Wok Wiz Chinatown Walking Tours

If you are looking for for an authentic tour from an actual Chinese person that not only speaks the language but also grew up in the neighborhood than this is where to go. Lola took us to the usual main tourist spots that the tour groups visit (fortune cookie factory, historical buildings, Portsmouth Square), but she also took us around to the places the locals frequent. Personalized stories entrench you in the culture, both past and present. Any tour guide can recite the basic Chinatown history or you can read it in a book. This tour gives you the best place to feel get the smells, sounds, sights, and feel for this amazing place like a local. I was really impressed with the quality of the dim sum lunch. Large portions of a delicious custom menu. A must do for exploring this area as most of the best parts of Chinatown are hidden in doorways, alleys, and inconspicuous shops.

My sister and i came in to visit my cousin, a SJ/​SF local and went on the daily Chinatown tour with him. Even he was thoroughly impressed with Dorothy’s, our tour guide, knowledge of chinatown SF and its history. As an 80 year old woman, she was so lively and entertaining we struggled to keep up with her pace! (but in a good way. we we’re falling behind schedule because we were too enraptured with the spots she took us to. haha.) We saw a lovely tea presentation at the Red Blossom and ate at the Oriental Pearl restaurant (Guang Dong/​HK style cuisine) for Dim Sum Sampling. Every item chosen i enjoyed, my favorites being the wonton soup and the fresh sesame ball! Personally, the sampling of each dish filled me up, but for those with a bigger appetite than mine, be ready to order more food there or eat something else after the tour because it might not be enough for you.
My party and I lucked out because we got a great group with people our own age and with past traveling experiences to China who added to Dorothy’s commentary and asked great questions which made the learning experience more fruitful.
The next time i come into town, I want to go on their «Chow, Ciao» tour next because Dorothy posed this question to us, «Around the country, Why do you think the Chinese and Italians always settle around next to each other?» I know i could easily google and find out the answer, but i think i’d rather hear and see the examples for myself on my next trip to SF with this amazing company leading the way. I cannot praise this tour enough and i HIGHLY recommend it!
TIP: You don’t have to sign up for the tour through Zerve. You can call the business office and avoid the service fee charged by Zerve! (Would’ve saved me $ 10.)
TIP 2: Eat breakfast because you won’t eat till the tour is over, which is at 1pm.

I recently took the «I Can’t Believe I Ate My Way Through Chinatown» tour and had an phenomenal time! Our tour guide, Frank, was fun and knowledgeable. I live in SF so enjoyed learning about the history of the area as well as some unique and delicious places to eat!

We loved our tour last weekend. Lola was our guide and she was constantly sharing really interesting information with us. She has lived in Chinatown and knows all about it and tons about the history and culture of the area. She pointed out tons of interesting places to us as well as interesting foods. She even taught us to say some words in Cantonese. We are so glad that we went.
One thing that deserves clarification. There was hardly any food to eat before the lunch. It was not clear from the website how much food was included and we had expected more food. We talked about food and looked at food and of course had a wonderful tea demonstration but don’t come too hungry.
We were also very fortunate in that our group was on the small end. I believe they vary from about 4 – 16. I can see as how a larger group might have been harder to follow.
Another note — if you already know of a really great place to eat in Chinatown, then by all means, go there on your own instead of doing the group lunch. But if you are a tourist, unfamiliar with Chinatown and wanting to learn even more from your guide, then go to the lunch too. It is so worth it — so nice to sit and relax and eat a nice meal without having to find a place an figure out what to get.

We bought this as a Xmas gift for my in-​laws and cousins — 7 of us at a total cost of $ 644. Frank was our guide and we loved his enthusiasm and knowledge of the community having been born and raised there. We liked wandering the streets and seeing the inner workings of this amazing community firsthand. But, for the price we were disappointed in the selection of food «samplings» we received. Frank ordered the food (most dishes on the spicy side) which was fine for us but did not appease to the more novice clients. It was served family style; 9 people in the group + Frank, so every one had a little taste. For some reason they even skimped on the rice i.e. 2 small bowls for the entire group. I was expecting more on this EATing tour, but we did not even receive dessert.

Took a tour last Tuesday with Dorthy and loved it! Dorthy is a little spitfire and she was personable and knowledgeable of the area. Loved the little details of the history of Chinatown, our guide’s personal experiences in it, as well the small businesses we visited. Because our group was small we were able to visit many places, including the site of our guide’s birth. The personal touch to the places and people we met was worth every penny!

Recently my friend signed us up for this tour, knowing I was researching my area’s local Chinese History. She had been on the tour several years earlier and thought it was great. She told me we’d stop at the Fortune Cookie Factory and see how they made them, visit an herbal shop, tastes several teas and hear lots of great history and anecdotal stories about Chinatown. I was excited!
However, our guide had other ideas. She told little to no Chinese — or Chinatown history. Preferring instead to tell lame stories about a few scattered Europeans and personal stories which were more self serving than enlightening. She recited the obvious and gave sales pitches in front of store fronts which had no historical value or interest other than our guide’s desire to see one of us buy something from the shop.
There were NONE of the elements in this tour that my friend had experienced before. No tour of the Fortune Cookie Factory. No visit to the herbal shop. Instead we ended up in a frame shop of an artist– now dead for six years! — who ONCE demonstrated his craft. Now, all we were looking at was a dusty frame shop. She pointed out some of his works (for sale)…and if you didn’t have enough money for those, you could ‘pick up a bamboo calendar here for only a few dollars.’ We also spent time listening to her hark the wares of several shops, wrapped in a convoluted historical context of «these mom and pop stores are disappearing.» But it was obvious that the real claim to fame is that our tour guide knew them and thought we should all support this mom-​pop operation. This scene was repeated again and again.
This tour included no real Chinese or Chinatown history. For a community and a people which contain such rich history, it is a shame
this tour failed to deliver anything close to a sincere experience.
Instead we were treated to 3 hours of cheap chatter about nothing.
I totally agree with the person who said. Save your money. Visit the Fortune Cookie Factory on your own (worth it), hang out at Vital Tea Leaf on Grant Street where you will get some of the best tea tasting, local history, and personal attention anywhere (see the reviews!), and pick up some Dim Sum.

The rating is for the tour overall, not for the lunch which I give three stars. I found the tour guide knowledgeable, interesting and pleasant. I’ve been to Chinatown dozens of times and she still showed us places and told us things I never knew existed. I’m not sure I’d spend the money if I were paying for myself (I was hosted) but it was unquestionably three fun hours well spent.

We are regular visitors to the city and as such, tend to do our own, non-​touristy thing most of the time. Having recently experienced a food tour of New York’s Chinatown, however, made us think that we really needed to see what Shirley Fong-​Torres had to offer and play tourist in San Francisco.
We narrowed it down to one tour since we were only in town for the weekend, and booked it on Zerve (love Zerve, by the way… great concept and company). We were anticipating a great time filled with new information about Chinatown and some good tastings throughout the tour. We made sure to be at our meeting spot inside the lobby of the Financial District Hilton before the assigned tour meeting time of 9:45AM. We met with our tour guide, Herbert, who signed us in and chatted for awhile. Since we arrived a half-​hour early we grabbed an espresso from the Tully’s counter inside the Hilton lobby and meandered around the lobby area, checking out the giant lighted map of San Francisco.
All of a sudden there was this buzz and we looked around, wondering about the change in atmosphere. Shirley Fong-​Torres had arrived to meet with Herbert, and she was abuzz with energy and frenetic movement in her saffron yellow coat. She introduced herself to everyone in our group and chatted with all of us. I came away with a wonderful impression of a perpetually smiling spitfire who loved to laugh and was genuinely interested in what others had to say.
After corralling the group (about 16 of us, just a guesstimate), Herbert began the tour by passing out small red envelopes while still inside the Hilton lobby, explaining that we would go over their meaning later in the tour (to give money, like a tip). We then headed out into the drizzly gray day and began our tour in earnest.
Our first stop was a gown shop, where we sat outside with umbrellas unfurled while Herbert explained some of the traditions of an Asian wedding and how the bride (and to a much lesser extent, the groom) collected gold from the patrons throughout the reception. He had several pictures showing the collection of gold pieces throughout the reception which were passed out among the tour participants. After this, we were invited to go inside the gown shop and look around, and within 5 minutes we were all to meet across the street at Portsmouth Square. Once at Portsmouth Square, Herbert went through some of his own history growing up in Chinatown, explaining that Portsmouth Square was where everyone met and on occasion gambled.
After Portsmouth Square we headed to a tea shop, where the co-​owner gave a wonderful, detailed explanation and demonstration on tea leaves, from origins to types to how to properly steep the leaves. The level of intricacy involved in a cup of tea was amazing, and this was the highlight of our tour. We sampled two teas and truly enjoyed the education.
At this point, we were feeling a little hungry as we’d not eaten breakfast in anticipation of going on a 10AM food tour and enjoying tour samples. We were shown around Chinatown and Herbert pointed out a place that featured freshly roasted chicken, duck and squid and we all looked on at the golden brown poultry and squid hanging in the window. We also peeked in to a fortune cookie factory, but didn’t really learn anything about its history or the process of making fortune cookies. Oh, and if you wanted to snap a photo inside the factory, it cost $ 0.50. We then saw where the low-​income housing was, and were then instructed to go inside two grocers to see how things were displayed and sold. Herbert did not go in with us but simply was a director, telling us where to go and what to see. This was a bit disconcerting as after the great tea demonstration, we were prepped to expect more of the same level of greatness for the rest of the tour. This was not to be. The rest of the tour consisted of our guide pointing out a place, saying just a touch about it (no real history or background) and then telling us to go see it for ourselves.
Although this was a food tour, there was no food until the end of the tour, when we all sat down to have lunch. The dishes were each announced by the server when they were served, but if you didn’t catch the name, too bad and there was no explanation of the history or reason behind serving each dish. There was no explanation of how to properly eat each dish, and it ended up being akin to being on a giant blind date with random people who had no idea about the Asian culture and didn’t seem to care to learn. The dishes themselves were bland and disappointing. We couldn’t wait to leave and were flabbergasted that Shirley had willingly put her name to such a tour.
Shirley, we loved you but the Wok Wiz tour needs an overhaul. Next time you’re in NYC take the time to do the Foods of NY Chinatown food tour, you’ll be amazed.

Fun, interesting, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable. We came up to the City for the day from the peninsula. We had a great guide and met a nice group of folks from all over the globe. Although the food was not fantastic nor inspired, it was great to sit, relax and chat with folks from Chicago, Houston, Spain, Ireland and Germany over chinese chicken salad.

This was the worst tour I have ever been on, even the tourists were complaining. We are locals. I called ahead and Shirly, the owner assured us that we would get a good tour guide. We knew more about China Town than he did. He spent a lot of time talking about his train ride up to SF and which Hawaiain Islands he prefered but, not much about China Town. I kept trying to get him to focus on the tour but he couldn’t answer any of my questions. We were so bored.
When I called to complain, Shirly didn’t seem to care.
DON’T WAST YOU MONEY.

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.

We are SF locals always looking for fun and new things to do with our out-​of-​town guests. We had a friend cancel her trip last minute but had already bought the tix, so we decided to go anyway.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Our guide shared her personal experiences and recommendations which only added enjoyment to the tour. The pace is fast, but still accommodating to older/​slower visitors.
This is one of the few tourist trips I would be willing to do again and again with each new friend that comes to town. Fascinating, lively; the people watching alone makes it worthwhile.
I agree with other’s reviews of Four Seas. I was suspicious when we arrived and there were few Asian faces dining there. The food will not «wow» you, but the comradery of eating with fellow tour members from all over made the experience all the better. Pay the extra for the dim sum meal and enjoy your tourmates to pick up a few more travel tips while you dine with new friends.

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 décor 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.

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!

I’ve been on this tour twice with out of town guests. I had different guides (Shirley and Bernice) and slightly different tours each time. Both were delightful. I learned a lot about Chinatown and kept my visitors entertained without having to go to the Wharf. Plus, when she learned I was local, Bernice gave me restaurant suggestions for the future.
My one suggestion: Don’t go to Four Seas. Opt for the walk only. I did dim sum with the group at Four Seas my first time, and it was greasy and flavorless (unless you count salt). My second time, we skipped out early and went to the nearby City View for really yummy dim sum that even my parents (who are not the most adventurous diners) really liked.

Always on the lookout for activities that I can use to occupy East Coast visitors while I’m at work, I decided to give this a shot. Heavily hyped is the option of a two hour tour, followed by dim sum at Four Seas (see the review for Four Seas elsewhere on Unilocal-it’s quite accurate). Four stars if you selected tour only ($ 28) Some interesting history and lots of little shops I’d go back for, tea houses, temples, etc. If I had the funds ($ 75 for a tour of a town I live in seems steep) I would recommend the «I can’t believe I ate my way through China town» tour.