By Mario Cortez, Staff Writer Nov 19, 2025
Hing Lung Co., one of the most storied Cantonese meat shops in San Francisco’s Chinatown, is ready for its next chapter under a new name and in a new neighborhood.
The longtime destination for roast ducks and barbecue pork plans to reopen under the name Quack House on Nov. 21 in the former Meraki Market space at 927 Post St. Inside, brothers Eric and Simon Cheung will continue to prepare their meats, chopped by the pound and packed to go.
“We’ve already received a lot of customer inquiries for Thanksgiving, so we’re eager to move forward,” Patricia Tien, Eric Cheung’s spouse and the company’s spokesperson, said on Wednesday, just hours after the shop passed its final inspection.
New name, same ducks: S.F. Chinatown barbecue legend is back
Greg
Quick and Dirty
Hing Lung Co., one of the most storied Cantonese meat shops in San Francisco’s Chinatown, is ready for its next chapter under a new name and in a new neighborhood.
The longtime destination for roast ducks and barbecue pork plans to reopen under the name Quack House on Nov. 21 in the former Meraki Market space at 927 Post St. Inside, brothers Eric and Simon Cheung will continue to prepare their meats, chopped by the pound and packed to go.
“We’ve already received a lot of customer inquiries for Thanksgiving, so we’re eager to move forward,” Patricia Tien, Eric Cheung’s spouse and the company’s spokesperson, said on Wednesday, just hours after the shop passed its final inspection.
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The anticipated reopening, just over a mile away in lower Nob Hill, comes after the business left the Chinatown address it called home for 43 years in April 2024. The Cheungs said they left their Chinatown shop, at 1261 Stockton St., because of the building’s condition and a significant rent increase. (A new restaurant, Duk Hing Express, opened at the location in August.)
In April 2024, the family launched a casual restaurant named Go Duck Yourself in Bernal Heights. Go Duck Yourself serves plates of duck and pork along with rice or noodles — a switch for Hing Lung regulars accustomed to by-the-pound orders. Cheung said the plates travel well, making them ideal for delivery orders, while the aggressive new brand helped differentiate the restaurant from other businesses using “hing lung,” which means “prosperity” in Cantonese.
A photo of Wing Cheung, Eric and Simon’s father, who owned the original Hing Lung Co. Cantonese barbecue shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
Quack House will address two concerns from longtime Hing Lung customers: being able to purchase meat by the pound, and the distance of Go Duck Yourself from the original. “On day one, we had customers give us a lot of grief for leaving the neighborhood,” Tien said.
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Quack House’s craftsman brick building retains the Italian marble floors and exposed brick walls of its former tenant, though kitchen equipment now covers the first floor space, where fancy cantaloupes and caviar were once sold in the market previously run by San Francisco designer Stanlee Gatti. There’s just enough space for a couple of window seats and a handful of standing customers, but not much else. The small customer area doesn’t even have enough room to display ducks, which have been replaced by photos of the cooked birds, Tien said.
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Quack House owners and siblings, Simon Cheung, left, and Eric Cheung stand for a portrait at their new Cantonese barbecue shop in San Francisco.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
The roast ducks are prepared through the same seven-step process as Hing Lung, which includes stuffing the birds with aromatics, then blanching them before hanging in a dry ager for up to four days. The ducks are finished off inside a custom-built oven imported from Hong Kong manufacturer Choi Tung Shing. Unlike Peking duck, which is typically cut into slices, Cantonese duck is usually cleaved.
Pork belly and racks of ribs also get a few days in the dry ager. Before going into the oven, they’re coated with a maltose-vinegar mix that allows the skin to develop a deep crunch. “It’s very straightforward, but very tasty,” Eric Cheung said.
In the past, Cheung was often the one hoisting the pork carcasses in the breakdown areas, then placing the heavy barbecue cuts inside the ovens. He recently underwent a corrective surgery to treat a traumatic spinal cord injury he experienced in 2018. He’s still involved in the preparation process, but the kitchen crew now does the heavy lifting.
Hing Lung’s other items, such as pressed salted ducks, Chinese-style sausages and soy chicken, are also coming back. The whole chicken is poached for about an hour in a perpetual stock that the Cheungs hope will become more potently flavorful as time goes on.
An illustration of the original Hing Lung Co. adorns the interior of Quack House. Eric and Simon Cheung, sons of Hing Lung’s founder Wing Cheung, operate the new business.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
There will be new items as well, such as sandwiches with pork jerky, wraps filled with the roast meats and bento-style lunch boxes. “We want something that’s easy to consume on the go since we’re also targeting offices nearby,” Tien said.
Of course, anyone able to snag a window seat will want to eat while the meat is still hot and dripping — a clear improvement over the old location, which had no room for diners.