Wok Wiz Chinatown Walking Tours

Bernie, Shirley's husband give us the tour on our 10th anniversary that was 25 years ago. It was awesome then and I've heard just as good if not better now.

Bottom Line: For the average tourist, Wok Wiz demystifies San Francisco's Chinatown and offers a deeper understanding of the culturally-rich community that lives in the 20 square block neighborhood.At first glance, Chinatown is a busy tourist attraction with a fun Dragon Gate and souvenir shopping galore. But as can be learned through the Wok Wiz walking tour, Chinatown is actually a community of Chinese-Americans living their daily lives and tourists get to temporarily immerse themselves into this fascinating culture.Even though I had previously taken a walking tour of Chinatown with another company I knew there was still lots for me to learn about this fascinating area of Fog City. Here were some of the tour highlights for me:- Gimmy, our tour guide was great and I appreciated that she brought some show and tell with her to the rendezvous point like a picture of Chinese immigrants working on the trans-continental railroad. I always knew that we have the Chinese to thank for that 1860s feat of engineering but Gimmy told us that the US Government just officially recognized their contribution last year. - As an American history enthusiast, I already knew about the earthquake and subseqent fire of 1906 but what I didn't know is that during the rebuilding address, street numbers were not necessarily reassigned in the same location. There was so much rubble that city officials weren't exactly sure were some buildings were located prior to the distructive seismic tragedy. - Our first stop was in a jam packed Chinese stationary store. Here I enjoyed learning about the tradition of money envelopes. I also liked checking out the colorful calendars. - There are many places that I would feel awkward going in alone and the herbalist is one of them so I was glad to be shepherd by our guide. At the local herbalist, we saw the pharmacist mixing together a variety of natural ingredients and weighing them out to fulfill ancient prescriptions for Chinese medicine. I also enjoyed seeing the different varieties of ginseng here. Once again, Gimmy broke out her "show-and-tell" and we got to inspect and smell some of the "prescriptions" she had on hand. - Chinatown is a residential so community so we saw laundry blowing in the wind outside of single occupancy rooms that are 10x10 and rent for $700 to $1,000 per month. I learned that the citizens in those buildings share a bathroom and kitchen. To escape the crowded living space the residents enjoy socializing in nearby Plymouth Square. - I appreciated being welcomed into the Ma Tsu temple and learning more about this Buddhist based religion. It was ok to take pictures here if no one was praying. I noticed a donation box on my way out and was glad to share my thanks.- I am fascinated with the fortune cookie factory on Ross Alley so I am glad that is one of the stops on the tour. At the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory you can see how fortune cookies are made and even snap a few photos. They do ask for a $0.50 cent donation for photos so get your quarters ready. If you are lucky you'll get to sample some fortune cookie rounds too. You can buy bags of fortune cookies here for your family or mix it up a bit with bags of fortune cookies with adult sayings.- There are many places to taste tea in Chinatown and I think I've had tea at most of them but I finally found the best spot thanks to Wok Wiz - Red Blossom Tea Company. This family-owned store is run by a well educated second generation tea purveyor who pays very close attention from where she sources her tea. This is a very trustworthy spot for the highest quality tea - Our final stop was lunch at the Oriental Pearl Restaurant. We had dim sum, wonton soup, a noodle dish and some other delicious dishes here. Aside from the food being really good, the restaurant was quiet with nice white linens. As an added bonus, the bathroom was clean.There wasn't any naked ducks, opium or abalone on this two-hour walking tour but I still feel like I increased my understanding of one of the country's best Chinatowns.

I'm a little biased in this review - ya see, I have a close relative that is one of the tour guides (Alberta), and I FINALLY got to join her on the tour of Chinatown. We all met up at the Hilton in Chinatown. This is where you meet Shirley Fong-Torres and the rest of your group. The tour actually begins in Portsmouth Square and here you'll learn the history of the square and how each tour is run per your guide.Along the way, I learned about my guide's personal experience with Chinatown and how she relates to this historical place. We'll walk through Grant Street, a tea factory, the fortune cookie factory, a temple, and a few other stores that encourage the understanding of Chinese culture. We'll brave the crowds of Stockton street to take note of various produce, delicious goodies, and other notables that those who aren't familiar with Chinatowns will take quite delight in learning about.And should you choose, you can continue your tour to lunch where you'll dine with the rest of your group over a basic lunch. (I would recommend asking your guide for a better recommendation on lunch instead. I think you'll get a better bang for your buck this way and have a better variety of goodies to try.)All in all, growing in San Francisco and spending quite some time as a child in Chinatown, I still learned quite a few things. One story even brought a tear to my eye. If you haven't been around very many Chinatowns and would love to learn more about the history of San Francisco's, take a Wok Wiz tour. Every tour guide is different and you'll get an experience no matter what. If you have a fun group, that will play a difference too. And of course, don't forget to tip your guide! Tips are always appreciated!

We wanted to take a foodie tour of Chinatown and had a hard time choosing which tour to take. I'm very glad we took the Wok Wiz Foodie tour. Our guide, Frank, was born in Chinatown and he deftly combined stories of life growing up in Chinatown with great food - most of which we never would have found on our own. While some of the stops on the tour are well-known, Frank was able to add extra context and because he's a member of the community we got extra attention at each stop from the proprietors. It was interesting to me how we traveled from quiet restaurants and shops with almost no tourists briefly crossing paths with the hordes of visitors as we walked by souvenir shops before stepping off the beaten path once again to learn a bit of history in between bites of food.Make sure you go hungry if you go. You definitely don't need to have breakfast before starting the tour. I'm definitely glad we chose Wok Wiz.

I had the most amazing experience today with Frank and the eating walking tour. I joined the tour last minute only finding out about it 45 minutes before the tour started it. They were so accommodating and let me join. We went to two different restaurants, two different bakeries, markets, tea tasting and a couple other stores. He is so knowledgeable about cooking and food he helped me with my food allergies made sure that everything I knew everything that was in everything I ate he explained how the food was made (even taught me how to make a couple things). And he was fun and funny as well! He grew up in Chinatown and was so full of history and understanding the intricacies of the neighborhood and how the neighborhood has evolved over the years. Not only was it an eating tour, it was also a history lesson. I loved loved loved my tour! And can't emphasize enough how wonderful Frank was!

For the price I wouldn't say this tour was worth it. I didn't really feel like I got a good feel for the history of Chinatown, and the dim sum lunch was...well, I know they need to make the tour palatable for the tons of midwest tourists that come that have never eaten dim sum before, but it really wasn't what I was expecting. Chinese chicken salad, an egg roll, char sui bao, chicken and mushroom shui mai, a potsticker, and a lotus seed paste sesame ball for dessert. Hmmm.Instead of the tour, walk around Chinatown, find the fortune cookie company in the alley, and go get dim sum at a restaurant with full cart service.

Cheers to the Chinatown walking tour and dim sum lunch!!! We were soooo freakin' late for the tour; by the time we huffed it up the streets to the Chinatown Hilton, the group had left. I was so bummed. I thought for sure my $84 had gone down the drain!! We walked across the street to Portsmouth Square in the hopes of finding them, but to no avail...Suddenly, a voicemail appeared!! It was Alberta, searching for me. They were still in the Square!! We were saved!!! We got our little yellow button (a souvenir you get to keep) and we were part of the group once more. Just for that, I was the most thrilled person on the planet.The tour was really great. I loved that Alberta was throwing in her personal experiences!! She showed us where she learned Cantonese, where she got married, where she buys her super-fresh produce... She even quizzed us on produce items and the interesting meats hanging from the windows. (Window shopping on a whole new level, let me tell you.) Of course, we were so late that we hadn't eaten a thing. And Alberta kept feeling the need to show us many of the food stores and all the delicious-looking offerings in the window. I was STARVING!!I absolutely loved the tea purveyor. The store was really beautiful, and the owner of the son greeted us and explained all the differences between the types of tea, and how you know what good tea really is. The decor was so simple and so beautiful. We got to sample a delicious white tea. I was so eager to walk back and buy some!! Honestly, very reasonably priced for the quality. They have 100s of varieties, and they can probably tell you everything you need to know about each one to decide on what to buy, and why they are a certain price. (Some of them are upwards of $200...I didn't buy any of those....Duh!)I'm sure that every experience is a little different. I think it would have to do with your guide and the other members in your group. Personally, I truly had a great time. It was very cultural, colorful, educational, and beautiful. Here's a note: we stopped for a sample at the Fortune Cookie store. I left with a $4 bag of ADULT fortune cookies. Once I open them, I will add an updated posting. (I think there's a few broken ones; I'll sample them when I decide to get up from the bed.)Another note: It seems that the restaurant you have lunch at is different from the earlier tours. The name escapes me. It wasn't the most spectacular meal, but it was pretty darn tasty. I think having the experience with your meal is just part of the fun. PS. Teri C. your relative rocks!! She was so sweet and so funny.

Gimmy was a fantastic tour guide whose knowledge of Chinatown was illuminating and moving. We are grateful to have the opportunity to take our students to experience this rich cultural site!

I live in San Francisco and had family visiting. They wanted a Chinatown tour. Even though I had been to SF Chinatown many times I love to learn new things. Gimmy was our tour guide and she was amazing. Knowledgeable and brought us off the beaten path to places that I would not have found on my own. My family really like the interactive nature of going in some of the shops to mingle with the owners and try different products (no hard sell at all). It was fun for them to learn about and for me as well. This was only a part of the tour. Gimmy had many historic facts and very cute, alley streets we got to walk down to learn about the past to the present Chinatown highlights. I had called to ask questions and spoke to the owner, Tina. She was very responsive and as well communicated via email as the tour date approached to make sure we knew where to go and a reminder of the meeting location. Felt very taken care of. Thanks Wok Wiz.

Gimmy Park Li did our tour this last Saturday, and my husband and I were the only ones on the tour. She was so funny and a wonderful host! She took us all around and pointed out things we never would have noticed. She has great knowledge and we even stopped at the Wok Store so that we could replace our bamboo steamer and buy a new wok. We had done the eating tour of Chinatown many years ago and am so glad that they still have such wonderful tours.