Where to Get Mooncakes in San Francisco

From old-school lotus seed paste to vegan and mooncake-inspired chocolates, here’s where to find your sweets for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid - Autumn Festival represent peaceable family togetherness under the undimmed full moon of the class , and mooncakes , mooncakes , everywhere . The moon is full and huge , down low tight to the skyline , and almost orangish in color . culture that use the lunar calendar celebrate the Mid - Autumn Festival , include but not limited to Chinese , Korean , and Vietnamese communities . The San Francisco Bay Area is more familiar with the traditional Cantonese mooncakes , which feature elaborately molded orotund or straight - forge pastries with a slow , slightly sweeten spread made from lotus seeds or red bean , encased by a thin , chewy , alkaline dough . Some have a dried , salt nut vitellus in the middle to represent the full moonlight , and two-fold or more egg yolk are for extra prosperity . You only take to eat a couple of little wedges from the pastry , since it ’s so dense . We recommend sharing and washing it down with blistering tea leaf .

This year , the festival flow on September 10 , but San Francisco will host its Mid - Autumn Festivalstreet fairon August 27 and 28 inChinatown , where you may definitely get mooncakes from local bakeries while watching lion terpsichore and other entertainment . If you want more of the thenar - sized deliciousness outside of the street bazaar , you ’ll chance plenty of option across the Bay , include an exciting crop of newfangled - school mooncakes , from vegan version to mooncake - inspired chocolates , and with more pan - Asiatic flavors beyond traditional Chinese . Below is just a sampling of the mouthwatering variety available .

Pineapple King

Outer SunsetMade fresh daily without preservative , this year ’s mooncakes include salted bollock custard and a pungent Musang King durian — not for the uninitiated . While you ’re there , you must also get a warm up original pineapple bun ( there ’s no pineapple , but the crackly , sugar - egg paste on top looks like one ) stuffed with a cool down slab of Kerrygold butter , or the guava butter version . You probably had to hold off in a line that wrap around the corner , anyway . Might as well make it worth your while . Bring cash . How to set up : Walk - in or preorderonlinefor pick - up and third - political party delivery .

Eastern Bakery

ChinatownThis is the spot for traditional mooncakes like lotus ejaculate , red bonce , and black bean plant library paste . If you ’re feel extra prosperous , get a quartet yolk one ! Plus , mooncakes cookie made from remnant dough , which have had a revitalisation as of late , shaped like pigs , fish , and the Buddha . While you might already be weighed down by 50 Irish pound of mooncakes as gift , add up on a slice of Eastern Bakery ’s famous java crunch cake . How to order : pass - in or pre - order by speech sound 415 - 433 - 7973 oremailfor filling - up or transport .

Annie’s T Cakes

Oakland , San Jose , rest of the Bay AreaKnown for plant - base and gluten - free Taiwanese pineapple cakes since 2021 , Annie ’s T Cakes has been part of the recent moving ridge of vegan Asian baked good in the Bay Area . For the Mid - Autumn Festival , rejoice at the vegan mini mooncake option of jasmine tea , matcha , red bean , and smuggled sesame . A large bonus is the Gift Box that just deteriorate , featuring full - sized mooncakes in new flavors like White Chocolate Hojicha and matcha with hemangioma simplex make full , with an option to add a greeting menu . Pre - orders close on August 28 , and the boxes will be available for pick - up in Oakland and San Jose from September 7 through September 10 , or can be shipped throughout California . How to order : Pre - lodge full - sized mooncake Gift Boxes online ( until 8/28 ) viaHotplatefor pick - up in Oakland or San Jose , or shipping throughout California ; pre - order mini mooncakes for woof - up or delivery viaPastel .

Koi Palace

Daly City , Dublin , MilpitasAnother established spot for dim heart and soul and Cantonese seafood also tender seasonal mooncakes gift box . The Luxury Seven Stars Reunion Mooncakes box features one full - sized traditional Lotus Seed Paste Cake with threefold testicle egg yolk , hem in by a circle of colorful , mini mooncakes with oozy lava centers like chocolate and ube . How to govern : Pre - orderonlinefor pickup or national shipping .

Socola Chocolatier

SoMaWhile the Vietnamese American umber company started by two sis had already established itself as an other purveyor of Asiatic American ok chocolates , the pandemic spurred a Mid - Autumn Festival innovation of mooncake - instigate chocolates . Back again this year and hopefully every year , three types of boxed-in set are available , including the 2022 Mid - Autumn Collection gift box that features six types of exquisite burnt umber , include Mango Pate de Fruit with fish sauce , a Vietnamese flowered gin with dark coffee ganache , and a chrysanthemum and honey - steep mix of dark and milk deep brown ganache . The Mooncake Chocolates box really has tiny pieces of egg vitellus in each cocoa , with pick ranging from lotus seed paste to ube . How to order : Pre - ordination from the full selectiononlinefor shipping on August 30 or September 6 . Pre - order for pickup or Bay Area delivery with a fix fare viaPastel .

Snowskin Mooncake-Making Class at BiteUnite

Mission DistrictMaking mooncakes is a labor - intensive , but fascinating cognitive process . take to make the trendy translucent snowskin ones alongside protagonist or menage fellow member in this mooncake - form class hosted by BiteUnite . Each person will terminate up with a dozen mini mooncakes to take home . How to order : Book a September classonlinefor $ 120 .

Asian Bakery Chains:Sheng Kee,85 Degree,Kee Wah

All over the Bay AreaWhile SF is notoriously anti - range of mountains , the Asian bakery chains know what ’s up , and roll out their Mid - Autumn Festival goods with a practiced preciseness across their locations . Sheng Kee tender some unusual mooncake flavors like mulberry and lychee . 85 Degree has both Cantonese and spherical Taiwanese - style mooncakes , include a theme song savory - sweet Dong - Po flavour fill with walnuts , porc dental floss , red bean , mochi , and egg yolk . Kee Wah , install in Hong Kong in 1938 , has Bay Area locations that offer depressed - clams and pineapple mooncakes , plus piggy biscuits made from leftover loot . Online , order from Hong Kong’sWing Wah , whose mooncakes are pop for their mild white lotus library paste filling . Many mom - and - pop Chinese bakeries sell their own mooncakes , too , likeNapoleon Super BakeryandiCafein Chinatown , andCherry Blossom Bakeryin the Ingleside and Richmond dominion .

99 Ranchor almost any Asian grocery store

All over the Bay AreaDon’t discount the old - school mooncakes from Asian grocery stores . They tend to have preservative in them , if you care about that sorting of matter , but are reliable and usually come in gorgeous tin or natural endowment boxes adorned with detailed portrayal of Change’e , the immortal Moon Lady , or the coney on the moon . apart from the 99 Ranch chain , Richmond New May Wah Supermarketin the Inner Richmond District is a solid Chinese grocery computer storage , and Costcos in the Bay Area are also a sure stake for mooncakes this time of class . A popular firebrand to try is Maxim , when available .

Annie’s T Cakes