San Mateo's Apple Fritter restaurant a taste of tradition

Fast-forward 25 years, Chow decided to open an American-style breakfast and lunch restaurant. For him, it made sense to name his restaurant after the sweet treat he used to indulge in, apple fritter.

The restaurant, located at 1901 S. Norfolk St. in San Mateo, has been a treat for many since it opened in 2015. The cozy space is decorated with quirky art and dozens of plants scattered around the perimeter of the building, which was previously a Taco Bell.

“We like doing quirky things here,” Chow said.

That creativity has flowed into the kitchen, Chow said one example is the breakfast luther, a doughnut-bunned burger. Although Chow admits that some experiments don’t stay on the menu long, because they aren’t popular, he is never discouraged and is always playing with new ideas and flavors.

The breakfast menu features various hashes, breakfast sandwiches, French toasts, granolas, pancakes and scrambles. The lunch menu consists of burgers, sandwiches and sloppy Joes. For a treat, the doughnut case has an ever-evolving assortment all made in house, Chow said.

Chow said he loves food and tries to incorporate what he enjoys in the menu. The community seems to agree with his palate. The restaurant has more than 1,600 reviews on Yelp, and the site awarded it four out of five stars.

Ashish Tulsian and his colleague Enkit Oberoi were eating breakfast at the restaurant Monday, Sept. 11.

“I think the food is great, it is beautiful plate wise, it’s a great vibe and nobody is on your head trying to ask you for more orders, it’s great portions,” Tulsian said.

As important as it is to provide quality food, Chow believes it’s just as important to create a pleasant ambiance for his customers. That’s why there are no servers at the restaurant. Guests walk up to the window when they are ready to order, pay ahead of time, their food is brought to their table and they can leave whenever they want.

Chow has a child and said going out to eat with children has its own challenges, so he thought it was best to allow the guests to get up and leave whenever they are ready, creating a relaxed environment.

It was just as important for Chow’s restaurant to also have doughnuts, because they are a treat to eat and it symbolizes his family’s history. Chow said his parents came to the country as refugees escaping Cambodian genocide. He said his parents worked hard to get jobs and provide for their family. When they were financially stable, they pulled their money with other family members to buy a doughnut shop in Southern California. That business moved to the Bay Area and, at one point, Chow’s father had around 10 doughnut shops in the area. One of the shops, Royal Donuts in San Mateo, is where Chow spent his formative years working for his parents.

“They got a job at the Brown and Haley factory, one of those Almond Roca candies, and it was a huge job for my dad because he doesn’t speak English,” Chow said. “He got to be a janitor and it was like, we are making money, like we are starting a new life and everything was better because they went through hell in Cambodia.”

Chow was in the back of the restaurant Monday using an old red cast-iron mixer he named Old Faithful, to create raspberry icing for doughnuts. He grabbed a few doughnut holes and dipped them into the pink viscous matter.

“The only way to tell if the icing is good is to try it,” Chow said.