In the bustling setting of Paper Son Coffee, Alex Pong navigates the counter with ease, enthusiastically introducing the featured brew of the day. “This coffee is truly unique,” he shares. “Originating from Yunnan, China, it undergoes a special yeast processing that imparts a delightful peach and osmanthus-like flavor.”
Just two years prior, Pong’s life revolved around the tech industry rather than crafting espresso. However, a job layoff in 2023 led him to reevaluate his career trajectory. “I thought, should I wait until retirement to pursue this coffee shop dream, or seize the moment now?” he recalls.
Fast forward to the present, Pong successfully operates two flourishing Paper Son Coffee locations in San Francisco. These cafes are known for their Asian-inspired speciality beverages and coffee, complemented by distinctive pastries from their partner, Tano SF. Yet, the business name bears deeper significance, paying tribute to a challenging yet resilient chapter in Chinese American history.
“The name honors the journey of my great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather to San Francisco,” explains Pong. They arrived from southern China as “paper sons,” a strategy employed by Chinese immigrants who paid American citizens to claim them as relatives, thus sidestepping the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act.
“Many of us are descendants of paper sons,” Pong notes. “I felt it was crucial to acknowledge that shared historical experience.”
As a fourth or fifth-generation American, Pong’s decision was intentional. “If we’re establishing an Asian American cafe, why not highlight that history? There’s a certain power in the name and the experience it references,” he asserts.
Customer reactions range from recognition to curiosity. “Some people have been like, who is Paper and who is Son?” Pong says. “And I’m like, oh, let me have a chat with you real quick.”
Pong’s coffee obsession began about a decade ago. While working in tech during the week, he spent weekends as a barista. Now he’s bridging Asian and American coffee cultures.
“In Asia, tea culture is the predominant drinking beverage culture, so the flavor profiles are very different,” he says. “We have fruit-flavored coffee or lighter roast, more tea-like things.”
The reception has been mixed. “Some people really like it. And some people are like, come on, I just want my coffee to taste like coffee,” he says. “Finding that balance has been a lot of fun.”
He’s also navigating industry economics. “The luxury side is getting more and more expensive,” he says. For Pong, accessibility without sacrificing quality is the goal. “I just want people to know we can do it as good or better than anyone else in the city.”
Growing up in New York City, Pong’s connection to his Chinese roots has always been complicated. “I’m not very Asian,” he says, “but I do think it is important to embrace heritage and incorporate fun flavors.”
“I don’t really have any relatives who I can go back to in China,” he says. “So what does that mean to be Chinese? I don’t know.”
But his family’s century-long presence in San Francisco anchors him. His great-great-grandfather once ran a shop on Stockton Street in Chinatown. Pong dreams of doing a pop-up there someday-“a little homecoming” to reflect on “how far we’ve come but also how some things change but some things just stay the same.”
The privilege isn’t lost on him. “Having the luxury to pivot away from tech with the insurance that if things blow up, I can just go back-that’s not something to be taken for granted.”
Paper Son hosts pop-ups, supports other business owners, and works as a multi-roaster cafe. “That relationship aspect of the business also makes us special,” Pong says.
As for the shop’s vibe? “It’s a reflection of my personality. Pretty low-key, pretty chill, but we try hard,” Pong says. “Every customer, the goal is to make them come out happy. You just want to make someone’s day.”
Recently featured on JP Morgan bus stop ads downtown, Pong’s family wanted people to see the ad rather than visit the shop. “I was like, come on guys, can’t you just send people to my shop?” he laughs.
But mostly, “everyone that I know is just happy for me.” And in a city built by generations of immigrants chasing their dreams, that seems fitting.
Follow Paper Son on Instagram @papersoncoffee.
