Tech to Table: Second-Generation Business Owners Take Over Chinatown Restaurants

Chelsea Hung wasted no time in making a life-changing decision: In her late 20s, she left her tech job in New York City, and headed back to San Francisco’s Chinatown to take over her parents’ restaurant, all within a month. 

Hung’s parents were planning to sell the restaurant, R&G Lounge. Her motivation was simple: She didn’t want to see the place where she grew up and celebrated so many milestones close its doors. 

After moving back in 2018, she kept the business running and in March, R&G Lounge celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Looking back on the decision, Hung laughed and said, “I really should have thought about this more.” 

The restaurant has faced many challenges since she took over just two years before the COVID-19 pandemic socked the restaurant industry.

Hung is part of a wave of young entrepreneurs returning to Chinatown, revitalizing old businesses or launching new ones, as the area’s businesses face a generational shift in which longtime shopkeepers are retiring and new owners are coming in. Younger people with roots in the area who had left for other careers are returning, bringing fresh energy and new perspectives. 

“We’re seeing a shift in the age of business owners in Chinatown,” said Ed Siu, chair of the Chinatown Merchants United Association of San Francisco, speaking in Cantonese. Siu noted that many Chinatown businesses are reaching a turning point as longtime owners in their 70s prepare for retirement. While not necessarily as young as Hung, newcomers in their mid-50s, often with experience running businesses elsewhere, are stepping in to take over local stores.

Lily Lo, founder of BeChinatown and organizer of the Chinatown Night Market, also observed that younger business owners are often more skilled at using the internet and social media to promote their products, a capability that remains relatively new for many Chinatown shopkeepers. 

When Hung returned as the operator of R&G Lounge, staff still did many administrative tasks on paper, from ordering inventory to paying vendors. Applying her entrepreneurial mindset, Hung sought to introduce new technologies that would streamline operations and make the restaurant more efficient.

“It’s not a good idea,” Hung said, noting that her team, which includes many long-term employees who are immigrants with limited English skills, couldn’t pick up the new technology as quickly. 

Hung explained that workers at many Chinese restaurants, especially mom-and-pop establishments, are not very tech-savvy, largely because they are unfamiliar with technology. Many of them are seniors and tasks like using their phones to scan an invoice can be a challenge.

In Hung’s restaurant, though she has known many longtime workers for decades and considers them family, an additional disconnect remains: Her Chinese isn’t as fluent as her English, making communication about adopting changes even more challenging.

Hung later decided to take things slow, prioritizing training before implementing changes and introducing her team to new systems step by step.

“Our thought processes and our ideas are so different,” Hung said. “When we come together to share, we try to mesh things together to see what works best.”

Over time, Hung set up a reservation system, updated the website for online ordering, created a bilingual menu, and introduced card and mobile payment options. While these are common in many restaurants, she saw it as a significant achievement that proved  invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic, when operations shifted online.

The restaurant industry is more likely to attract younger operators, Siu said, but challenges remain. Sam Wo, the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, closed in late January after its longtime operator retired.

Eugene Lau, who owns the restaurant 606 Broadway, previously worked in the tech industry. Last year he and his wife took over his in-laws’ family restaurant, New Sun Hong Kong, which had been closed for a couple of years during the pandemic. 

Lau said parents who open restaurants in Chinatown generally don’t want their children to follow in their footsteps. 

“They want us to do different things, go after different careers,” he said. But, he added, “We came back to it because it’s something close to our hearts.” 

Lau said he believes his experience in other careers brings different perspectives to running a restaurant. 

Siu, with the Merchants Association, said younger entrepreneurs like Hung “are often doing different things.” He observed that their businesses tend to cater to a different customer base — often tourists or a younger crowd — with many choosing to open boba shops. 

Lo, who organized the Night Market, said it aims to draw more young people to the area in the evenings.

“Younger folks are more likely to buy food,” Lo said.

Many initiatives have joined the effort to attract younger visitors. In early April, Self-Help for the Elderly and the city Office of Economic and Workforce Development handed out boba vouchers as part of a broader push to boost business in Chinatown.

Hung noticed the efforts of various organizations to bring more people back to the area and saw the rise of businesses run by and catering to younger customers as a positive trend.

“If we want to preserve our culture and preserve the history and these iconic establishments, then it really is up to the younger generations,” she said.