Newark Farmers Market
Categories: Shopping, Farmers Market, Fruits & Veggies [Edit]
NewPark Mallnorthwest side between Macy's and Sears parking lots
Newark, CA 94560 (800) 897-3276
- Hours:
Sun 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
31 reviews
Palo Alto, CA
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36 Reviews for Newark Farmers Market
So much fun and it's good to support local farmers and get such fresh produce in exchange. We got everything from japanese yams to ripe red strawberries to dried raisins and kelsey plums. Everything was priced right and the fish guy even took our order for a fillet of mahi mahi for next Sunday. We missed the other side of the market where it seemed like a lot of the food stalls were located but we'll save that for next week. I can't wait to put all this good food to good use.
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Good selection especially during the summer. I recommend tasting the fruit samples so you know which are sweeter. My fave are pluots and freshly harvested walnuts (late summer/fall).
Parking is super easy.
Update 5/08: During the last few weeks, I've picked up cherries, peaches, organic oranges 10 lbs/$5. I also picked up a phalaenopsis orchid for $5 that hasnt died out on me.
They are also selling small vegetable plants like cherry tomatoes, herbs, etc.
If you see a lady selling carrot cake and stone soup- try her carrot cake- its is really good and moist.
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I've been hearing about this carrot cake (Thanks Anna D.) at the Newpark Mall Farmer's Market (which I sometimes call flea market instead) so I thought to give it a try since its my weekend off today.
Hours are from 9a-1p according to the sign. I arrived around 1145a (didnt wake up early enough). I was a little worried since my experience of farmer's markets have been that vendors usually start to pack up and leave after 11 and by 12p, usually half the vendors are gone. I was surprised to see an abundance of white tents still filled with tables and goodies.
I parked closer to the Macy's side of the farmer's market, ready to hunt down that carrot cake stand. What do you know! I parked directly in front of their tent! Can you say LUCKY?!
CARROT CAKE LADIES:
Such sweet, nice ladies that give you sample of their carrot cakes with a smile. They were pretty busy during the time I got there; a couple of people sampling and buying cakes and soup and a few kids trying to poke the icing on the cupcakes. I didnt get to chat it up with them as I was hoping and tell them all the good things I heard about their cakes. I got my sample and purchased my cupcakes. I saw the soup looked good so I quickly asked what stone soup was. One of the ladies was very nice and gave me a sample while explaining the contents of the soup. I got my cup to go and left the crowd of kids with cupcakes forming around the tent.
Those cupcakes were so good and moist! It has a nice amount of sweetness to it and you can see little carrot flakes. The icing on top was really yummy!
So the stone soup was delicious! Its kinda like a creamy tomato soup with some mushrooms and herbs. I love it! Its not thick and heavy like a bisque but its creamy. Nice consistency I wish I got a pint instead of just a cup. I will definitely be back to get a bigger size soup order and more carrot goodness.
BAKED POTATO STAND:
A few tents across the carrot cake ladies was this stand that sells baked potato and corn on the cob. I havent had a baked potato since I graduated from SJSU and the picture looked so good. 4$ for a giant loaded baked potato. It was hella good! It comes with sour cream, butter, chives, bacon bits, cheese and jalapenos.
There were a lot of vegetable and fruit vendors, most are selling stuff really cheap. I got a few bunches of greens for 1$ a bunch. I also got some chilis, bitter melon, squash for a 1$ or less. I wasnt able to get fruits since I was already carrying too many things but they have a lot of fruits (some organic too); berries, peaches, nectarines, oranges. They also have some plant and flower vendors.
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I had no idea about this farmers market up until recently when i had the chance to sample some carrot cake that was purchased here. I had the chance to go this past weekend to pick up a birthday gift for a couple friends. While there I decided to sample another slice of carrot cake from the carrot cake ladies and some churros from the churro guy.
The carrot cake was just as wonderful as the first slice I had tried a week before. The carrot cake ladies also had Stone Soup for sale and allowed me to sample some. It was delicious! I might not be able to have too much carrot cake since I am trying to lose weight but I am sure going to come back to buy some Stone Soup. Mark my word on this, the carrot cake ladies are going to be as big as the Bacon Dog Carts in the city!
The churro/funnel cake guy also has some pretty tasty treats for sale. You can buy a small or large sampling of churros. These aren't your usual half inch thick sticks that are about 14 inches long. They are thinner and only about 8 inches long. You get a whole bag of them though and you can even buy Vanilla or Chocolate dipping sauce for them. Get both sauces!
In addition to both of these great vendors you can get kettle corn, mexican food, chinese food, fresh produce, samosas, fresh seafood, and flowers at this farmer's market.
Since I am usually up early on Sundays anyway I think I'll be coming here pretty regularly.
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What a lovely morning to stroll the Newark Farmer's Market today! The sun was out though there was a slight chill but I had my sweater handy. I heard about this farmer's market from the sweet Anna D. who told me about the carrot cake ladies via numerous pm flying back and forth. I knew I had to drive up and told her I'd be there between 9Am-10AM.
The farmer's market is located in the back parking lot of the mall on the west side of the freeway off of Mowry. It's not very big but there is a fairly good variety of product to choose from.
Let's just start with the ladies who are responsible for THE carrot cake. Deanie & Happi Campbell are the delightful ladies behind this home grown business. Don't let the simple set up fool you ~ Deanie had her own bakery business in Baltimore, Maryland that grew from just her in the kitchen to over 150 employees and becoming a $10 million dollar company in 8 years! You can read more about Deanie & Happi on their website "The Tao of Cake" : http://www.thetaoofcak... Yes, I did purchase a whole cake folks and just ate a slice of heaven...soft as a cloud but full of flavor with the grated carrots and sweet chunks of pineapple crowned with a moist cream cheese frosting with royal purple points!
Note - The Carrot Cake/Stone Soup ladies (Deannie and Happi) have their carrot cake and fab stone soup available at the Newark Farmers Market and online only. You might want to get in the car and meet these wonderful ladies! They serve samples of the cake and soup!
As Noelle and I were planning our next stop, someone came up from behind me asking if I was from Yelp? I turned around to see sweet Anna D. and said "yup!" Noelle, Anna and I spent the rest of the morning stopping and shopping and eating our way around.
There are plenty of vendors from whom you can purchase seafood, fresh vegetables, ready made food (Filipino, Indian, Mexican) and snacks. Noelle, Anna and I stopped at the Bolani East & West Afghan Food stall where we sampled spinach stuffed naan topped with various sauces. The first of many was really delicious - cilantro pesto, white creamy garlic and sweet jalapeno, all three on top of the spinach stuffed naan! Several sauces later, we were ready for the hummus which was really good too. I took home the sweet jalapeno sauce. This is a family owned business and you can find them at the Santana Row Farmer's Market too (closer to home for me!).
I purchased the sweetest tasting and large strawberries from the Rodriguez Farm folks who were smart enough to have two stalls so you can't miss them! I got three green baskets for $8 and it was so worth it. I'm making strawberry shortcake for tonight's dessert the old fashion way ~ biscuits and whipped cream!
Good food, good company ~ a nice sunny day at the farmer's market...
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While waiting in line for my usual kettle corn, I noticed that the vendor over was giving out samples. Me being the little piggy I am, told the darling child behind me in line to hold my spot. He gave me a blank look as children usually do to me and I rushed over to go get myself a carrot cake sample.
Yeah, I never made it back to the kettle corn line.
Carrot cake lady makes the most delicious, moist carrot cake ever. She smiled at me when I raved about the cake. I bought a huge slice of carrot cake for $3. The slice had nice pieces of carrot in each bite. The frosting isn't overwhelming sweet either, which is such a surprise to me. A whole cake is $15.
So this review is for the carrot cake lady and the kettle corn is really good too. Sorry kettle corn guy, I'm still going to watch you stir that hot kettle, you're hot.
Edit!
I found them! I found them!
http://www.thetaoofcak...
They also described their cake as moist and delicious. Does this mean something?!
I have found out their names! Deanie & Happi Campbell.
Do yourself a favor, go visit these two and stock up on some cake!
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I'm glad to see that this farmer's market has grown so big. I do miss the old location on Bay St. though, as it was much closer to home and felt more "local". They occasionally had live musicians performing which was really nice to hear while shopping.
I love buying my fruit and produce here since it's so fresh! The quality is great and the vendors are always happy to offer fruit samples. I usually buy flowers for home here since there's a nice selection. It's also nice to support local farmers and merchants.
I'm not a big fan of kettle corn so I've never bought it, but it always smells great! There's a vendor who sells Indian flat bread and a variety of dipping sauces, which are very good.
This is definitely a nice change from shopping at the large chain markets, which are more expensive and not as fresh!
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Okay, I like it. Three and a half stars. Not the largest farmer's market around. This is actually small compared to many others out there but for the city of Newark, I like the intimate setting. Turn-out is actually very good with a lot of people but not so much where it may get obnoxious fighting the crowds. Plenty of parking on the Macy's side of Newpark Mall's parking lot.
Read the reviews on here and wanted to find a chance to check it out. This Newark Farmer's Market is open from 9am to 1pm on Sundays year round. We usually have church at this time and the hours sucks for us. So we missed church today actually because we had appointments for several open houses to look for homes so we thought that was a good excuse as any to also come out to here beforehand.
There are definitely deals to be had out here if you look hard enough:
Fruits and vegetables: different fruits and Asian vegetables (spinach, taro root, etc). There are at least a couple large orange, mandarin, apple, and strawberry stands that provides samples before buying.
We saw a large nuts/almond stand and also noticed that there weren't any fresh meat stands out here. (We did see a prepackaged sausage stand though) This was certainly due to the fact that the necessity of refrigeration would require all the meats to be at a constant cold temperature. That wasn't going to happen out here. The closest we saw to this were iced fish heads brought in.
Hot food stands: a "Chinese food" stand that makes hot food items from their menu right there in front of you (egg rolls, fried rice, etc) for $6-8 plate? There's a crepe station that makes your request before your eyes. An Indian naan bread stand that's prepackaged and seems fresh. I like the Afghani thin bread stand that sell two prepackaged pita-like breads for $5 or a jar of their choice of maybe eight different sauces for their bread for $5 for a small jar. Free samples at the Indian naan and Afghani bread stands! We tried samples to the carrot cake stand and understand people have raved about this.
One of our main reasons for coming out here this morning and there's no other reason is to make sure we pick up a bag of Kettle Corn for the wifee. If I forget, I'd be in trouble! Made sure that didn't happen.
We saw a flower stand and also a separate fresh herb stand that you can buy your own pot of herbs to bring home to grow yourself. A pot of fresh herb is $4.00 each or 3 for $10.00. There was a giant jump-house-like slide for the kids and a "clown" that can make balloon animals for the kids while blowing bubbles. A massage tent is set up ready to render services for you if you get pooped from the shopping. There is also an informational booth if you have questions to the market or any of the registered vendors.
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Even though we went here almost closing time, we got great and fresh veggies and love the honeys from Turlock for $6. We got 2 bags full of veggies less than $10, dried raisins $3 (better than the box ones) and the honey. Next time, we'll go here early for their cooked food too.
Great fresh veggies, fruits, and lots of parking!
I live in Redwood City and I cross that bridge to reach what I was told the best carrot cake on the planet. I made carrot cake as a teen with my 1st girlfriend. It's my delightful gustatory time-machine to the late '60's
with my taste-buds and biting into that butter-cream frosting. -And enough frosting on a slice for every bite.
I'm gloating right now because I purchased a WHOLE cake for only $15. and I'm coveting it from my family (I'll admit it)
Carrot cake is like this huge bear-hug. It puts me in touch with the sweetness of the earth like the shreads of carrot are whisps of orange confetti between deliciously wet bites of moist cake. There's a touch of pineapple which I think is their secret punch.
It's a nice mix of other vendors besides the farmers. There are funnel cakes, kettle corn, Indian curries, jewelery and amazing flowers that last all week because they are so fresh.
I'm very impressed with the oranges too.
But come for that carrot cake.
Be prepared to say you have never tasted any carrot cake this fine.
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my parents are regulars here, so i can vouch for all the fresh produce they purchase. the irvington farmers market used to be the one to go to in fremont, but this one in newark is even bigger. my parents usually pick up the most random veggies (many of which look like wild greens or weeds), but they are all delicious. there is a huge selection of asian greens, which is a plus, and it's super cheap.
the orchids here are divine as well, and you can buy them either by the stem or potted.
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Great Farmer's Market, relocated from Irvington, now in the NewPark Mall parking lot between Sears & Macy's.
I saw plenty of tomatoes, pluots, berries, peaches, & nectarines today. There were also many different Asian greens and I found a booth that sells Thai Holy Basil. I also noticed Thai chilies, bell peppers, mushrooms, eggs, and even the infamous balut! They also had guava, kaffir lime leave, and chili plants. I liked the different flowers they had as well, varieties I don't see much. They even had a fresh fish vendor, selling anchovies, tuna, etc.
There's prepared food booths featuring: Indian chutneys, naan & samosas, Singaporean food, Filipino food, tamales, kettle corn, tofu, and smoked salmon. The smoked salmon vendor was very friendly and gave us plenty of samples. He let us know that they catch and smoke their own fish which we tasted in the freshness of his products.
I'll probably frequent this market every Sunday since it's close by and has easy parking in the mall parking lot. Great prices don't hurt either!
Update 12/2/07: There's a chinese dumpling vendor and we bought some xiao long bao, #16 on the menu. They're pretty good for the price. $13 for 30 large sized dumplings.
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Not quite as hoppin' in the middle of winter, I guess-- plenty of spots not more than 20 feet from the center of the market. We took a stroll around, sampled some oranges and bought a delicious spinach bolani from the enthusiastic afghan guy. Went back to the Jeep and chowed for a minute. Got back out, walked over and got a teaser bag of kettle korn. Back to the Jeep. Munched for a while... craved strawberries... got out and grabbed a small box of strawberries. Went back to the Jeep and munched a lot. Listened to the singing dude with the guitar for a bit and went on our way to SF! Very nice way to spend a morning.
I've been to the Marin Farmer's Market when it was in Irvington District, Fremont, just went to the New location at NewPark Mall in the parking lot between Sear's and Macy's.
They have a good selection of fruits & veggies and it's local farmer's that we should support. Strawberries, nectarines, peaches, pluots ($1.50/lb), zucchini $1.5/lb, tomatoes $1.50/lb.
Also saw:
Brazilian Cheese Bread Company: no gluten, no wheat, low carb
Satkar Indian Cuisine
Gold Rush Kettle Korn
Dibrova Natural Sausages
Toofu: soy products, granola, soy milk, marinated tofu
Guy making balloon art for a fee
some fresh fish
tamales
lots of Asian vegetables
peanuts
fresh flowers
Orchids
potted plants/trees
Tessa's home cooking etc: Lumpia, Empanadas, Turons
Recommended, bring CASH.
Sundays 9-1pm Year Round
Website:
http://www.marincounty...
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What a farmers market is supposed to be like!!
1. Perfect size. Not too big and not too small without the unnecessary booths (such as people selling insurance or financial services booths). Farmers markets should never turn into big trade shows in my opinion, and Newark Farmers Market managed to keep that dignity. Lets hope that it doesn't change in a few months.
2. Fabulous produce at great prices. Fresh juicy peaces & nectarines, firm but sweet plums & grapes, big fat gorgeous eggplants all run at $1.00/lb when I was there. All kinds of full, organic, sweet red lettuce at $1.00/head. Beautiful, in season, sunflowers are $2.00/bunch. The Asian greens and cherry tomatoes run as low as .80/lb. I bought soooooo much fruits & veggies here since the quality was excellent and the deals were awesome.
3. Friendly people being generous on samples. People here are down to earth, helpful, and extremely nice. They let you try pretty much everything and they always make sure the samples containers are not empty. The casual atmosphere here reminds me of the homey farmers market in my old neighborhood but a lot cleaner. No snottiness and no commercial marketing crap.
4. No worries on the parking. Since the market is located at the huge parking lot of a mall, there is plenty of parking for everyone.
I didn't get to try any food stands since I came with a full stomach (my bad). There were only around 4 or 5 of them but they smelled really good. I can't wait to come again next Sunday and with an empty stomach of course!
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I was in a foul mood the day I visited the Farmer's Market, as evidenced by one snarky comment after another that I made to no one in particular.
Snarky comment #1 was about the lady next to me smelling the strawberries for ripeness. "Yeah. That's how I like to pick all my fruit. Take the pointy end of a strawberry and stuff it up my left nostril." I dig the whole olfactory, sensory perception thing but come on already.
Snarky comment #2 was the woman dressed to the nines in full make up, 3 inch stilettos and flowing taffeta dress. "I guess I should've worn my Vera Wang or Dior in the likely event that Joan Rivers is lurking around waiting to ask you 'Who are you wearing today?'"
Snarky comment #3 was directed at the guy selling potted herbs. I didn't start off snarky, "Can you tell me how to grow herbs on my kitchen window sill? Is it just sunlight, water..."
"Yeah." And then he walks back to his chair and starts to read the paper.
What just happened here? "That was very helpful. Thank you ever so much."
" 's aight" said Master Verbose.
So--all in all, not bad for a farmer's market--but watch out for snot-covered strawberries and ornery herb guys.
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If I actually ate my fruits and veggies as a good girl suppose to, I'd like this a whole lot. I tried to buy some pomagranites and the lady in front of me bought them all, like all of them, all 30+! DAMN!
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Minus one star because, considering how crowded it gets, the "walkway" is too narrow and parking sucks. Other than those two factors, the Irvington Farmer's Market is by far the best weekly market I've been to. Everything is fresh and the vendors are all nice and friendly.
Our fave buys:
1) Sweet white nectarines
2) Organic Blue Lake green beans (they don't have strings!)
3) Fresh sashimi grade tuna (they're almost always out by 9am).
4) Balut (matured duck egg) and penoy (unfertilized duck egg)
Can't wait till next Sunday!
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Prices are great at this farmer's market. We picked up strawberries, blackberries, peaches, eggplant, and on choy (Chinese veggie). Saw a bunch of Asian ladies hawking over these little fruits which I later discovered to be jujubis - that's next on my list to try. The samples of Indian flatbread that we sampled were excellent. Kettle corn smelled wonderful, and I was tempted by the bread, even though I can never finish loaves of bread.
The best was the Toofu stand (which I'm told is usually a green van). They sold regular tofu, teriyaki tofu, which was really tasty, and two types of granola mixes, and "tofu mochi," which was a sweet bread had sort of the consistency of sticky rice cake. After sampling it all, we bought one of everything, as well as a green tea soy smoothie, which was just soymilk with a little honey and green tea powder - simple but very refreshing.
The people are all very pleasant and there are samples everywhere. Even though a lot of the vendors sell the same fruits and veggies, it's a great place to do some of your grocery shopping for the week. I'll miss this place when I go back down to Socal!
I see this every sunday since I live right down the block and I finally got up early enough to go check it out. The reviewers are right, this place was great. Good prices, friendly people and just a nice way to start off your Sunday morning. I walked there so I'm not sure about the parking situation and I also got there a little before 9 so it wasn't that bad. I found all kinds of goodies like spicy sausage links from a nice gentleman, apples from the sweetest lady (just like her apples) and pretty flowers from a kind man. I also bought some mango chutney that smells divine. I love this place and I can't wait to go back. There is a nice variety of stuff here. You'll surely walk out with something yummy and maybe new to try.
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i love that Newark is now on the map, the farmers market is so cute, i love it, plus its closer to home now :-)
There is a lot of competition so the prices are great! I'm impressed with the variety, even in winter. I was able to do most of my veg shopping for the week (no tomatoes or onions) and was sorry I had bought veggies elsewhere already. There is a good variety of jams, bread, and that sort of thing. There's also an Indian food stand, funnel cake, and several people selling plants/flowers.
I will definitely be back again!
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IMPORTANT UPDATE 6/4/08
Before I do my review, I need to do a quick rant. This used to be my Irvington Farmer's Market Review, well now it's Newark Farmer's Market.
One problem, the genius who moved all the reviews from Irvington to Newark FAILED to realize that the Irvington Farmer's Market IS STILL THERE EVERY SUNDAY SAME TIME AND HAVE SOME OF THE SAME VENDORS!
So to whoever decided to make the change, get your FACTS RIGHT FIRST before you go switching up reviews.
Now that I got that out of the way....
Fiance and I came to the Newark Farmer's Market to test things out. The Farmer's Market is located next the Sears/Red Robin side of New Park Mall every Sunday from 9AM - 1PM. The one thing I really really like about this place, PLENTY OF PARKING.
They have a pretty good selection of vendors here. I would guess about 20 - 30 booths, all nicely spaced out so you don't feel cramped. They have most fresh fruit here though I saw a coffee stand, fresh fish, and a couple of flower stands. Prices here are reasonable including Organics Produce.
I didn't see much in baked goods which is a disappointment, but that's fine.
Overall, will be stopping here and the IRVINGTON Farmer's Market because you can get really good produce at a cheap and affordable price. Solid 4 star rating.
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The Farmer's Market is awesome!!! My parents and I browsed through it, thinking that we weren't going to purchase anything. In the end, we bought over $30 worth of produce. Our refrigerator is full of fresh basil, pluots, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, grapes, and organic strawberries. MMMmmMM.. gotta love sampling all of the fruits!!!
Prices are excellent and people are friendly. With the new location at Newpark Mall, parking is plentiful and the aisles have a lot more room. Highly recommended place for fresh produce and even fish!
My favorite vendors at the moment:
- Rodin Farms for the nuts.. I love the sesame glazed walnuts
- Rodriguez Farms for the organic strawberries (There is another stand called Rodriguez Farms, but their strawberries aren't very good. They also don't give out free samples. This vendor is located in the second row, next to Twin Girls Farms.)
- Sweet Potato Pies
- Luijan Farms- they have the best white peaches, white nectarines, pluots, oranges, and fuji apples! delicious! We get fruits at this vendor every week! Each time we spend about $20 on fruits. :)
- J&J Farms- Right now, they have awesome red cherries for $2.50/lb.
Okay, so a little background on myself-
I have worked in restaurants for 8 years. That means, that I either work late nights, and don't want to wake up early, or I work lunch times, where I'm not free. But FINALLY! I got my first job out of college, and finally have weekends free.
I went for the first time to the Irvington Farmer's Market last Sunday, and I was really impressed! Lots of vendors, good crowd. I went an hour before it closed, and there were a lot of booths lowering their prices to get rid of their product.
I went with twenty dollars- with that, I found great smoked salmon dip, a toofu snack (coming out of this crazy green van), lots of fresh (and yummy!)enough fresh fruit to last me for a week, and some delicious fresh cinnamon bread.
I walked out of there feeling like Giada on the Food Network. Now if I only cooked as well as I shopped...
UPDATE: I went back again today. Same great fruit. I also bought a pumpkin cake with dried fish at a Singapore food stand for only 2 bucks. I also was talked into buying a Garlic Mint Cheese spread at an Indian stand. I felt kinda hustled, but when I went home and put it on toast, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
Your dollars will go far here, folks! I can't wait till next Sunday.
The farmers market is cool place to people watch but I to say what is the best are the apples from Prevedelli Sylvia ( the apple lady) has the best apples in the area. She grows 26 types some are real sweet and some are sour there is ones for everybody.. in the spring check out her black Berry's !
OK you might have see me there I sell sweet white corn ( not Brent wood) we are the other white corn. I am the guy who sit in back of pickup truck passing out the corn. I work for Duffy ( RHS Farms out of Winters ,Ca.) he sell early girls tomatoes and melons. I'll be back selling corn / tomatoes about the middle of June till November.. see you Yelpers at the Market on Sunday..
Brian ( the corn guy..)
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I was tempted to deduct one star for the lack of "atmosphere" (NewPark parking lot doesn't quite have the same feel as the little street in Irvington), but decided that I didn't mind all that much.
I come to the Farmer's Market here faithfully every Sunday, no matter what the season. I was very pleased to see that most of my favorite vendors made the move from Irvington - the "apple lady", the "tomato guy", although I haven't seen the "stone fruit girls" there - they must have stayed in Irvington.
Seriously, Prevadelli Farms has wonderful organic berries in the summer and great varieties of organic apples and pears in the fall and winter. My son was transitioned to table food on the pears from this vendor.
There is a farmer from Winters, CA who sells the BEST Early Girl tomatoes and different varieties of melons. I don't think he had Early Girls this year, as it wasn't hot enough, but any variety he has had has been great.
There is an astounding array of vendors selling vegetables that the Asians and Indians are clamoring for, but which I have never seen outside of the Farmer's Market - but there are also stands with your garden-variety (hee-hee) broccoli, carrots, chard,etc. that is all organic.
There are wonderful food vendors there as well - Afghan bolani and different dips and spreads, an Indian woman who sells naan, samosas and a few different curries and things, the Brazilian Cheese Bread Company is very good - my son loves those little things, and last but not least, the Sweet Potato Pie is AWESOME. The vendor/baker skips a week here and there it seems, but definitely worth a stop. My husband claimed not to like sweet potato pie.... and then ate most of it. Case closed.
Word of caution to early risers - this one doesn't really get hopping until around 9ish. I've shown up at 8 or so, and although it's technically open, there are some vendors who don't get there until after 8 or 8:30...
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This is down the street from my house and a tradition for me to go down there whenever I wake up early enough on Sunday mornings to do it.
The variety of stuff is great. Tons of produce to chow down on, whenever the item is in season.
When I used to eat meat, I loved to grab a hot dog there too! :)
A favorite of mine it the tent that sells the fresh Apple juice. SO GOOD!
Sometimes it gets kinda crowded, but most people are really polite there. If you go when everything is closing, you can get some killer deals.
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Great selection and I must say that this is the place that I bought the best tasting strawberries...EVER!!! Also, being Filipino, they have a great selection in vegetables that they won't carry at the typical neighborhood grocery stores...even the Asian owned ones.
Minus one star for hard parking.
AWESOME!!!
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On Sundays you can walk over to Bay Street Coffee Roasting Co., grab a cuppa joe, then walk on over to the Irvington Farmer's Market... it's chock full of fresh picked fruits, veggies of all kinds (including fava beans, "ff-f-f-f-for you, Clarice....")... and my favorite stuff: local honey products, fresh baked bread and pastries, and lots and lots of flowers. they also have fresh live crab and fish sometimes, and kettlecorn made right there, as well as some home made soaps and stuff like that.
It's really a cool little spot for locals to walk around and just pick up a few things for their week's meals, at half the price of what you pay in the stores. Oh, and they have organic, free-range chicken eggs for like $1.50 a dozen!! Great deal!!
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Nice little Farmer's Market which greatly livens up what can be a usual, boring Fremont weekend. LOTS of great fruit and veggies and reasonable prices, including Asian varieties that are typically only found at Ranch 99 and the like. You've got the booth selling the Indian chutney's, another selling Afghan bread spreads (including, randomly, some excellent sweet & spicy jalapeno jelly), and of course the kettle corn.
As others have noted, parking can be a little nuts so it's best to come early, get the shopping done, and reward yourself with the Sunday paper and a capuccino at Bay St. Cafe. By the time you're done, you still have most of your day left. Can't beat that.
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UPDATE: December 2007
There is a stall here (pretty consistently) selling Naan and various dips. They have one that's chicken and tastes like Tandoori Chicken and IT IS GREAT. Yum! It may be addictive, I keep thinking about it with my mouth watering.
UPDATE: October 2007
This venue has moved to the Newpark Mall parking lot... near Macy's and Sears.
The parking is now MUCH easier.
I think it has more vendors, it's at least seems larger.
They have had (for the last three or four weeks anyway) a bounce house and slide for kids (weather permitting).
I'm upping my rating to a four, since the parking and access is SO MUCH better.
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It's really more of 3-1/2...
When the fruit season winds down the selection looks kind of pitiful.
The kettle corn booth always makes me drool, but I've never actually bought any. I see lots of their bags walking around the market though, so people must like it.
There is a booth that sells middle-eastern bread. They have the flat-bread every so often and it is FABULOUS. Unfortunately, they don't always have it.
It's best to get there early and park over near the auto parts store. That way you get good parking, you get the best produce and your feet don't get sticky from all the crap people drop on the road.
They quite often have a musician playing on the corner. Quite often they're very good.
There's a balloon guy there who will make balloon "art" for "tips." My son loves those things.
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Just got back from the Farmer's Market. As much as I dog on Fremont, it might be the 2nd best thing about Fremont after Lake Elizabeth. Going here on a sunny weekend morning can put anyone in a Pollyanna mood. The community of the market is very suburban diverse and international - seems like every ethnicity is represented. Of course, it's best to get there early for the best picks and for good parking. While perusing the vendors, we were serenaded to sounds of a fellow in cowboy gear singing Lionel Richie standards ("You're once, twice, three times a lady . . "). The fresh tofu vendor at one end of the market has fabulous and fresh tofu that you can eat as is. There's a vendor that sells all types of organic apples (Prevedelli?), another that has the best oranges (sells the 10lb bag), and another for best vegetables. You can also experiment with new and strange produce that crops up in the market. For best deals & taste, go to where the hordes of aggressive little ol' Asian ladies are & you can't go wrong. After withstanding the passersby stuffing their face with kettle corn (i broke down at the site of a cherubic little Indian boy smothering his face with the stuff), I had all I could take and plunked me down some money for a bag of kettle corn.
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It's not the biggest of farmer's markets but it's a great way to start the week. The veggies are a bargain. I usually buy lemons, broccoli, bok choy, lettuce, garlic, etc. All are very fresh. Flowers incude tulips, daffodils, orchid plants, and roses, of course. Vienna bakery is represented there. There are Indian flat breads, honey, healthy sausage, lox & salmon jerky (as Rachel Ray puts it-- YUM-O!), and kettle popcorn. Like Cost-co, you can get a tummy-fill (i.e. "meal") with just the samples offered (only the Farmer's Market is much much healthier for you). My absolute favorite item there, the one stand that I keep coming back for, is the rubber ducky handmade soap. There are a variety of scents & ingredients to choose from. If the lady doesn't happen to be there on the Sunday you go, you can still check out her products & buy them online at www.rubberduckysoap.com. They're awesome. Most vendors at the Farmer's Market are kind. The live music is relaxing as well.
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i hate tomatoes. but my bf got some from this farmer's market, and i ate three or four of them. granted, they were tiny cherry tomatoes, but i ate them. and enjoyed them.
im a farmer's market poser. i talk a lot about them, but secretly, i've never really been to a REAL one. i mean, the one at crocker galleria on thursdays in the city calls itself a farmer's market, but it really isn't.
this one is.
cheap prices, fresh fruits and veggies, and kettle korn!
i even got peaches and liked them.
they have a good variety of things here, though it seems that many vendors are selling similar things. i wanted to buy lemons, but they didn't have them. most of what they have at this time of year include peaches, nectarines, strawberries, jalapenos and corn.
we loved that there was a beckmann's bread stand there. fresh bread from santa cruz. yum.
and the kettle korn is amazing. almost as good as hawaiian kettle korn.
we came away with a ton of fresh fruits and veggies, and i made a mean set of blueberry muffins with the fresh blueberries here. check out the apple butter and jelly stand. all of the stuff there tastes amazing. five stars for the proximity to my new apartment and the great variety here. SO fun.
This farmer's market has expanded quite a bit recently. The highlights are fresh organic tofu ($2 a block for regular--it's fantastic) made in their truck practically while you wait, kettle corn--perfect combo of salt and sugar and their tomatoes in the summer. Almost forgot the eggs--there are two stands now and one of them sells quail eggs. This market also has a large selection of ethnic produce (for Chinese food and Indian) and the prices are very good. Sometimes you can buy dungeness crab when it's in season. You really can't go wrong here. Minus one star bec I wish the fresh oysters were fresher (haven't seen this vendor in a while) and parking can be a pain. One last note, if you arrive after noon, you won't have the selection but some of the vendors are willing to give you a "deal." Don't overdo it though...I saw this guy who wanted to buy two huge bags of produce for $1. It was insulting for the vendor. They have to make a living too.
Sob sob...no more fresh, organic tofu. Toofu has relocated to the parking lot of Newpark Mall.
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