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Sam Woo Restaurant Wikipedia

Sam Woo Restaurant (三和) is a Chinese-American restaurant chain that serves Hong Kong-style cuisine. It has numerous locations in predominantly overseas Chinese communities of Southern California (e.g. Los Angeles Chinatown, Monterey Park, Cerritos, Irvine, California|Irvine, San Diego). It also has locations in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in the Toronto suburbs of Mississauga and Scarborough, Ontario in Canada. It is commonly referred to as "Sam Woo's" (as a person's name) by non-Chinese-speaking customers. Contrary to popular belief, "Sam Woo" is not a name; it is a romanization of the Cantonese pronunciation for "triple harmonies", in reference to feng shui principles, including the synthesis of heaven, earth, and humanity.

The first restaurant opened in 1979 in the Los Angeles Chinatown and later spread to other locations in California, including Monterey Park, California|Monterey Park, Alhambra, California|Alhambra and Montebello, California|Montebello (when 99 Ranch Market operated in Montebello, but the whole building has since been abandoned since it has failed to developed into a major commercial and cultural center like Monterey Park and San Gabriel).

There are two types of Sam Woo restaurants. The first is aptly named Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant (香港三和燒臘麵家; Pinyin: Xiānggǎng Sānh?? Shāol?? Mi??njiā), which specializes in Hong Kong-style barbeque. It offers roast duck, congee and won ton noodles on its menu. The second, Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant (三和魚翅海鮮酒家; Pinyin: Sānh?? Y??ch?? Hǎixiān Jiǔjiā) is an upscale restaurant that serves dim sum and Cantonese-style seafood dishes.

The restaurant chain tends to operate in suburban "Chinatown" areas. Several, but not all, Sam Woo Restaurants in Southern California are located in shopping centers anchored by 99 Ranch Market stores. While Sam Woo does not maintain a Web site, its restaurants can usually be located by using the store locator on the 99 Ranch Market site.

Sam Woo Restaurants are generally popular as long waits (i.e., before being seated at a table) are not uncommon. As with most Chinese cuisine restaurants, it is also popular with non-Chinese-speaking patrons such as Filipino Americans and Whites.

In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton held a fundraiser at a Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in the city of San Gabriel, California.

In Southern California, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sam Woo Restaurants, restauranteurs spawned less-than-successful competing imitations by using very similar sounding names in English and Chinese. Example include the now long-gone Sam Doo Restaurant in San Gabriel and the current S.W. Seafood Restaurant in Irvine.

Last Modified:   2005-11-07