Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory

What you need to know

The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has folded cookies by hand in Ross Alley, one of the older lanes in Chinatown, since 1962. The shop is small enough that the production line and the customer counter share the same room.

What to Expect

Workers operate circular griddles that cook the batter into flat discs. While each disc is still hot and pliable, they insert a paper fortune and fold the cookie, a process that takes a few seconds and has to happen before it cools. The shop sells folded cookies, flat unfolded versions, and chocolate-dipped variations, and custom fortunes can be ordered ahead. Watching takes a few minutes, and the room fits only a few visitors at a time.

Visiting

Address: 56 Ross Alley Phone: (415) 781-3956

The factory opens daily at 9am. Its own website lists closing times ranging from 6pm to 7pm depending on the day, so call ahead if you are going late in the afternoon. Walking in and watching is free; cookies are sold by the bag.

Getting There

Ross Alley runs between Washington and Jackson streets in Chinatown, west of Grant Avenue, and is walkable from the rest of the neighborhood’s sights. From the Powell-Mason cable car, exit at Powell and Jackson and walk down Jackson past Stockton; the alley is on the right between Stockton and Kearny. The 30 Stockton stops at Stockton and Jackson, and the 1 California runs along California Street a few blocks south. Chinatown parking garages include Portsmouth Square Plaza at 733 Kearny Street and the Chinatown garage at 728 Pacific Avenue.