SF Restaurant Week and APEC Night Market promote specialty foods and drinks from Chinatown

(SAN FRANCISCO) Two events, SF Chinatown Restaurant Week and APEC Chinatown Night Market, are taking place in San Francisco Chinatown in the upcoming two weeks. The organizers hope that both events would provide support to the Chinatown restaurants and cafes which have lost significant businesses due to the pandemic and public safety concerns.

The popular SF Restaurant Week was created by the Gold Gate Restaurant Association decades ago to promote restaurants in San Francisco. The event is held twice a year in spring and fall.

In the tradition of SF Restaurant Week, participating restaurants citywide would offer their specialty dishes in fixed dollar amounts to customers as promotions.

This year’s fall SF Restaurant Week is held for two weeks from Nov. 3 to Nov. 16. 200 restaurants citywide have participated in the event including 13 of them from San Francisco Chinatown.

13 Chinatown restaurants have joined the event through the connection of Lily Lo, Co-founder of BeChinatown, with Golden Gate Restaurant Association. Jonathan Sit, founder of Chinatown Volunteer Coalition, has joined Lo as an organizer.

This is the third time for Lo to bring in Chinatown restaurants to participate in the SF Restaurant Week since fall 2022.

Lo hopes to attract more visitors to come to Chinatown to support the restaurants and cafes which have been hit hard since the pandemic.

In addition to the pandemic, anti-Asian hate incidents as well as the crime situation in San Francisco have continuously hurt Chinatown businesses in the last several years. "Our community's seniors are scared to walk out of their homes because of all the attacks and robberies in the city," said Lo.

"Fewer people walking in the streets now represents fewer customers for the small businesses in Chinatown," said P. Lee, who has owned a gift shop in Chinatown for over 30 years. "I close my shop earlier than before because even fewer visitors walk in Chinatown later in the afternoon."

Lee believes that the crime and drug overdose situation in the city and Union Square has also impacted Chinatown in recent years.

Lo encouraged more customers, in particular the younger generations, to come visit Chinatown to show their support to the businesses. "There are many delicious foods and drinks that can be found in Chinatown too. They can also discover the profound history and culture of Chinatown," said Lo.

13 participating Chinatown restaurants and cafes would offer their popular and specialty dishes and drinks in the price of $10, $15, $25, $30, to $45 each for lunch and dinner during the Restaurant Week.

On Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, Friday and Saturday evenings from 5-9 pm, Lo will host her 2nd Chinatown Night Market along the 500 and 600 blocks of Grant Avenue where new lanterns were lately installed before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Lo's first night market was held on September 29, Mid-Autumn Festival Day, at the same venue.

The upcoming night market will be held in welcoming and celebration of the APEC summit hosted in San Francisco. More Chinatown restaurants and cafes have signed up to participate in the two-day night market.

"Chinatown businesses are so excited to join our night market event. They are eager to introduce their products to bigger communities from the nation and overseas. They see the night market is a good opportunity for them." Lo said. "Visitors can find a wide variety of foods and drinks in the night market including dim sum, dessert, noodles, tea, and many more."