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Categories: Fruits & Veggies, Farmers Market
Between Santa Cruz Avenue & Menlo AvenueSun. 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
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Hells to the yes! I adore that I can go just 4 or so miles across town and get to this Farmer's Market on Sunday mornings (if I don't have to work).
Sure, it's not a massive market, but every single time I get there, I always manage to leave with enough fruit and vegetables to feed an army for a week (it seems), all under $40. And, each time I have made it there this year, there is a stall of assorted nuts, which are raw, roasted, dusted with garlic powder, you name it. Fantastic! I am one that craves cashews and almonds instead of chocolate and ice cream. Just as fatty, but less sugar, more fibre, and more protein! They know how to keep a girl happy.
Also, don't miss the stall with the incessant amount of strawberries. Best damn strawberries I have ever eaten. And, if you get there later in the morning, maybe an hour before they are closing, you can get a bitchin' deal on said strawberries, as they don't want to have to haul them back to where ever it is they are going, just to throw them out.
Seriously. My Sundays, if I am off, revolve around going to the Market, loading up on veggies, fruits, and nuts, then sitting in my backyard with a good book, a bowl of strawberries, and a bowl of cashews. What a life.
Please go whenever you can and support local farmers, as well as Menlo Park!!!
I love this place. Rain or shine, I come every Sunday morning when I'm not out of town and leave with several bagfuls of groceries. Considering the small size of the market, there's a good amount of variety - there's fish, meat, eggs, honey, olive oil, and mushrooms to go along with all the fresh produce and flowers. Between this and Trader Joe's across the street, I only have to make a Safeway visit about once a month.
The only problem I have is holding myself back from buying too much fruit. Bring enough cash if you're going to buy fish or grass-fed beef.
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What this farmer's market lacks in size, it makes up for in quality. Fresh everything, the best heirloom tomatoes and peppers, and live music. I wish they had eggs and some bread and I wouldn't even need to go the the store. Look for the guy selling toffee almonds.
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Menlo Park has become my farmer's market of choice in the last year for weekly grocery shopping.
This no-frills farmers market is a little bit closer to home, much more low key, and certainly less flashy than the Palo Alto market on California Street.
For unprocessed goods (think fruit, veggies, lettuce, herbs, and other stuff that comes straight out of the ground), i find the prices here to be the same or cheaper than the grocery store. They also dominate the selection at this market.
The more processed stuff (think jellies, jams, breads, pizzas, naan, etc) is less abundant here than Palo Alto and is usually more expensive than what you get at the grocery store. If you come you've got to try the nut guy though. His flavored nuts are great.
So chances are, if we've got friends in from out of town visiting and they want the 'farmer's market experience' we normally take them to the Palo Alto Market on California street. But if it's just an normal week and we need some local produce to round out our grocery shopping, this is where you'll find me.
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Being that I live about two blocks from here I have nothing but positive things to say about this farmer's market.
Fresh produce, flowers and fruit are always on display. There are also artists and craftsmen that hock their wares from stalls on occasion.
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I found this place by accident, waiting for a friend who was running late for lunch. It is a small market, not a huge variety, but it had tomatoes for $1-2/lb, peaches/nectarines for $2, and other everyday staples at better than average farmer's market prices.
I wouldn't make a special trip here from San Jose, but if you live close by I would definitely check it out. Lots of parking too, even though I came around noon.
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I think this is one of the best Farmer's Markets in the bay area. It's close to my house, so I can walk. It's got tons of organic produce. It's not always the cheapest but the vendors are very nice and always through in a few extras for regulars.
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four stars or five stars? I rated MV's farmer's market 5... and this one is obviously not as good... but only 4 stars? Menlo Park is a small community.. it could use the rounding up....
I lived at 745 Menlo Ave... why is this important?
because it's RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET... and every sunday I could(doesn't mean I did) walk across the street, hit up the farmer's market, or just walk around and enjoy the good weather, nice people, and get out for the fresh air.... yes.. I didn't do it nearly as often as I should(only miss something when it's gone right?) but that doesn't take away from it.
Orchids, seafood, fresh produce... and anything you can't find or didn't like but are still looking for, you still have 2 little grocery stores in walking distance, and a big store a medium walk away.
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THE local market! I graze through the market and get my breakfast and tasting taken care of (first pass through) then buy on the second pass through. My favourite season is when the persimmons are out - if you have not tried this delectable fruit or if you have only tried one style you need to do your self a huge favour and go to this market. I (myself - oh I guess that is a given from the I part of the statement - I do digress) love the Fuju (not to be confused with Fuji apples - although I love those too) are more like apples and to be eaten hard whereas the Hachime (sp? where is the spell checker here???) are soft and mushy (my dad's favourite) - try freezing and eating like a sorbet.
The market is also strategically placed between Trader Joes and Draegers (a few blocks) - so if you don't find something head out to one or both of these places.
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The Menlo Park Farmer's Market is small, but it has several things going for it. One, it's year-round. Two, it's small enough that you get to know the vendors that come every Sunday: the potatoes and asparagus stand that has bags of kettle corn for sale; the organic blueberry stand; the dried fruits and nuts stand; Kashiwase with their stone fruit in summertime; Twin Girls and Ella Bella. Three, there's plenty of public parking at both ends of the market. Four, if there's anything you can't find at the market, it's between Trader Joe's and Draegers, so you can pick it up there. And five, most of the vendors are organic - easily 80-90% of them - which isn't true of a lot of larger markets.
I love this market, and even though I moved away from Menlo Park last year, I still go there.
I don't think this is the best market around (Mountain View is better) but I live right across the street so it is hard to beat it for stocking up once a week. It's possible to grab a bunch of stuff here, head to Trader Joe's in the next block and be home before noon. Do yourself a favour, though, and get there early. Once the MPPC lets out the strollers will make it nearly impossible to navigate.
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This is a very good Farmers Market. Most of the produce vendors are organic, plenty of free samples, lots of wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables.
As with all Farmers Markets, get there early for best parking and selection. This week I scored some excellent plums, donut peaches, beets, yams, ollaliberries, and olive oil from Olivas de Oro.
Okay...so I'm a sucker for fresh olive oil. Oh, and they're organic! My favorites, Sevillano and Mission Blend.
I like the vendor who sells a variety of greens. Also there are good citrus vendors when in season. I really like the farmer that sells narcissi bulbs and cut flowers - they grow well locally and the white narcissi have a wonderful scent.
For berries, beans and corn I prefer Webb Ranch on Alpine Road near 280. It is not as expensive and grows some of what it sells.
There's usually a pleasant musician in the farmer's market and you may enjoy picking up some flowers there too.
This farmer's market is smaller than others, which is nice, but I find that the produce is often wilted and the variety isn't what I'd hoped for. How many limp broccoli venders does one market need? Also, they have no sellers for fish, meat, eggs, or breads. Even though I can walk to this market, I've started going to the much better supplied California Ave market.
This was one of the first markets in the area to be year-round, and it is still one of the best. And the perfect time on a Sunday morning -- while everyone and their big SUVs are away at church somewhere! No, for all that, It's a great community gathering place too, as well as being a great place to shop. It really is possible to do a full spectrum of produce shopping at this market, not just pick up a few unique/gourmet specialty things (though you can find some of that too) before trotting off to the hypermarket to finish up. These are growers you can really get to know, and greet again and again year after year; I'm still buying apples and chinese vegetables and mushrooms and dates and strawberries and avocados and cara cara oranges from all of the same farmers as I have for the last 5 years. A local gem.
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This farmer's market is just ok. It's a little on the small size compared to some of the other farmer's markets in the area. It has the usual fruit and veggies nothing that really stands out as a must get item. And the parking is a bit of a nightmare as it's located downtown near a busy Trader Joe's. Although it's nice to be able to get fresh produce at the market and then walk over to Trader Joe's for everything else, an extra star for that.
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I'm a sucker for fresh fruit in season, so I usually try to make it to this Sunday morning open air market to pick out apples, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, or strawberries for the week. There are also vegetable vendors, fresh cut flowers for sale, fantastic dried mushrooms, even a fish shop.
I'm lately in the habit of reviewing places that I love. Maybe it's a new sense of optimism, spreading the love, paying it forward, an unconscious ploy toward achieving good karma? This market isn't the biggest (I think Palo Alto has one up on MP...I know they win at everything!), but it oozes with organic, musical, olfactory, petition-signing, fruit-sampling community pride that's almost unmatched in MP. Barrone and Keplers, just a few blocks away, are moving in the same community-minded circle as this super market. A note to the bargain-hunters: walk through the whole market first to scope out the well-priced produce.
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