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All the United States California San Francisco Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
Gastro Obscura

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

San Francisco, California

Added By
Luke Fater
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  funfoodieadventures/used with permission
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Free sample: A large “flat” factory reject hot off the press   Avoiding Regret
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  davinwhite / Atlas Obscura User
“X-rated” fortune cookies in the “Adult” section   Avoiding Regret
Bags of strawberry, chocolate, and green tea-flavored “flats”   Avoiding Regret
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About

In a pedestrian alley tucked into San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood, this tiny factory is one of the oldest producers of handmade fortune cookies in the United States. As other producers turn to automated labor, it is one of the last of its kind, and it’s in trouble—but not because its cookies aren’t delicious.

With their rent quadrupling over the past three years, the Chang family, who has run the operation since 1962, has come up with new ways to make do. They’ve opened up the factory to allow visitors to see how the cookies are made, a process whereby the hot, flat, baked cookies are peeled off a press and must be folded and bent within seconds, lest they harden and shatter before taking their final form.

While the classic fortune cookie recipe is beloved and secret (even co-owner Kevin Chang doesn’t know his mother’s recipe), the Changs have begun selling a wider variety of flavors as well, including strawberry, chocolate, and tea. With only three staff members, the factory is able to crank out up to 10,000 cookies a day. Their impressive output, however, pales in comparison to the production of automated factories, which can bake and bend around one million cookies per day.

While the “old-school” techniques hinder the company’s productivity, holding to tradition is a matter of principle for Kevin Chang. As he told the BBC, “I want people to see how the cookies are made."

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Cookies Baking Factories San Francisco Shops

Know Before You Go

You can buy flat or folded cookies at the factory.

Community Contributors

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lukefater

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Avoiding Regret, davinwhite, SemiruralYeti, chicpianist

  • Avoiding Regret
  • davinwhite
  • SemiruralYeti
  • chicpianist

Published

October 14, 2019

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Sources
  • https://www.goldengatefortunecookies.com/about-our-cookies
  • https://freetoursbyfoot.com/visit-san-franciscos-fortune-cookie-factory/
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47049056
  • https://sf.curbed.com/2019/3/7/18254377/golden-gate-fortune-cookie-factory-chinatown-rent-eviction
  • http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/attractions/ggfortunecookie.html
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
56 Ross Alley
San Francisco, California, 94108
United States
37.795704, -122.407293
Visit Website
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