"Back in the Day", Edsel was the real deal, your food arrived via a dumb-waiter, the place bordered on seedy, and it was cheap.
SFGATE’s Madeline Wells embarks on a mission to review all the SF treats tourists rave about, in a column we’re calling ‘Eat Like a Tourist’
By Madeline WellsSep 9, 2023
Back in the day, a meal at Sam Wo was served with a side of verbal abuse.
The century-old San Francisco Chinatown institution was known for having “the world’s rudest waiter.” Edsel Ford Fung, who customers “came to see and be verbally abused by,” was infamous for “flirting with girls, rudely criticizing customers and reminding people about tipping him,” chef and writer Shirley Fong-Torres wrote in her 2008 book, “The Woman Who Ate Chinatown: A San Francisco Odyssey,” per the LA Times.
Edsel Ford Fung passed away in 1984, but he’s been immortalized in the writings of both San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and author Armistead Maupin, who made him a character in “Tales of the City.”
The Woman Who Ate Chinatown
Greg
We all need a hug sometimes