My friend Rich was visiting from Long Island with his parents and his 8-year-old daughter, Kate. They had hit all of the tourist stops in the city, so when I met up with them last week, I thought it would be fun to take them to Chinatown and the Golden Gate Cookie Factory. It was not that easy to find! It's on a little street called Ross Alley (between Jackson & Washington) and the place is really small, too. Once you find the street and start walking, you start to smell the fortune cookies, and then when you get there you have to kind of squeeze your way in to the front to see what is going on. It looks just like this picture (which I pulled off of the net, because they charge you $5 to take a photo in there).
There is an old man who pulls the fresh cookies right off of the machine and shows you how to fold them. You have to do this while they are still hot or they will break. The problem is, you kind of burn your fingers, and when your fingers stop hurting, the cookie is too cold and will break. Anyway, it's fun, and if you are lucky, you will get multiple tastes and even a chocolate fortune cookie. The old guy is adorable.
They sell them by the bag for around $7.00, as well as sesame cookies, giant fortune cookies, and "adult" fortune cookies.
This is definitely a unique place to take both locals and visitors.
