Oakland’s Golden Peacock has joined the list of long-lived restaurants the Bay Area bid farewell to in 2022.
Owner Lily Leung made the decision to retire after operating the restaurant at 825 Webster Street for nearly five decades. “I want to spend more time with the family and grandchildren,” she told the East Bay Times.
For 50 years, the Chinese restaurant with the red awning served the bustling Chinatown community with a wide variety of lunch and dinner options. The menu was comprised of classic Cantonese cuisine, from won ton soup and chow mein to the labor-intensive dish known as peanut-pressed duck, which drew fans from far and wide.
“Their preparation was spot on, and forgive me for being simplistic, friggin’ good!,” Jon M. gushed on Yelp. “This restaurant, for preserving and presenting this one amazing dish, is a national treasure. THANK YOU for doing what you do so well!”
Leung says she will miss generations of customers who she watched grow up, have families of their own and come dine at the restaurant.
“I think we might have been one of the last traditional old-school Cantonese residents in Oakland Chinatown,” she says. “It’s bittersweet and I know I’ll miss many people. During our lunch hours, we tended to serve a lot of the law enforcement community and I will miss all those people, too.”
As first reported by Oaklandside, Golden Peacock was particularly beloved for its fast and affordable lunch service, which included clay pots, seafood dishes and sizzling platters for as little as $9.
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