National Fortune Cookie Day

National Fortune Cookie Day, observed on July 20, celebrates the crisp, folded treats often served at the end of a Chinese American restaurant meal. Best known for the small slips of paper tucked inside, fortune cookies offer encouraging messages, playful predictions, and sometimes lucky numbers—turning dessert into a moment of curiosity and fun.

Mark the day by sharing fortune cookies with family and friends, reading each message aloud, or enjoying your favorite takeout meal with an extra treat afterward. It’s a lighthearted observance that invites everyone to savor a familiar tradition, enjoy a little surprise, and imagine what good fortune may be ahead.

**National Fortune Cookie Day**, observed on **July 20**, celebrates the crisp, folded cookie traditionally served at the end of meals in Chinese American restaurants. Although the observance is widely listed among food-themed holidays, its precise founder and date of establishment are not well documented. It appears to be a modern, informal celebration rather than a holiday with a clearly recorded historical proclamation.

The fortune cookie itself has a more complex history than its association with Chinese cuisine might suggest. Food historians generally trace its development to Japanese immigrants in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Japanese bakeries and tea gardens in California produced folded cookies containing paper fortunes, and one frequently cited early figure is Makoto Hagiwara, who served the cookies at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. David Jung of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles is also sometimes credited with popularizing a commercial version. Because surviving evidence is incomplete, historians continue to debate which person or business should receive primary credit.

During the twentieth century, fortune cookies became closely connected with Chinese American restaurants, especially as those restaurants expanded across the United States after World War II. Their mass production made them inexpensive, recognizable, and easy to distribute with takeout and dining-room meals. The small slips of paper—usually offering a proverb, prediction, or good-luck message—helped turn the cookie into a ritual of anticipation at the end of a meal, even though fortune cookies are not a customary dessert throughout China.

Over time, National Fortune Cookie Day has evolved into a lighthearted occasion for enjoying the cookie, sharing fortunes, and reflecting on its unusual journey through Japanese American, Chinese American, and broader American food culture. Its significance lies less in religious or civic tradition than in the way it highlights cultural exchange, adaptation, and the creation of distinctly American customs. On **July 20**, restaurants, families, and food enthusiasts may mark the observance by opening fortune cookies, collecting memorable messages, or learning about the cookie’s disputed and multicultural origins.