Sam Woo Restaurant: Difference between revisions

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{{distinguish|text=the [[Sam Wo]] restaurant in San Francisco}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[Sam Wo]] restaurant in San Francisco}}
{{short description|Hong Kong-style restaurant chain}}
{{short description|Hong Kong-style restaurant chain}}
[[File:SamWooMississauga.jpg|thumb|Sam Woo location in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, closed as of February 2020.]]
{{Refimprove|date=August 2025}}
'''Sam Woo Restaurant''' ({{lang|yue-HK|三和}}) is a [[restaurant chain]] that serves [[Hong Kong]]–style [[Cuisine of Hong Kong|cuisine]]. It has many locations in predominantly [[overseas Chinese]] communities of [[Southern California]], in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], and in the [[suburb]]s of [[Toronto]]. "Sam Woo" is a [[romanization]] of the [[Standard Cantonese|Cantonese]] pronunciation for "triple harmonies," in reference to ''[[feng shui]]'' principles, including the synthesis of heaven, earth, and humanity. The complete Chinese name ({{lang|yue-HK|三和燒臘麵家}}) literally means "Three Harmonies Roast Meats and Noodle House."
[[File:SamWooMississauga.jpg|thumb|Sam Woo location in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which closed in February 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Ashley |last=Newport |date=2020-02-03 |title=Long-standing (and much-loved) Chinese restaurant closes in Mississauga  |url=https://www.insauga.com/long-standing-and-much-loved-chinese-restaurant-closes-in-mississauga/ |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=INsauga |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
'''Sam Woo Restaurant''' ({{lang|yue-HK|三和}}) was a [[restaurant chain]] that served [[Hong Kong]]–style [[Cuisine of Hong Kong|cuisine]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-06-08 |title=Dim Sum Amid Las Vegas's Casinos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/travel/08surfacing.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |language=en |first=Bonnie |last=Tsui}}</ref> It had many locations in predominantly [[overseas Chinese]] communities of [[Southern California]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Max |date=1994-11-17 |title=Seafood Rules in the Exhilarating Land of Sam |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-17-ol-63625-story.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]], and in the [[suburb]]s of [[Toronto]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Max |date=1997-04-03 |title=Sam Woo Sees the Lite |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-03-ca-45121-story.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Many of the chain's locations have closed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Tony |date=2015-12-16 |title=The essential guide to San Gabriel Valley, America's Asian food mecca |url=http://la.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-san-gabriel-valley-chinese-asian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522105644/http://la.eater.com/maps/best-restaurants-san-gabriel-valley-chinese-asian |archive-date=2016-05-22 |access-date=2025-08-26 |work=[[Eater (website)|Eater LA]] |quote=Sam Woo, previously a Cantonese BBQ powerhouse, has been reduced to a few remaining outposts.}}</ref> The complete Chinese name ({{lang|yue-HK|三和燒臘麵家}}) literally means "Three Harmonies Roast Meats and Noodle House."


==History==
==History==


The first delicatessen was opened in 1979 by an elderly immigrant from Hong Kong in the [[Chinatown, Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles Chinatown]] and later spread to other locations in California, including [[Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park]] and [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]]. The first Sam Woo has since relocated to a newer building within Chinatown to include a restaurant and delicatessen.
The first delicatessen was opened in 1979 in the [[Chinatown, Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles Chinatown]].<ref name="chaplin2020">{{Cite web |last=Chaplin |first=Cathy |date=2020-08-18 |title=Sam Woo restaurant owner pleads guilty to multimillion-dollar tax and insurance fraud scheme |url=https://la.eater.com/2020/8/18/21373831/sam-woo-restaurant-owner-gary-cheung-tax-insurance-fraud-guilty |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Eater LA |language=en-US}}</ref>  It later spread to other locations in California, including [[Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park]] and [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]].{{cn|date=August 2025}}


Two other locations in the San Gabriel Valley opened only to later change hands or close. One restaurant opened in [[Montebello, California|Montebello]], which was renamed to "A-1" (now closed) when an employee purchased it from the Sam Woo owners (though the menu remains the same).  In 2004 a Sam Woo also opened in the suburb of [[Covina, California]], but it failed the following year and was replaced by a similar family-style restaurant.
Two other locations in the San Gabriel Valley opened only to later change hands or close. One restaurant opened in [[Montebello, California|Montebello]], which was renamed to "A-1" (now closed) when an employee purchased it from the Sam Woo owners.{{cn|date=August 2025}} In 2004, a Sam Woo also opened in the suburb of [[Covina, California]], but it failed the following year.{{cn|date=August 2025}}


There are two types of Sam Woo restaurants. The first is named '''Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant''' ({{lang|yue-HK|香港三和燒臘麵家}}).{{Efn|[[Jyutping]]: ''{{kCantonese|香港三和燒臘麵家}}''}}
There are two types of Sam Woo restaurants. The first is named Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant ({{lang|yue-HK|香港三和燒臘麵家}}).{{Efn|[[Jyutping]]: {{kCantonese|香港三和燒臘麵家}}}}{{clarification needed|date=August 2025}}


The restaurant chain operates in suburban areas in [[Southern California]], mostly in communities where there are many immigrants from [[China]] and [[Taiwan]], such as San Gabriel, Rowland Heights, and Irvine. Several, but not all, Sam Woo Restaurants in Southern California are located in shopping centers anchored by [[99 Ranch Market]] stores. The popular Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant as well as the anchor tenant 99 Ranch Market has contributed to the development of the spectacular [[Chinatown, Las Vegas]].
In 1992, presidential candidate [[Bill Clinton]] held a fundraiser at a now-defunct Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in [[San Gabriel, California]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bunting |first1=Glenn F. |last2=Kang |first2=K. Connie |date=1996-10-19 |title=From Hero to Political Hot Potato |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-19-mn-55619-story.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |quote=In 1992, Huang organized a fund-raiser for Clinton at the Sam Woo Seafood restaurant in San Gabriel that generated $250,000. The event marked the first time that a large number of Los Angeles-area Asian Americans had come together in one room to demonstrate their political clout in support of a presidential candidate.}}</ref> In 2003, Sam Woo and other Chinese businesses in San Gabriel were affected by the [[SARS]] panic, despite lack of evidence SARS cases in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Carla |date=2003-04-12 |title=San Gabriel Valley Abuzz With Rumors About SARS |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-12-me-sars12-story.html |access-date=2025-08-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Customer patronage declined and the restaurant closed.{{cn|date=August 2025}}


Sam Woo Restaurants are generally popular even though long waits to be seated are common.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}
In Southern California, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sam Woo Restaurants, restaurateurs have opened imitations with similar names in English and Chinese.  Examples include the long-gone Sam Doo Restaurant in San Gabriel and the current S.W. Seafood Restaurant in Irvine.{{cn|date=August 2025}} In the early 1990s, a similar concept to Sam Woo Restaurant, the now-defunct Luk Yue Restaurant, also started in Los Angeles Chinatown and like Sam Woo, it expanded into the Chinese community of [[Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park]], [[Rowland Heights]], and [[Cerritos, California|Cerritos]].{{cn|date=August 2025}}
 
In 1992, presidential candidate [[Bill Clinton]] held a fundraiser at a now-defunct Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in [[San Gabriel, California]]. The restaurant was highly popular for its [[dim sum]]. However, in 2003, the restaurant received some less favorable media attention when it and surrounding Chinese businesses in San Gabriel were at the center of the [[SARS]] panic. Due to an unsubstantiated internet rumor, customer patronage declined and the restaurant closed.  Unlike in Hong Kong or Toronto, there was no actual verified case of SARS reported in San Gabriel or Los Angeles.
 
In Southern California, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sam Woo Restaurants, restaurateurs have opened imitations with similar names in English and Chinese.  Examples include the long-gone Sam Doo Restaurant in San Gabriel and the current S.W. Seafood Restaurant in Irvine.  In the early 1990s, a similar concept to Sam Woo Restaurant, the now-defunct Luk Yue Restaurant, also started in Los Angeles Chinatown and like Sam Woo, it expanded into the Chinese community of [[Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park]], [[Rowland Heights]], and [[Cerritos, California|Cerritos]]. The chain has since folded while Sam Woo Restaurant remains popular in the Chinese communities of Southern California and Toronto.
 
==Locations==
 
===Canada===
 
====Ontario====
*[[Greater Toronto Area]]: one location in [[Toronto]] ([[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]])
 
===United States===
 
====California====
*[[Costa Mesa, California|Costa Mesa]] (Seafood – defunct)
*[[Irvine, California|Irvine]] (BBQ and Seafood) – closed as of 13 December 2021
*[[Los Angeles County]]
** Freestanding – [[Chinatown, Los Angeles]] (original BBQ and Seafood closed – relocated BBQ still open)
** [[Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California|Van Nuys]] (BBQ)
** [[San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel]] (BBQ-In Focus Plaza) Closed as of 12/1/2020
** [[East San Gabriel, California|San Gabriel]] (BBQ-168 Market)
** [[Rowland Heights, California|Rowland Heights]] (BBQ deli is open, Seafood restaurant closed around December 2006
Closed sep 2021 )
** [[Covina, California|Covina]] – (BBQ – defunct)
** [[Cerritos, California|Cerritos]] (BBQ and Seafood)
** Garvey Plaza – [[Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park]] (BBQ defunct)
** Freestanding – [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]] (BBQ)
**[[Rosemead, California|Rosemead]] (BBQ)
*[[San Diego, California|San Diego]] (BBQ)
 
====Nevada====
*Chinatown Plaza – [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] (Closed)


==See also==
==See also==
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* [[List of Chinese restaurants]]
* [[List of Chinese restaurants]]
* [[List of seafood restaurants]]
* [[List of seafood restaurants]]
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
{{Notelist}}
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.samwooirvine.com/index.html Irvine Sam Woo Restaurant Seafood & BBQ Express] is the official website of one of the restaurants.


[[Category:Hong Kong-American culture]]
[[Category:Hong Kong-American culture]]

Latest revision as of 03:09, 21 September 2025

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File:SamWooMississauga.jpg
Sam Woo location in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which closed in February 2020.[1]

Sam Woo Restaurant (Script error: No such module "Lang".) was a restaurant chain that served Hong Kong–style cuisine.[2] It had many locations in predominantly overseas Chinese communities of Southern California,[3] in Las Vegas, and in the suburbs of Toronto.[4] Many of the chain's locations have closed.[5] The complete Chinese name (Script error: No such module "Lang".) literally means "Three Harmonies Roast Meats and Noodle House."

History

The first delicatessen was opened in 1979 in the Los Angeles Chinatown.[6] It later spread to other locations in California, including Monterey Park and Alhambra.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Two other locations in the San Gabriel Valley opened only to later change hands or close. One restaurant opened in Montebello, which was renamed to "A-1" (now closed) when an employee purchased it from the Sam Woo owners.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In 2004, a Sam Woo also opened in the suburb of Covina, California, but it failed the following year.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

There are two types of Sam Woo restaurants. The first is named Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant (Script error: No such module "Lang".).Template:EfnTemplate:Clarification needed

In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton held a fundraiser at a now-defunct Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in San Gabriel, California.[7] In 2003, Sam Woo and other Chinese businesses in San Gabriel were affected by the SARS panic, despite lack of evidence SARS cases in the area.[8] Customer patronage declined and the restaurant closed.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

In Southern California, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sam Woo Restaurants, restaurateurs have opened imitations with similar names in English and Chinese. Examples include the long-gone Sam Doo Restaurant in San Gabriel and the current S.W. Seafood Restaurant in Irvine.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In the early 1990s, a similar concept to Sam Woo Restaurant, the now-defunct Luk Yue Restaurant, also started in Los Angeles Chinatown and like Sam Woo, it expanded into the Chinese community of Monterey Park, Rowland Heights, and Cerritos.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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