Turtle Tower, one of San Francisco’s most beloved destinations for steaming bowls of chicken pho, celebrated its soft reopening just one week ago but already has welcomed a pair of Hollywood stars.
On Tuesday, San Francisco-born comedian and actress Ali Wong dined at the Financial District restaurant with her boyfriend, fellow comedian Bill Hader, staff confirmed. Wong ordered canh ga chien, or Hanoi-style fried chicken wings, and the restaurant’s most famous dish, pho ga, a comforting bowl of rice noodle soup made with free-range chicken.
The visit didn’t come as a complete surprise to the restaurant’s staff, as Wong has been a regular Turtle Tower diner there for two decades. In an episode of “Hot Ones,” the “Always Be My Maybe” star, who grew up in Pac-Heights, crowned Turtle Tower’s chicken pho one of the top four noodle soups of all time, in part because it can be ordered with dark meat only.
In a post on Instagram, the restaurant thanked Wong and Hader for their support.
After debuting in 1999, Turtle Tower expanded to several locations in the city, including SoMa and the Outer Richmond; the original Tenderloin outpost closed in September 2023. The last remaining restaurant shuttered in November 2023. Turtle Tower’s return — to a far more upscale location, in the former home of Italian restaurant Barbacco at 220 California St. — has delighted fans, who have packed the long, narrow dining room during its first days in business.
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Turtle Tower is open for lunch only, serving a limited menu of appetizers, pho, bun (vermicelli noodle plates), and dia com (rice plates).