San Francisco Restaurant With 'World's Rudest Waiter' Closes
A legendary San Francisco restaurant, known for employing "the world's rudest waiter," is shutting its doors.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Sam Wo, an 100-year old institution in Chinatown, is closing after violating health regulations and building regulations. And no, it wasn't the rudest waiter that shut the place down — the infamous waiter, Edsel Ford Fung, died in 1984. (He's best known for his sign in the restaurant: "No Booze, No B.S., No Jive, No Coffee, Milk, Soft Drinks, Fortune Cookies.") His antics made the place famous, as chronicled by books and sketches by late-night comedians like Conan O'Brien.
It's not just the memory of Fung that goes with Sam Wo's closure; locals are upset about losing the beloved institution. Said author Armistead Maupin to the Chronicle, "It's these kinds of oddities that San Franciscans embrace and support. And that's what makes it sad."