, or any others. Maybe it's because I know what I'm doing and what I want at a restaurant, maybe it's because I spend a good buck and tip well, maybe it's because I'm 6'2" and 250 lbs and look pissed off. In any event, while never enjoying this SF joint personally, I still regret the passing of an icon. May the rest of the great places there hang in until my next visit.
Yo, Shepherdo886
Unless you are referring to the dear departed Walter, it is "pigeon", not "pidgeon". Lose the "D"
Regards, "M" man
menckenman thank you. The error is duly noted. I just don't have occasion very often spell out the name of that particular avian species. As you suggest I may have been thinking of our actor friend. LOL Hopefully my unfortunate lapse in spelling did not detract from the meaning of my comment. I certainly did not mean to imply that the good folks of New York City had devoured Mr. Pidgeon. Now that would have been rude. :=))
I have dined at Dick's Last Resort in Myrtle Beach and what a great time, I loved it, rude, crude and obnoxious but what a great place to dine. I was swore at, a menus thrown at me, I got used Ketchup from another table and the waiter was very rude, bras all over the bar. It was a lot of fun. Watch out for the hats with the funny sayings on them.
James needs to stay at Walmart and keep eating at the McDonalds there where all the employees treat you with kindness and courtsey.
The dude was serving cat all these years and that's why he had to shut down