In the midst of continuously rising dining prices in San Francisco, “Golden Gate Cheung Fun,” a Chinatown restaurant specializing in affordable rice noodle rolls, has become a popular lunch spot for local office workers, residents, and tourists with its freshly made Cheung Fun for under 10 dollars. The restaurant does not accept credit cards, only cash, but also accepts Venmo and Zelle payments. Despite that, during peak dining hours, long lines are a common sight.
According to media reports, Golden Gate Cheung Fun opened in 2024, offering Cantonese-style Cheung Fun and wontons. The menu is simple with relatively budget-friendly prices. The signature combination Cheung Fun is priced at $9.21, containing beef, pork, BBQ pork, and egg; the “Shrimp Feast” Cheung Fun is priced at $8.98, while the vegetarian Cheung Fun is $6.45.
The restaurant quickly gained popularity on social media shortly after its opening. Many influencers have listed it as a “must-try” affordable eatery in San Francisco, with related videos accumulating hundreds of thousands of views. The renowned North Beach bakery, Butter and Crumble, even drew inspiration from the restaurant’s signature Cheung Fun to create pastries. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also featured this restaurant in a recent video.
Reports indicate that Golden Gate Cheung Fun is often fully booked during lunch hours. Delivery drivers, downtown office workers, and Chinatown residents gather inside the restaurant, where customers can enhance their meals with the house-made spicy oil, special sweet soy sauce, peanut sauce, Sichuan chili sauce, and vinegar.
In addition to Cheung Fun, the shrimp roe wontons in the restaurant are also a popular choice. The wonton filling includes shrimp, pork, and crab roe, which can be paired with clear broth or thin egg noodles, priced at $10.82 per serving. Soy milk is available for $2.76.
The owner of Golden Gate Cheung Fun, Tom Zhen, hails from Kaiping, Guangdong. At the age of 29, he left the tech industry in San Francisco to open this restaurant with his family, aiming to recreate the taste of Cheung Fun from his hometown.
Zhen mentioned in an interview that many dim sum restaurants pre-make Cheung Fun to speed up service, reheating them upon order placement. In contrast, Golden Gate Cheung Fun insists on fresh, made-to-order rolls.
The process involves soaking raw rice overnight, grinding it into rice milk, steaming it in a square metal plate, and then adding meat or seafood for a second steaming. Zhen emphasized that this labor-intensive method is the key to recreating the traditional flavor of Kaiping’s Cheung Fun.
Zhen’s father previously ran a Cheung Fun shop in Kaiping, but due to intense local competition, they closed the business after over a decade and relocated the family to San Francisco.
After witnessing the gradual rise of the Cheung Fun market in New York City, Zhen believed that there were still relatively few dedicated Cheung Fun establishments in San Francisco. Consequently, he decided to revive his father’s craft and establish Golden Gate Cheung Fun.
Today, this small shop that began with a focus on hometown flavors has become one of Chinatown’s popular budget-friendly restaurants. Despite its limited space and the often 20-minute wait during lunch peaks, it continues to attract many customers who are willing to queue for a taste.