Chinatown: Moon Festival & Restaurant Reccomendations

I%26#39;m going to be in San Francisco next weekend, and I just discovered that the Autumn Moon Festival Streetfair will be going on in Chinatown. www.moonfestival.org I looked at the website, and it looks like it could be fun, especially the parade. Has anyone ever been to the Moon Festival? Can you tell me anything about it?

Also, I was hoping to have a meal in Chinatown one day, probably lunch on Saturday but our schedule is very flexible. Do you think places will have a much longer wait than usual because of the festival? I had just started looking at restaurants, but Chef Jia%26#39;s looked like it might be a good.

Any other restaurant suggestions? I do like Chinese food, and I like to think I like it pretty authentic, but I%26#39;m not sure that%26#39;s really the case! I love chicken, but only white meat...and some dishes scare me if I don%26#39;t know what%26#39;s in it! In Chinatown in NYC, I love Joe%26#39;s Shanghai, if anyone%26#39;s familiar with that.

Thanks!

Chinatown: Moon Festival %26amp; Restaurant Reccomendations

Unknow Joe%26#39;s Shanghai in NYC, but if you%26#39;re looking at Shanghainese food, Chef Jia%26#39;s is not it. It%26#39;s Hunan-style, actually. Ifyou want a good hole-in-the-wall place to eat, then go here. A lot of people on this site like it. I haven%26#39;t tried it, so I can%26#39;t say.

Shanghai style food is here and there throughout SF, but it%26#39;s not common. Fountain Court in the Richmond is an old favorite of mine, and it%26#39;s quite civilized. People rave about the Dumpling King out in the Sunset, and it specializes in one thing (guess!)

Take a look at this AsianWeek article, it might be somewhat helpful. I liked it just because of the variety of restaurants listed, not all Chinese, not all in Chinatown, but still worth a quick read:

asianweek.com/2002_11_15/feature_food.html

I%26#39;ve also not been to the Moon Festival for a long time and haven%26#39;t seen the parade. The Moon Festival celebration takes place at the autumnal equinox. There%26#39;s a whole story behind it, which of course I forget. Think there%26#39;s the legend of a shepherd, a maid, a river that separates them ... and mooncakes! They%26#39;re like hockey pucks and seem like the Chinese equivalent of fruitcake, i.e., They%26#39;re dense, loaded with all kinds of stuff, everyone must give them when visiting, no one really likes them, and regifting seems rampant. Of course some people like fruit cake and so some people actually like moon cakes. Apologies to anyone who feels I%26#39;ve maligned the magnificent moon cake.

Chinatown: Moon Festival %26amp; Restaurant Reccomendations

glad i came across your post. about the festival. i%26#39;ll be in SF during this time so now have something else to throw onto my itinerary.

i%26#39;m interested in checking out chinatown as i hear it%26#39;s one of the largest in N.America. The one in Vancouver is dead, no longer the same as in it%26#39;s glory days. A bit sad...but due to the fact that with such a huge Asian population almost ever city has some large Asian SuperMarket where you can get everything from. so no point having to go out of your way to go to Chinatown (and in the olden days, fight for parking, etc)

The Chinatown in Vancouver is dead? How%26#39;s that? I can%26#39;t imagine SF%26#39;s Chinatown being more interesting than Vancouver%26#39;s Chinatown, but we do have the Chinese Historical Society of America%26#39;s relatively new museum, and the Chinese Cultural Center (inside the newly renovated Hilton) and some temples and alleyways that are pretty interesting.

There is also the International Dragon Boat Festival taking place out at Treasure Island (Muni #108 goes there) that same Sept. 23-24 weekend:

onlyinsanfrancisco.com/calendar/thisweek.asp

http://www.sfdragonboat.com/

BetterthanBings writes%26gt;%26gt;..... Fountain Court in the Richmond is an old favorite of mine, and it%26#39;s quite civilized......%26lt;%26lt;

Is Fountain Court still around? It seems like the corner space that I could swear they occupied on Clement Street around 4th has had a sushi restaurant in it for the past year or so. If they%26#39;ve relocated I%26#39;d love to find where they%26#39;re now located as I had a couple of great meals there in the past, along with a really weird soup which still gets brought up in family discussions some three or four years later.