SF Japanese Bakery Uncle Tetsu: Hakata Cheesecake Since 1985

Uncle Tetsu, at 3251 20th Ave on the second floor of Stonestown Galleria, is the San Francisco branch of the Japanese bakery that made the soft, jiggly cheesecake famous far beyond Japan. The shop is built around one product. Round cheesecakes come out of the ovens through the day, each stamped with the cartoon face of the founder, and most people leave with a whole cake in a box rather than a single slice. It is the easiest Japanese bakery stop in the southwest corner of the city, with mall parking and a Muni Metro stop at the door.

The brand's own history begins in 1985 in Hakata, the old merchant district of Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu. That is where Tetsushi Mizokami, known to customers as Uncle Tetsu, opened his first bakery. According to the company, he set out to make a cheesecake that was lighter, fluffier and more delicate than the dense American kind, using Japanese baking techniques and good ingredients.

The result is what the company describes as a fusion of rich American-style cheesecake and airy French soufflé. Each cake is made from scratch with butter, cream cheese and eggs, then served warm with the Uncle Tetsu stamp on top. From that single shop in Kyushu, the business has grown to dozens of locations across Asia, Australia and North America.

In the United States the chain has spread mostly through California and Texas. The company's menu page lists shops from Arcadia and Torrance in Southern California to Austin, Katy and Dallas-Fort Worth. Around the Bay Area there are branches in Daly City, San Mateo, San Jose and Santa Clara as well as Stonestown, which is the one inside San Francisco city limits.

If you grew up on New York cheesecake, the first bite is a surprise. A Japanese cheesecake is baked gently in a water bath, and the eggs are whipped so the batter rises like a soufflé. The crumb is pale, springy and full of tiny air pockets, and the cake wobbles when you set the box down. It tastes of cream cheese and butter but carries far less weight, so a whole cake disappears faster than you would expect.

There is no graham cracker crust and no heavy topping. The surface bakes to a thin golden skin, and that is where the stamp sits. The bakery describes the sweetness as balanced and light, and that is a fair summary: it is closer to a sponge cake than to a slab of cheesecake from a diner case.

Temperature changes the experience. Straight from the oven, the cake is soft and almost custardy in the middle. After a night in the refrigerator it firms up and tastes richer and more like classic cheesecake. Many regulars buy one to eat warm in the car and a second to chill for the next day, which is the best way to understand why the recipe has lasted four decades.

The cheesecake is the reason to come, but it is not the only thing on the counter. The Stonestown shop's catering description mentions signature Japanese cheesecakes, cheese tarts and artisan desserts. The cheese tart is the natural second order: a crisp, buttery shell filled with a creamy cheese custard and baked until the top just colors. It is a good choice if you want a single treat instead of a whole cake.

Uncle Tetsu branches in North America also rotate seasonal items alongside the core range, so the counter can look a little different from visit to visit. The safest plan is to order the original cheesecake first and add whatever seasonal item is in the case as a side experiment.

For larger gatherings, the shop takes party orders. The location page invites customers planning birthdays, business events or other celebrations to contact the store and build a custom order of cheesecakes, cheese tarts and desserts. That is worth arranging ahead for an office or family event, since whole cakes are baked in batches through the day.

The shop opens at 11 am every day, when the mall itself opens to shoppers. Because the cakes are baked through the day rather than once in the morning, there is often a fresh tray cooling behind the glass, and the smell of butter and baking eggs reaches the corridor before you see the sign.

Weekend afternoons are the busiest stretch at Stonestown. If you want to avoid a line, come on a weekday, or use the online ordering link on the Uncle Tetsu website to place an order for pickup and skip the wait at the register. Friday and Saturday evenings stay quieter because the shop is open until 9 pm on those nights.

Carry the box flat. A Japanese cheesecake is tall and soft, and it will dent if it slides around a tote bag. If you are taking one home on Muni, hold the box level on your lap, and keep it out of a hot car if you plan to run other errands first.

Stonestown Galleria sits on 19th Avenue in the Lakeshore district, next to San Francisco State University. The M Ocean View Muni Metro line runs down the middle of 19th Avenue and stops right by the mall, so the shop is easy to reach from downtown without a car.

With a cake in hand, walk south across the San Francisco State campus to Lake Merced. A paved path circles the lake for roughly four and a half miles, with views of the water, cypress trees and the Olympic Club golf course. It is one of the calmest walks in the city and a good place to share a cheesecake on a bench.

Stern Grove is the other nearby escape. The eucalyptus-lined park at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard is best known for its free summer concerts, held in a natural amphitheater since 1938. Outside festival season it is a quiet, shady place for a short loop through the trees before you head home.

Address: 3251 20th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94132, on the second floor of Stonestown Galleria. Phone: (415) 874-7082. Hours: Monday to Thursday 11 am to 8 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 9 pm, Sunday 11 am to 7 pm.

Address, phone and hours here come from the San Francisco page on uncletetsu-us.com. Order online for pickup to skip the counter, call the shop for party orders, and ask Karpo to pair your cheesecake run with a Lake Merced walk.