Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
The Verdict
"Fortune cookies folded by hand in Ross Alley since 1962, with the production line and customer counter in the same room. Workers slip a paper fortune into each hot disc and fold it in seconds before it hardens. At 56 Ross Alley between Washington and Jackson, small fee for photos, samples usually free."
What you need to know
The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has folded cookies by hand in Ross Alley since 1962. The shop is small enough that the production line and the customer counter share the same room.
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 into its familiar shape. The whole process takes a few seconds per cookie and has to happen before the disc cools and hardens.
A small fee covers taking photos. Samples are usually free. The shop sells the standard folded cookies, flat unfolded versions, and chocolate-dipped variations. Custom fortunes can be ordered in advance for events.
Ross Alley itself is a narrow passage running between Washington and Jackson streets, one of the older lanes in Chinatown. The factory is at 56 Ross Alley.
The fortune cookie’s origins are disputed. Most historians trace the modern American version to early-20th-century California, with both Japanese-run bakeries in San Francisco and Chinese-American bakeries in Los Angeles claiming the invention. Whatever the lineage, the product is a California one, not a Chinese one.
Explore Nearby
Top of the Mark
A 19th-floor Nob Hill lounge open since 1939, with a 100 Martinis...
Buddha Lounge
A Chinatown dive with red lanterns, a jukebox, and stiff, cheap pours.
Good Mong Kok Bakery
Chinatown bakery on Stockton Street, open since 1977. Steamed char siu bao...
Hon’s Wun-Tun House
Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup with hand-wrapped wontons and clean broth. So...