Sam Woo Restaurant

Sam Woo Restaurant was a restaurant chain that served Hong Kong–style Cuisine of [Hong Kong|cuisine]. It had many locations in predominantly overseas Chinese communities of Southern California, in Las [Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas], and in the suburbs of Toronto. Many of the chain's locations have closed. The complete Chinese name literally means "Three Harmonies Roast Meats and Noodle House."

History

The first delicatessen was opened in 1979 in the Chinatown, [Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles Chinatown]. It later spread to other locations in California, including Monterey Park and Alhambra.
Two other locations in the San Gabriel Valley opened only to later change hands or close. One restaurant opened in Montebello, which was renamed to "A-1" when an employee purchased it from the Sam Woo owners. In 2004, a Sam Woo also opened in the suburb of Covina, California, but it failed the following year.
There are two types of Sam Woo restaurants. The first is named Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant.
In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton held a fundraiser at a now-defunct Sam Woo Seafood Restaurant in San Gabriel, California. In 2003, Sam Woo and other Chinese businesses in San Gabriel were affected by the SARS panic, despite lack of evidence SARS cases in the area. Customer patronage declined and the restaurant closed.
In Southern California, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sam Woo Restaurants, restaurateurs have opened imitations with similar names in English and Chinese. Examples include the long-gone Sam Doo Restaurant in San Gabriel and the current S.W. Seafood Restaurant in Irvine. In the early 1990s, a similar concept to Sam Woo Restaurant, the now-defunct Luk Yue Restaurant, also started in Los Angeles Chinatown and like Sam Woo, it expanded into the Chinese community of Monterey Park, Rowland Heights, and Cerritos.