San Francisco’s last Red A Bakery closes after 31 years
Red A Bakery, a popular restaurant and bakery at 634 Clement St. in Inner Richmond, is closing after 31 years in business. The last day of service is set for mid-August.
The multifaceted restaurant, known for its Chinese pastries like egg tarts as well as Hawaiian barbecue staples like spam musubi, is a quintessential story of immigrants settling in the United States and sharing their culinary expertise with the community.
Both from Zhaoqing, a city in Guangdong Province, China, partners Guo “Lam” Yu, 62, and Li “Hong” Chen, 58, immigrated to San Francisco in 1984.
“My father first immigrated here with no money. He worked a series of blue-collar jobs and saved enough to sponsor my mother to come here,” Eric Yu, son of Yu and Chen, told SFGATE via email. “Red A Bakery is an American dream story.”
Li “Hong” Chen, left, and Guo “Lam” Yu, right, owners of Red A Bakery, sit on a San Francisco cable car when they first immigrated to San Francisco in 1984.
Courtesy of Eric YuAfter saving enough money from Yu’s blue-collar jobs and Chen’s work as a seamstress, they started making pastries at a small store in Oakland, where they wholesaled the goods to local businesses. Yu, a master pastry chef, made light, fluffy cakes with sponge-like centers and airy, semi-sweet creams that were most popular in vanilla, mocha and chocolate. Chen was the main operator of all the pastries, such as pineapple buns, which were loved by old locals and construction workers who accompanied them in the morning with a hot cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea.
After a few years, they leased a section of a Chinese delicatessen in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where they transitioned to a direct-to-consumer business model. After saving enough money, they were able to open their first physical store in Inner Sunset, followed by three additional stores in Inner Richmond, Mission and Chinatown, two of which have since closed. The couple’s only remaining outpost on Clement Street, the second in their expansion, opened in 1991.
If you’ve ever walked Clement Street, you’ve probably noticed the electronic sign that reads “Hawaiian-style barbecue” hanging above the awning of Red A Bakery. In 2002, the couple was able to purchase a turnkey Hawaiian barbecue restaurant in Vallejo. Eventually, they consolidated the two businesses at the Clement Street location.
The Yu family in front of the location of the Clement Street family business, Red A Bakery, in the mid-1990s.
Courtesy of Eric YuIt has also become a family affair, as is often the case with many immigrant businesses. Eric remembers him and his sister earning pocket money working there when they were young.
“My older sister and I practically grew up there,” he said. “From 5th grade through high school, we would go there after class, use the cash register, and do our homework whenever there was a lull in customer traffic.”
For a few months, when Eric was 13, he even resumed baking cakes while his father was hospitalized for a long time. He had learned by watching his father, who also let him experiment in the kitchen.
Now Yu and Chen plan to retire.
“They worked, in my opinion, long enough for two lifetimes,” Eric said. “Before, they worked seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. It was only in 2019 that they decided to take Tuesdays off.”
In retirement, the duo plans to travel more and Yu, a tai chi enthusiast, plans to spend more time in Golden Gate Park exercising with his friends. But the real catalyst for their retirement was the birth of their grandson, Eric’s 16-month-old baby, who they want to spend more time with.
“For the past 34 years, owning and operating a small business has not only been hard on their bodies, but has kept them committed to their jobs,” Eric said in an email. “Since they are still relatively lively and mobile, they don’t want to miss the chance to hunt their grandson.”
Red A Bakery, 634 Clement St., open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Monday. Closed on Tuesdays. The last day should be mid-August.