Fortune Cookie Reviews

The owner is super friendly! The freshest fortune cookies you will ever have in your life.

Fun quick visit if you're in the neighborhood - you can write your own messages to put in cookies

What a really pleasant visit to this place in historic SF Chinatown. It can be easy to miss from the busy Jackson Street if you are getting mesmerized by similarly colored awning signs.
It was my firs time visiting. Thanks to a friend who recommended I check it out just to make a personalized fortune in your own words!
The second I walked in, the nice little lady beckoned me to walk in further and assured me in her Chinese-like motion that it'll be alright. Her broken English in a humble way made me want to hug her! She is such a pure person. She gave me a handful of newly made flat cookies. And boy, that first crunchy warm bite had me in a bliss! What an experience! Unlike some Chinese merchants, this nice lady wasn't pushy. She allowed me to browse for myself to soak in the excitement I was having in there. I picked my first bag of green tea cookies, then out she comes next to me with an open souvenir bag featuring their factory logo. She motioned into the bag that she wants me to put my first grab into it. Then she followed me like a golf caddy would with that open bag. I was getting embarrassed because I am not use to this much extra service and attention. I grabbed more varieties of cookies. Her patience waiting with me as I picked the bags of cookies is like a mom letting her toddler enjoy himself in a toy store and watching her child with joy. She is so lovely. I purchased over $60 of cookies. Most of them are gifts to friends!
By the way, it's a cash only place so be ready to bring in tons of cash if you expect to spend alot. Bring what you think you will buy. As soon as she gave me back my change, she told me to pause first before I leave the store. Then she walks toward the freshly baked cookie bin and put on my outstretched hand more cookies! They're the flat cookies. So she gave me a stack of about 11 cookies that are about a 5-6 inches in diameter. In her broken English she wants me to visit again. Thank you for such a personable experience! Fortune cookies should be an institution in itself. Just like France is known for baguettes, San Francisco should be solely known for fortune cookies!

Nice little whole in the wall spot. Delicious fortune cookies. And they make them right in front of you. Very small shop, so hopefully you go on a day and time we re there isn t a tour. They even added chocolate covered cookies, yummy. I strongly suggest you take public transportation to get there.

At the end of Ross Alley near Jackson you are drawn in by the wonderful smells of freshly baked fortune cookies of different shapes and sizes as they are folded into shape while warm out of the oven by hand. The smell of eggs, sugar, and flour is irresistible drawing big crowds that wait their turn at this historical factory. And not just the plain fortune cookies served at the end of a Chinese dinner either but different flavors and colors such as chocolate, strawberry and green tea. You sample the cookies and make your purchases with cash only no credit cards.

Whenever I'm in Chinatown I always stop by the Golden Gate fortune cookie factory which is nestled in an alleyway on Ross in San Francisco so they even have the fortune cookies that are x-rated fortune cookies which I always go for those and then there is a lady that sitting there making the cookie also they have like white chocolate-covered fortune cookies with sprinkles they have the chocolate fortune cookies with sprinkles on it and can't forget the traditional fortune cookie so a must go to if you are in China town in San Francisco

Great place to visit and pick up some cookies while your there. Be early though, can be super busy at times.

Delicious and fresh cookies You can see how they do them.

While I was exploring the many different ally ways in Chinatown I happened to stumble across this long line of people in this small ally and as I was walking bye I saw this lady with a try of cookies I stopped and tried them they were crispy and warm not too sweet and just melted in mouth. Great cookies well worth the wait.

A very cool quick stop to see how fortune cookies are made. Samples given and very reasonable prices to buy more.

Worth the visit. You can walk around Chinatown and stop by here to see the making of Fortune cookie. You can make a personalized one or buy there variety ones as gifts. They also have X-rated messages for sale.

Amazing cookies! A must stop when visiting San Francisco. They are open every day 9-6, google maps has their hours wrong!

It was an fun experience to have, and interesting to see. I've never really thought about how something as simple as a fortune cookie is made, but a recent purchase of some at a local market made me realize how different a fresh cookie is from the stale version I often discard after getting a glimpse of my future (or lucky number, or learn a Chinese phrase/word).
You can glean all you need in about 10 seconds as you watch a worker sit next to a slowly rotating machine. A small, flat, pancake like confection falls in front of a worker and a fortune is folded in. The newly formed cookie is set aside to allow time to cool and the form to hold.
The cookies can be bought in the traditional shape, as well as a variety of different sizes of the flat, circle variety. You can get them in a few different flavors or opt for a chocolate coating/drizzle. For the adults, there are also X-rated cookies that look like typical fortune cookies but have a more provocative message inside (although, it seems like a few of them may have lost something in translation).
If you're in the neighborhood and have any interest in, or enjoy, fortune cookies (either for novelty or taste related reasons) you should give this place a visit. The scent of freshly made fortune cookies is devine and the taste is probably better than anything you've had in your typical restaurant.
The only thing that was a bit of a let down was the service. We waited there for a few minutes without being acknowledged by any of the workers, and after we were it was tough to ask questions with a mouth full of free samples.
We didn't get a tour, so I can't include that in this review, but I don't expect it would be much more than walking over to one of the pieces of equipment in plain view and getting a explanation of the process.
After leaving I was also told that they do not allow you to take pictures inside without paying a fee. Snap photos at your own risk.

TL;DR: Fresh free Samples!

Very neat little shop! Incredibly busy but the line moves fast. It was pretty cool to witness how a fortune cookie is made. We got 2 custom fortune cookies for $1.50.

Absolutely fresh fortune cookies (the flavor brought back some great childhood memories of delicious snacks! although the form, fortune cookies, didn t really exist in China and was originated from Japan). Didn t take the pic of the chocolate covered ones but there are so many amazing selections of fortune cookies you won t see it anywhere else.

Not alot to see, but interesting to see how fortune cookies are made, and get free samples.

it is small. you pay 50 US cents to make a foto. the Dutch man: Klaas van Kruistum was there for his dutch TV program: Klaas Kan Alles. it is not expensive. you can see what they do. they make it for us.

Best fortune cookies. Definitely need to come if I m SF CT

If you want amazing, and fresh fortune cookies... This is the place!

Cool tourist view into something normally so mundane that you take it for granted. You can have custom fortune cookies created here for a few bucks, kind of an intriguing item for a special occasion. We got chocolate covered fortune cookies to change it up some. Photos cost 50 cents each so I took them with my dslr. Will upload later!

A rather small cramped space with a queue to enter, oogle and purchase. Fortune cookies were yummy, very crispy and very fresh. These treats also come in cool flavours like chocolate/strawberry, etc. A bag of 35 original flavoured cookies costs approx USD5.50

This is located in an alley so you may miss it! But once you're in, the smell of fortune cookies are afloat! They have a variety in their selections ranging from chocolate, normal vanilla, "adult rated fortunes" and some flat ones. They even offer samples so you can try their fresh batch which are SO GOOD. Better than the ones you would receive from Panda Express. I purchased a bag of the adult rated fortune cookies and they don't seem to make all that much sense. If you're looking for some laughs from those, I would not bother. But the cookies are delicious...

Love this historic Fortune Cookie factory. The most delicious freshly made Fortune Cookies made in front of you. Light, crispy.and flavorful. They offer vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and green tea flavors. Also jumbo and Belgium chocolate dipped! You can even do custom fortunes for one cookie!!!!

Happy that they are open again! Fresh cookies from friendly people. A must go for residents and tourists.

Wonderful staff, yummy sample. Fresh fresh fresh!!!

A must see in the city. A tiny place on a tiny alley. How the cookies are made is astoundingly simple and fascinating. We go every visit, but yesterday there was a long line!!! And they have expanded to include chocolate covered cookies and adult x-rated fortunes, lol!

Tiny shop with two people at machines building cookies. Very fun to watch.

free samples!! also you can see the ladies make the cookies right in front of you.

It is a cookie (sembay style) shop for souvenirs. Inside the store, the artisan baking cookies used an iron plate with heat to bake cookies. It may be a harsh work environment.
In the cookie, it is a piece of paper and says, "If you are kind to others, you will be rewarded."
I like women for such horoscopes.

This place has very nice rides. I enjoyed the fortune cookie ride the most.

If you have children it may be interesting to visit the live production of cookies.

A must do experience. Very interesting how they are made and the experience is priceless.

Owner yells at his workers in Cantonese. On this Saturday, to the cashier, "can't you see the customer is talking to you," to the cookie maker "stop smirking, I'm giving you one more chance."
Don'tk why it's a tourist site, buy fortune cookies and leave, it's a really small space. Easy to find, there's a line outside.

Bucolic place with a charming welcome. Nice to see how his made fortune cookies. A very large selection of very good cakes.

They make the fortune cookies right in front of you!

Love this place gets better every year someplace lose it but not them

A unique place that you must visit to soak up the culture of San Francisco.

It was a great experience being able watch them make the fortune cookies. The cookies that they gave we're right off the cooking press.

Incredibly nice staff. You can make custom fortune cookies, 2 for $1.50 in a small take out box. Just write your message out and hand it over.

We were very excited to check this establishment out. I don't think we would have found it if we hadn't been on a tour. We were disappointed that we had to stand in such a long line to get in and then wete rushed out so quickly, we barely saw what was going on. You were supposed to be able to purchase some fortune cookies but we were rushed out so fast we could not. There has to be a better system.

Little little. You have to give a tip to take pictures, but they are very friendly. They say that fortune cookies were invented here.

Friendly place. The cookies were so crisp and delicious especially when fresh!

Fortune cookies freshly made here. This is a legendary place you can get traditional fortune cookies or other options are strawberry, chocolate, green tea, glazed chocolate and strawberry, chocolate dipped with sprinkles and flat ones (my favorite). If your lucky you'll get to try them freshly made gentleman there gave us some to try and they were delicious. You have to stop and get yourself, friends or family some.

A small, surprising place. Worth a visit. Are greeted with a smile and cookies for tasting.

It's really fun to be able to see how fortune cookies are made. They have bags of many sizes, shapes, and flavors for sale. You can even have a cookie made with a custom message.

Love the wafers! too touristy, in which I mean people working there were trying to charge extra for tax and bag fee when I brought my own.

Delicious smells...cookies are delicious. Definitely worth checking out

I love how you get a free sample right away when you enter. Delicious fortune cookies hand made ... amazing place to pay a quick visit!

Factory (more like a queen room) mythological to create Chinese fortune cookies. Many people do not know but fortune cookies are a marketing invention of a guy from Chinatown from San Francisco and not a Chinese invention at all.
You can buy fortune cookies here in the bags, and take the queen of the preparation of fortune cookies.
Please note that this is a very small place located in a narrow alley so it is easy to miss the place.

Frankly this tiny whole in the wall was so difficult to find that I'm not sure it was worth the trouble.

Historic and part of the historic China town.their fortune cookies are delicious.

It's an interesting place to go, just to watch them make the cookies

Free coin-shaped fortune cookie samples when you visit!

Extremely small factory, maximum capacity of 10. Shows how fortune cookies are made (by hand, by ladies wrapping each fortune into the cookies). Free (sometimes hot) samples upon entry.

Nice visit, you can buy cookies with personalized messages

Friendly staff and free samples. They were very helpful.

Great tour and introduction to making fortune cookies.

can get a little cramp, interesting little visit. different flavoured fortune cookies.

4 bucks for a bag of flat cookies, think fortune cookies that didn't get wrapped up. 6 for a mix bag of chocolate. Nice and warm when you get them.

Awesome tasting cookies. Great to see how these are made. Please tip the workers if you are getting free samples, taking pictures and not buying anything.

Cool to see how these are made (all by hand), Nd you re able to make your own fortunes.

Worth a quick visit to see these ladies pump out fortune cookies. Pretty amazing and the numerous varieties available to buy are super tasty!

Easy to miss this one. Always go into the dark alley in Chinatown, that's where you'll find the best stuff. This one is tucked down one such alley. Tiny little space but woah! the fresh fortune cookies are well worth any wait.

It s nice to see them make your fortune lol.
You actually get to personalize a message to a special someone.

Great place! Friendly people! Kids even got to write their own fortunes.

Worth visiting!! Free to take a look and watch them make fortune cookies. They also will occasionally give samples of the cookie. The shop is very small but that adds to the authentic feel. You can also choose to write your own fortune cookie message (around ~$3 for 2) and they will place the message inside of a fresh fortune cookie!

Amazing experience. Staff are very friendly and it's a historic entity that has been in business since 1962. Definitely try the strawberry fortune cookies and before taking any pictures ask otherwise they charge 50 cents per photo. Kevin is very generous and friendly, he has all the tips on how to make it...if you are lucky like I was, he may let you make your own fortune cookies. They charge 1$ for making your own fortune. A definite visit if in Chinatown.

My family and I loved this cute little shop... The lady was super nice giving us free samples of the cookies and they taste so good! There are also people making the fortune cookies directly in front of you. WOW!

Awesome place! You can make your own fortune cookies! Super friendly as well!

Very delicious and famous fortune cookies in San Francisco China Town

Very cool place to visit on China Town. This little shop gives you an insight into how fortune cookies are made. You get a sample cookies while waiting in line and the whole experience is very nice. The location of a side street and the store itself is very small. If there is no one the whole experience takes about 3-5 minutes.

It's a hole in the wall, very underwhelming. But the fresh cookies are amazing and it is pretty cool to see how they make fortune cookies.

It's OK, but getting harassed for taking a photo when their disclaimer isn't readily noticeable isn't OK.

This place has the best fortune cookies. Too bad its in Chinatown.

Really good place to go and see how fortune cookies are made. The owner is really nice and he'll give you lots of extra cookies, but he only does it if it's not that crowded.

This is a neat little spot to stop by if you're in the area. It's quite small and takes no time at all to see the insides- but the wait line can be long depending on when you go.
They offer different kinds of fortune cookies on the inside; from chocolate covered to matcha flavored! And you get some warm, flattened fortune cookies with your purchase.