You may never look at fortune cookies the same way again.

“I want to change people’s preconceptions of what a fortune cookie is,” says Alicia Wong, whose family’s Oakland Fortune Factory turns out vividly colored, vibrantly flavored treats that bear little resemblance to the bland cookies you usually find in your takeout order.

“A fortune cookie represents who I am,” Wong says. “I’m a Chinese American. I’m not entirely Chinese, and I’m not entirely American. I’m both, and that’s what a fortune cookie is. You don’t find it in China, but in America, you wouldn’t say that’s an American thing. That’s a Chinese-American icon.”

When Wong’s mother, Jiamin, took over management of the decades-old Chinatown cookie factory six years ago, the business was struggling. The machinery was labor-intensive, competition was stiff, and neither of her parents spoke English. When Wong, who was living on the East Coast then, moved back to the Bay Area to help, she realized she could use fortune cookies “to change what people think of Chinese people and the ideas of Asian culture.”

Co-owner Alicia Wang's Oakland Fortune Cookie Factory has been part of that city's Chinatown scene since the 1950s. (Wangyuxuan Xu/Bay Area News Group)
Co-owner Alicia Wang’s Oakland Fortune Cookie Factory has been part of that city’s Chinatown scene since the 1950s. (Wangyuxuan Xu/Bay Area News Group) 

The company still uses the original 1950s recipe, but that’s where any similarities end. With designs inspired by everything from Chinese porcelain to spring blossoms, these crunchy cookies are flavored with matcha, dipped in Belgian or Swiss chocolate and sprinkled with sparkly toppings of all sorts.

With the sounds of decades-old cookie machines clattering in the background, Wong talked about the journey of Oakland Fortune Factory and the allure of the iconic cookies.

Q. How did your mom wind up running the business?

A. My whole family grew up in Oakland Chinatown. We came across (this place) all the time. (Six years ago), my dad got injured at work, my mother was doing regular jobs in Chinatown, they were both getting older. She was worried how they were going to support themselves. One day, (my mother’s) friend told her this place was closing down. So she came in, saw the machine and how everything works. And she felt like, “Okay, this is a challenge, but it’s something I can do.”

That was part of the reason, but also she wanted to keep the place open. It’s been here for so long, and a lot of Chinatown businesses have already been changing. Some of the places I grew up with, they’re all gone. She felt it would be a loss if this place was gone, too.

Q. You’ve created so many new flavors and colors for the cookies. What inspires that creativity?

A. Growing up, I always felt ashamed of being Chinese. Everyone would say things like, “That’s so cheap. It’s made in China.” Whenever they say that, I almost feel apologetic. They make us feel cheap, because there are so many of us. That’s part of why I’m so obsessed with making our cookies in different flavors and colors, because people are not expecting that.

Alicia Wang, co-owner of Oakland Fortune Factory, makes custom, large-size fortune cookies as well as smaller cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with sparkles and other toppings. (Wangyuxuan Xu/Bay Area News Group)
Alicia Wang, co-owner of Oakland Fortune Factory, makes custom, large-size fortune cookies as well as smaller cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with sparkles and other toppings. (Wangyuxuan Xu/Bay Area News Group) 

Q. Can you talk about those designs?

A. I am constantly coming up with designs. For the Apollo Space Mission 50th anniversary, I made a silver, shiny chrome cookie. It’s chocolate, but there’s a silver color over it and a star. It looks very futuristic.

The (2020) Black Lives Matter movement was the first time we made a cookie that was more than something pretty. We made black cookies that have BLM letters on them, and the messages inside are civil rights leaders’ quotes and questions. My partner wanted the cookies to spark conversation, because that’s what we really needed — people talking to each other and asking ourselves these questions. That’s when I realized we could do something bigger and better with our cookies.

Q. You do custom orders with personalized messages, too. What’s your favorite kind of fortune?

A. We get all kinds — raunchy orders, meaningful messages. One of my favorites would be proposals, because our cookies are going to be part of a very important memory.

Q. What’s are you working on now?

A. I’m focusing on the messages inside the fortune cookies. I want to make cookies for mental health awareness with messages of self-love. We did cookies for Pride with messages from LGBTQ civil rights leaders. I want to do more of that where the messages are meaningful, and when people open it, they read it and keep it in their wallet. They think about it. That’s how I change: I came across some quotes during Black Lives Matter that made me question myself: Am I racist? Have I ever done something like that? That’s my mission in life now, to use cookies to do good and change people.

Q. What was Oakland Chinatown like when you grew up?

A. We would go out for dinner more often at night because the businesses were open later, and there were a lot more people walking around. There were more mom-and-pop stores. There were only two boba places: Sweet Booth and Quickly.

Q. But I saw Sweet Booth was closed.

A. I know. I cried really hard when they closed. Now we have more boba shops. I feel we’re being pushed out in some way, because a lot of stores are replaced. I hope we’re going to retain what Chinatown is.

If You Go

The Oakland Fortune Factory is open for walk-up orders from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays at 261 12th St. in Oakland, and for online shopping at www.oaklandfortunefactory.com.