woo restaurant . new 2015 location of sam wo restaurant . the original location of sam wo restaurant december 2013 . sam wo simplified chinese ; traditional chinese ; pinyin s nh zh u f nmi n ; jyutping saam1wo4 zuk1 fan2min6 literally three harmonies porridge and noodles is a chinese restaurant located in san francisco california . the restaurant s first location on 813 washington street was famous for being a venerable mainstay in the local chinatown area having been in the same location since 1912 . sam wo gained notoriety in the 1980s for being the employer of edsel ford fung who was known locally as the world s rudest waiter . 1 1 2 the restaurant was closed in 2012 due to safety concerns and reopened in 2015 on nearby clay street . edsel with abused customers in 1982 . contents 1 history 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit there is no documented history on sam wo restaurant and its early beginnings from its founding in 1912 . sam wo was primarily well known by san francisco locals for its famous ... no frills late night food and its you get what you get service and 3 am closing time . 2 in the 1950s sam wo was a beat generation hangout . 3 the sam wo restaurant was probably best known as the workplace of edsel ford fung often called the world s rudest worst most insulting waiter . fung would refuse to serve customers whose appearance he disliked and that he would harass patrons that complained about mistaken orders . 1 after his passing in 1984 he left a lasting impression for a generation of san franciscans . 1 some of his signs on the washington street eatery remain such as those stating somewhat paradoxically for a chinese restaurant including no booze ... no jive no coffee milk soft drinks fortune cookies . 1 in 2012 the san francisco health department ordered the restaurant closed for rodent activity rat feces on kitchen floor 2 and other violations 1 such as poor employee hand washing standards and improper food storage as well as several fire department violations . 3 2 nevertheless the owners have promised to develop a remediation plan and then reopen . 1 a spokeswoman for the health department expressed hope stating ... people are so very loyal to that restaurant and san francisco is a city where nothing goes down easy . i m hoping for the best ... 1 generally the main problem cited by all the parties involved has been that the facilities are too old and that expensive modernization is needed . 2 in spite of the financial difficulties in revamping the century old restaurant the restaurant s landlord has expressed support for keeping the restaurant open . 2 in 2014 the management announced that sam wo would reopen the restaurant finally reopened at a new location at 713 clay street on october 21 2015 . sam wo was immortalized in the media throughout the years some notable examples include author armistead maupin journalist herb caen and late night talk show host conan o brien in their various reports of the experiences with the eatery . 2 see also edit history of the chinese americans in san francisco references edit a b c d e f g h calif. rudest waiter eatery may stay open lisa beff the associated press 21 04 2012 access date 21 04 2012 a b c d e f g sf s sam wo restaurant might get chance to reopen vivian ho paolo lucchesi san francisco chronicle 21 04 2012 access date 21 04 2012 a b chinatown institution sam wo is closing this weekend paolo lucchessi 04 19 2012 access date 21 04 2012 external links edit san francisco bay area portal food portal sam wo restaurant official website facebook page coordinates 37 47 42 n 122 24 24 w 37.795034 n 122.406729 w 37.795034 ; 122.406729 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sam wo & oldid 743704126 categories 1912 establishments in california2015 establishments in californiarestaurants established in 1912restaurants established in 2015restaurants in san franciscohistory of san franciscochinatown san franciscohidden categories articles containing simplified chinese language textarticles containing traditional chinese language textcoordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 20 06 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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