Welcome to “Behind the Book,” our fun new Chicks on the Case feature! Join us as we Chicks share the real stories behind our stories: Inspiration, motivation, frustration, jubilation– research, rewrites, tidbits– you’ll find them all right here…
I visited a fortune cookie factory for book research. With a new series called Magical Fortune Cookie novels, I had to. Yeah, it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it…
Want to join me on a virtual tour of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory?
First off, how do you get there? Feel free to fly, drive, or if you’re real local, take the cable car.
The fortune cookie factory is located in historic Chinatown. By the way, if you get a chance to visit the library branch there, it’s beautiful.
Anyway, Ross Alley is tucked away in Chinatown. It’s literally a side street, and there aren’t many parking spots around if you’re driving, so go roll the dice. Speaking of which, the alley used to be a prime gambling spot. Now, it’s more of a place where you can bet on finding some good food. Which leads me back to the fortune cookie factory.
Before you find the building, you might spot the line running out the door. I heard a few different languages being spoken by those waiting in line to go in; it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that people come from overseas to visit the factory. When I went, there was a huge anniversary sign celebrating their start in 1962. Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory has been thriving for over half a century!
As it should…because there’s no doubt delicious cookies can be found there. Tantalizing scents waft in the air through the open factory door. And you don’t have to trust just your nose because you’re given free samples while waiting. Inside, there are many different options to choose from beyond the traditional vanilla fortune cookie. These include chocolate, strawberry, and green tea flavors—plus, giant-sized cookies!
It’s a quick factory tour because everything exists within a single room. You can find two workers sitting on stools, handmaking fortune cookies. They pull the hot round discs off the conveyor belt, throw in a message, and fold the cookie into its distinctive shape. Discards (a.k.a. samples) get tossed into a nearby bucket. Here’s a video of it if you’re more of a visual person: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XKVYGGUXOwI
Have you ever gone on a fun tour?
Felicity Jin grew up literally hanging onto Mom’s apron strings in their magical bakery in the quaint town of Pixie, California. Her mother’s enchanted baked goods, including puffy pineapple buns and creamy egg tarts, bring instant joy to all who consume them. Felicity has always been hesitant in the kitchen herself after many failed attempts, but a takeout meal gone wrong inspires her to craft some handmade fortune cookies.
They become so popular that Felicity runs out of generic fortunes and starts making her own personalized predictions. When one customer’s ill-fated fortune results in his murder, Felicity’s suspiciously specific fortune has the police focusing on her as the main culprit. Now Felicity must find a way to turn her luck around and get cleared from suspicion.
Pre-order link: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/ill-fated-fortune/
Chicks on the Case 
Thanks, Jenn. I never knew fortune cookies come in different flavors. The joy of new discoveries!
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Yes! And they have chocolate-dipped ones. But the owner mentioned that they can’t dip them in the day because it’s too hot in the shop–they have to do the chocolate coatings in the evenings when it’s cooler.
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I wanted to take a tour of Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont as we were staying not too far from there but my ex wasn’t interested in going. Now I live in Florida and may not get another chance. I love the blurb about your new book/series. I’m going to use it for a challenge I signed up for where I have to read so many books that were released in 2024.
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If it’s any consolation, Queen, my parents visited Ben & Jerry’s long ago and my dad was very disappointed in their ice cream cone size (I don’t think they were free). Lol.
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P.S. In Oregon, they have the Tillamook factory. You get cheese samples–and their huge scoops of ice cream are delicious (but not free).
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I appreciate you using my book for your challenge!
I’ve also wanted to go to B&J’s; I had a friend in Vermont and always wanted to take a trip when I briefly lived on the east coast…
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Come do a book tour in New England–I’ll take you!
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I would love to some time. I love New England in the fall. It would also give me another excuse to visit my 3 granddaughters in NH afterwards. I love the heat of FL and living close to the beach but I do miss autumn in NH and VT.
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That would be fab!
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This was like 20+ years ago and I had told my parents about the area and all the things that we did do so they decided to take a trip to Vermont and they took the tour of B&J. They also went to Cabot Cheese. We are from MA originally so VT isn’t too far away.
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Congrats on your new series, Jen! I can attest that it is a very fun read and appreciate getting an arc! I’ve been on a tortilla factory tour and of course getting a winery tour during harvest and crush is the best… especially the tasting room afterward 🙂
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Thank you so much! Ooh, a tortilla factory tour sounds fun. The closest I’ve gotten to that is a tortilla machine at a local Mexican restaurant. And yay for winery tours!
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Sounds like a lot of fun, Jen. Thanks for sharing it with us. Recently, my wife and I toured the Sazerac House in New Orleans. It’s the home of the official cocktail of the Big Easy. The tour was free and even included a few samples and a lot of NOLA history. Definitely recommend.
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Thanks, JC! What fun! That Sazerac House sounds right up El’s alley–though she’s probably been there already!
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I’m hoping to go to New Orleans hopefully later this year. I must go to Sazerac House and try the official cocktail. My daughter in laws sister lives there now and she said she would show us some places when she is off work. I want to do a haunted tour too. Pastries are a must also. Thank you for the recommendation.
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This is so cool! I’d love to do this tour. Can’t wait for the book.
I’ve done so many great tours in my life but one that stands out – three actually – happened on my first trip to CA in 1975. My great-aunt and uncle had moved from Brooklyn to Modesto, where he ran a tomato packing plant. It ran 24 hours a day in season and uncle Howard took me at night. It was fascinating to watch. Aunt Molly also took me on a tour of the Hershey factory – free chocolate samples! Sadly, it’s gone. But she also took me to Columbia Historic State Park, which inspired my new Golden Motel Mystery series decades later.
In the 1980s, as a journalist, I was invited on a press junket to the Perdue chicken processing plant on MD’s Eastern Shore. It’s the only time I ever flew in a really small prop plane and I joked to a friend that if it went down, the newspaper headline would be “Journalist Plucked From Sky.”
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El, you’ve been on some very…interesting…tours. Chicken processing? Yikes. Glad you survived. Also, I am disappointed to learn the Hershey factory tour is no more.
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Also, sad that there’s no Hershey tour. (Although I did go to a museum’s chocolate exhibition once–no samples, though…)
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There’s still a free Hershey tour in Hershey, PA!
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What great trips, El! In central CA, I went on a Sun-Maid raisin factory tour, which was pretty neat. Also, happy that you went to Columbia Historic State Park and got the inspiration for your new series!
I feel like the theoretical headline could add some chicken pizzazz, like “Journalist Plucked From Sky En Route to Clucking Tour.”
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LOL! I thought about the raisin tour when I was writing this. We stopped at their shop and I bought a cookbook – of course – but never did the tour. On my bucket list! 😉
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If I recall correctly, they used to have cute paper hats they gave to kids (not anymore, though)…
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Jen, I loved your fortune-cookie tour and video–felt as if I were right there! And chocolate fortune cookies–who knew? Congrats on Ill-Fated Fortune–the book and whole new series sound amazing! I can recommend the Guinness tour in Dublin, but thumbs-down to the dearly-departed Budweiser tour here in NH–they relocated the Clydesdales to MO for their training. Boo. Last summer I took the Wrigley stadium tour. Very interesting, and the Cubs are great, but at 9 am it was almost a hundred degrees and…a lot of stairs!
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Thanks for the encouragement and the tour tips, Lisa! Ooh, Wrigley! I just went to SoFi Stadium and got to go close up. Pretty fun! (My hubby pointed out that we’d typically be in the nosebleed seats, but they were testing the field for non-football sports, and my kiddo who plays volleyball got to be there.)
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Oh my gosh, we walked past that when we were in San Francisco! Wish we had gone inside. Had no idea that there were different flavors of fortune cookies! (Will say that we loved the vibrant energy of the area and the lovely shops.)
So cool, Jen. Thank you very much for sharing with us.
Congratulations on your new series too (so exciting)!
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Aww, next time, Cyn! Wouldn’t it be fun to do together as Chicks? I feel like we should have a progressive eating tour involving all the Chicks’ hometowns/states.
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Yes!!! We will scratch the chicken-processing plant off our list, however.
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Umm, that’s a definite pass on the chicken plant.
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I love the backend view of your new series, Jen! While I’ve done quite a few historical tours, I don’t think I’ve ever done one food related. I’m going to need to fix that! One of my favorites was an underground tour in Pendleton, Oregon where there was thriving underground life at one time – prohibition speakeasy, a card room, a bordello, an ice cream parlor, a Chinese laundry, just to name a few. Absolutely fascinating!
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Very fascinating! I know my brother went on a Seattle underground tour before and really enjoyed it.
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Now I want to try some of those other flavors. Must find a way to sample them.
Thanks for the report. Sounds like some fun research.
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Thanks, Mark! I’d really like to try a pandan-flavored cookie one day (if that’s a thing–it *is* in my story).
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Oooo… I so want to try the green tea flavors! I wonder where I could find them….
I visited the macadamia nut factory here in Hilo, which was fascinating–and yes, free mac nut samples!
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I would think Hawaii would have them…
Free mac nuts–yay! I once went to the Blue Diamond almond factory and loved getting the samples.
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This blog post was like a wonderful fortune cookie! I opened it up to find something great inside. ❤
I have been on a cheese factory tour (YUM) and a candy factory tour. Big fans of both!
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Thank you, Kathy! We should go on C-factory tours: cheese, candy, cookie… [minus the chicken]
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What happens to the ones they throw in the box? I love fortune cookies and never knew they had flavors. They are easily bendable, but do they bake them later or do they just harden? We also used to love San Fran and went there every year and never saw the factory. I would love to go and see it, but San Fran is no safe now. I have preordered your books and love them. I am reading Hot Pot Murder right now.
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The ones in the box become samples for those waiting outside. I think they also sell some flattened ones by the bag. After the cookies are bent, they just harden into the folded shape.
Thanks for visiting the blog, and happy reading!
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