Combine food trucks, arts vendors, libations, live music and an open-air scene and what do you get?
A foodie night market that brings communities together.
The Coco Swirl mascot greets visitors while at the Off the Grid event held behind the Pleasant Hill City Hall on a recent Thursday. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
These events are back for summer and early fall, from San Jose and Foster City to Pleasant Hill and Oakland on the other side of the bay. Most start about 5 p.m., long before the sun goes down, making for family-friendly dinner hours.
Here are schedule highlights from some of these big Bay Area events:
GORDON BIERSCH NIGHT MARKET, San Jose
The band Frunkyman plays at the Gordon Biersch Night Market in Japantown in San Jose. The event is back for its ninth year. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Now in its ninth year, the spring-to-fall Gordon Biersch market (formerly the Taylor Street Night Market) stands out as a true community gathering, with hundreds of people living close enough to walk or bike to the Japantown market in the massive brewery parking lot.
But there’s room for more.
On Thursday evenings, attendees will find a rotating selection of eight to 10 food truck, plus arts and merch vendors (vintage comic books, anyone?), live entertainment and craft beer.
The San Jose Jazz BoomBox provides the bands, and there is plenty of picnic table seating for enjoying the music and your food.
The bites: One of San Jose’s top food trucks, Shrimp’n Ain’t Eazy, is a regular at this market. Fans will wait in long lines for the beef-and-shrimp Chop Cheese mash-up or the Vampiro Taco with shrimp and chorizo.
Other favorites in the Gordon Biersch rotation have included Old Greenwood BBQ from award-winning Sunnyvale pitmaster Ryan Pang; pad thai and curry dishes from the Thai Thai food truck; Cousins Maine Lobster’s buttery crustacean rolls; and Waffle Amore, with both savory options (chicken and waffles) and sweet ones (bananas foster).
Andrea Lacy provides the chocolate fix at her LUV’s Brownies truck, with brownies in sundaes or cones, as ice cream sandwiches or for straight-up nibbling.
Good to know: Seeing as how this event is held at a brewery, the taps will never run dry. Grab a Gordon Biersch Marzen or the brewery’s Wildcide hard cider. Also, parking can be challenging if you don’t live nearby; come early or take a rideshare
Details: 5 to 9 p.m. Thursdays. Free admission, dog-friendly. 357 E. Taylor St., San Jose.
OFF THE GRID: Pleasant Hill, Foster City, Oakland
Michele Cornwell, of Pleasant Hill, feeds her granddaughter Makai Cornwell, age 2, some garlic noodles while attending the Off the Grid event held behind the Pleasant Hill City Hall. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Off the Grid is a veteran player in the mobile-market industry, its fleet of food trucks circling the Bay like Old West chuck wagons slinging everything from Filipino fusion to Maine lobster rolls to breakfast-cereal ice cream.
You’ll find Off the Grid popping up multiple days per week in every corner of the Bay. One great place to get a feel for the concept is “Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid” at the Oakland Museum of California. Here, the crowd is as diverse as the food offerings with families pushing strollers and kids lining up for sweet treats. And expect plenty of cute doggos in sizes from big bear to detectable-by-electron-microscope.
“Friday Nights at OMCA” sees the street closed down to accommodate a parade of food trucks and picnic tables. That’s just the start. There’s an amphitheater where DJs spin high-energy tunes. And inside the museum’s sculpture garden is a verdant lawn where people camp out to enjoy meals and live music from the likes of funky “The Whoadees” and Puerto Rican Bomba artists “Aguacero.” Some nights there’s drag storytime, others live painting or a fly community-resources bus from Steph and Ayesha Curry.
Meanwhile, Off the Grid’s Foster City sessions, held Wednesday nights, have something for everyone — especially youngsters. A recent visit featured live music and a fundraiser for a local elementary school. Kids chased each other as their grown-ups sat atop picnic blankets and sipped beer and wine from the Devil’s Canyon Brewing mobile bar. Lines formed behind food trucks, which included multiple barbecue options, Peruvian fare, Mayan fusion, Italian cuisine, and much more.
Good to know: The galleries at OMCA are usually open during Off the Grid nights, sometimes with artist talks, but you still need a ticket. The museum lends out blankets for those wanting to picnic on the sculpture lawn. There’s also a kids’ garden with games and toys. In Foster City, parking can be tight, so look for a spot nearby at City Hall or the library.
The salbutes with cochinita pibil from the Mestizo food truck at “Friday Nights at OMCA” in Oakland in May, 2025. (John Metcalfe/Bay Area News Group)
The bites: At the Oakland event, Los Kuyas serves Mexican-Filipino fusion with sisig burritos, longganisa sausages and lemon-pepper chicken-adobo tacos. Mestizo is a fantastic way to experience the cuisine of the Yucatan Peninsula with locally sourced ingredients. The salbutes are two handmade tortillas fried until puffy and stuffed with gooey cheese; add tender hunks of cochinita pibil, pickled red only and a zippy salsa verde, and it’s a truly decadent meal. The longest line will invariably be for the Humphry Slocombe ice-cream truck, which does s’more sundaes and flavors like Secret Breakfast and Key Lime.
People gather during the weekly Off the Grid food truck event in Foster City, Calif., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
At the Foster City event, the world is your culinary oyster. Pick up ceviche from the Lamas food truck, straight from Half Moon Bay, a hearty nachos plate to share from Dominic’s, or a lobster roll from Sam’s ChowderMobile. Looking for something different? Catch the truck from Aydea, a San Francisco-based Tatar restaurant, serving cuisine from Tatarstan, a republic of Russia in Eastern Europe. Their pastries are unique, with a brown-sugar crusted cinnamon roll-shaped item and a fruit-soaked monkey bread, both of which hit top marks.
A lobster roll is served at Sam’s Chowder mobile during the weekly Off the Grid food truck event in Foster City, Calif., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Details: Check the schedule for Off the Grid for events near you at offthegrid.com. “Friday Nights at OMCA with Off the Grid” takes place 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Fridays at 1000 Oak St., Oakland; museumca.org. “Off the Grid: Foster City” takes place 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays at 650 Shell Blvd., Foster City; offthegrid.com/event/foster-city.
BERRYESSA NIGHT MARKET, San Jose
Dancers perform for a Filipino cultural celebration held at the Garden at the Flea’s night market. (Joshua Cedro/Mosaic)
At San Jose’s long-running Flea Market — marking 65 years in 2025 –, the Garden at the Flea event space draws hundreds of festival-goers for themed Friday night markets from spring to fall.
And it’s a terrific array of themes. Filipino culture was celebrated in early June and will be back on the calendar Oct. 24 for a FAHM Jam (Filipino American History Month). The Salsa y Cerveza night Aug. 15 will feature salsa music and free dance lessons.
On some Friday-Saturday combos, the space becomes a Vintage Market from Pop-Up SJ, with vendors and makers selling collectibles, thrift apparel, artwork and more.
The bites: Plug these dates into your phone. Are you into spicy food? Street cuisine chefs at a dozen trucks will show off their best tongue-burning recipes on Sept. 5. Kuwaii Kpop nights are scheduled for June 20 and Sept. 26. The week after that, on Oct. 3, the Garden of the Flea will host the MexiPino Fest.
Every market features some of the regular Berryessa vendors, and there are lots of tables for diners on the grounds.
Good to know: Plan to arrive early. Then back up that time, and plan to arrive even earlier. The food truck lines can grow to 30 to 50 customers long. Ditto for the quest for beer. Oh, and one more thing: This is a pet-free zone.
Details: 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays from April to October. Free admission. BART-friendly location. Parking, $5. No pets. 1590 Berryessa Road, San Jose; https://gardenattheflea.com
PRESCOTT NIGHT MARKET: Oakland
People arrive during the Prescott Night Market along 18th Street near Raimondi Park in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
After much anticipation Prescott Market opened this year, bringing new restaurants and a sweet al-fresco hang space to West Oakland.
But before the brick-and-mortar market, there was the Prescott Night Market, running through the summer on a closed-off block of 18th Street. The event featured several vendors that later wound up in the physical market – Fast Times Burgers, Almanac Beer Co. – and attracted crowds from all over the Bay who craved the latest food fads.
Well, the night market proved successful enough it’s coming back once a month on Thursday nights from June to October. It’s quite the scene, with live music, dining in the open air and expanded baseball crowds from the Oakland Ballers stadium at Raimondi Park. Eat something delicious and then, if you’re still hungry? Top off with a beer at Brix Factory Brewing and then head next door for a second dinner at June’s Pizza.
Good to know: If you like baseball, be sure to check out the Baller’s 2025 schedule to see if there’s a game going on right around the block. Also, if you want to come back the day after the night event, Prescott Market is hosting Live Music Fridays that showcase local jazz, funk, and soul bands from 5-8 p.m.
Delaney’s Meat serves roasted pig along 18th Street near Raimondi Park during the Prescott Night Market in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Bites: The lineup of food vendors is still in the works – stay tuned for updates on the market’s Instagram (@prescottmarketwestoakland). Last year’s vendors included Clandestina Cocina with a killer Cubano sandwich, wood-fired Neapolitan pizza from Mozzeria, whole-pig barbecue from Delany’s Meats, the buzzy De La Creamery and many others.
Details: Events take place 5-9 p.m. July 24, Aug. 21, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9 at 1620 18th St., Oakland; westoaklandfarmersmarket.org/nightmarket
The Night Market, South San Francisco
The mini rice noodles at the Night Market in South San Francisco are chewy and coated with a satisfying nutty, plummy sauce. (Courtesy Amy Bradshaw)
OK, so this brick-and-mortar food hall isn’t a traditional pop-up night market. But it’s perfect for when you want night market snacks during daylight hours. Tucked into a nook of South San Francisco where the air smells like bread (likely because it’s situated between the Bimbo Bakery and Raymond’s Sourdough outlets on Spruce Street), this food hall specializes in Hong Kong-style street food. You can order congee or cart noodles customized to order, stir fry dishes, or an array of street food and dim sum options. It’s especially fun to watch the dumplings steam through the glass windows next to the dining area.
The Night Market in South San Francisco serves Hong Kong-style street food including dumplings, congee, cart noodles and more. (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)
The bites: The Shanghai dumplings ($7) are each a pop of steamed savory, juicy filling inside a slightly chewy, moist wrapping. Pair them with the steamed barbecue pork buns ($7), which offer barbecue pork bites encased in a veritable pillow of soft bread. To round it out, the Hong Kong-style mini rice noodles ($6.5) serve up even more of that satisfying, chewy noodle texture. Presented as sliced noodle roll-ups with a nutty, plummy sauce, each noodle segment stands on its own as a satisfying bite.
Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday-Monday at 230 S. Spruce Ave, South San Francisco; thenightmarketssf.com.
MORE MARKETS TO CHECK OUT:
“Fridays on Front Street” is a new series of block parties in downtown San Francisco in 2025 that highlight local bars and live bands. (Collin Love for the Downtown SF Partnership)
This summer, San Francisco is rolling out “Fridays on Front Street” block parties. These free evening celebrations highlight local bars and feature live bands selected by Noise Pop Industries. There are food popups and to-go drinks from classic bars like Harrington’s, the Royal Exchange and Schroeders German beer hall – plus lawn games, sports-watching parties and legal drinking in the streets in reportedly California’s first-ever designated entertainment zone. (Next dates are July 18, August 22 and October 10; downtownsf.org)
