""You hungry?" Lydia Lee asks me, beaming in her bright pink Hello Kitty apron. "You look skinny." She stands in front of a steaming vat of fish stock, ready to scoop me a fresh bowl of udon. It's not even 11 a.m., but I can't turn her down. At Yo Yo's, which offers one of the most affordable lunches in all of San Francisco's Financial District, an order of udon noodle soup is just $9, and a six-piece tray of sushi is just $3.25."
"A Japanese woman named Kazuko Yuge opened Yo Yo's in 1988, and Lydia, new to San Francisco from Indonesia, was her first employee. When Yuge retired in 1997, Lydia and her husband Joe Lee took over the tiny takeout-only shop. Ever since, it's been just the two of them running the hole-in-the-wall eatery, arriving at 6 a.m. to get the shop ready to feed hungry downtown office workers every Monday through Friday."
"They also keep costs down by only accepting cash and Venmo (which a customer helped them set up a few years ago) and by not using any food delivery apps. They also don't pay themselves a salary. Lydia said they don't need much to live off of, as they bought a house in the Sunset District in the '90s and only have one son, who's now 29."
Yo Yo's is a tiny takeout-only eatery in San Francisco's Financial District serving very affordable udon and sushi. The shop opened in 1988 and has been family-run since 1997 when Lydia and her husband Joe Lee took over. The couple arrive early each weekday to prepare food themselves, avoiding paid staff to keep menu prices low. Payments are limited to cash and Venmo, and the shop does not use delivery apps. The owners do not take salaries and maintain modest personal spending after buying a house in the '90s and raising one son.
Read at SFGATE
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