In spring 2026, someone in San Mateo could buy from a farmer three days a week without leaving the city: Tuesday afternoon on 25th Avenue, Thursday afternoon downtown and Saturday morning at College of San Mateo. As November starts, only Saturday is still on a calendar. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Galileo parking lot at 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd., every week of the year. Anyone who shopped the Tuesday or Thursday markets now has four hours a week to restock, and those hours fall on the busiest morning of the weekend.
| Market | Day and hours | Location | Status for November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Avenue Farmers' Market | Tuesdays, 3–7 p.m. | 194 W. 25th Ave. | Season ran May 5 to October 20, 2026 |
| Downtown San Mateo Farmers' Market | Thursdays, 3–7 p.m. in 2026 | Former Draeger's lot, 222 E. 4th Ave. | Not on the fall DSMA or WCFMA calendars |
| San Mateo Farmers' Market at CSM | Saturdays, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | Galileo lot, 1700 W. Hillsdale Blvd. | Year-round |
Two Weekday Markets, Two Different Endings
The 25th Avenue market ended the way it was designed to. The Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association runs it with Waypoint Church as a seasonal Tuesday market, and its 2026 run was printed from the start as May 5 through October 20. It should come back next spring like it has before.
The downtown market's story has had more turns. The West Coast Farmer's Market Association opened it on Sundays in June 2025, with an early event listed for June 29, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the former Draeger's Market. In 2026 it moved to weekday afternoons. The Downtown San Mateo Association's newsletters noted the move in spring, and the June 2026 issue repeated it:
"The Downtown San Mateo Farmers Market has moved to Thursdays, 3-7pm. It continues to be held in the Draeger's parking lot (222 E. 4th Ave.)"
The latest dated Thursday listing on the association's calendar is July 16, 2026. The association's series page for the market now shows no upcoming events, and the West Coast Farmer's Market Association's current markets page doesn't list a downtown San Mateo stop. The state's certified farmers' market list, dated October 1, 2026, still carries a "Downtown San Mateo CFM" entry for Sundays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., year-round. That entry describes the market's 2025 schedule. Neither operating calendar shows it this fall. If the downtown market matters to your week, confirm with the West Coast Farmer's Market Association before you walk over.
The Lot Under the Downtown Market Has Other Plans
Even when it was running, the downtown market sat on borrowed ground. The Draeger's building at 222 E. Fourth Ave. is slated for demolition and replacement. The San Mateo Daily Journal reported that Woodlands Market, an independent grocer based in Marin, will take the ground floor of a five-story project by Lane Partners and Prometheus Real Estate Group. The same report said the city made a grocery tenant for the retail space a condition of approval. It also described residents' worry about losing a downtown grocery, since Trag's Market had closed a few years before Draeger's.
The published numbers have moved over time. SFGate reported on December 5, 2025 a grocery of about 19,000 square feet, with groundbreaking expected in early summer 2026. A Prometheus press release dated March 26, 2026 called the project B Street South and listed 18,500 square feet for Woodlands Market, 140,000 square feet of office space and 10 residential units. Neither source has announced an opening date for the grocery. For now, a downtown parking lot can't be counted on as a place to buy produce in the cold months, so the weekly habit lands at CSM.
Saturday at the Galileo Lot Carries the Season
The CSM market has been at the college for a long time. An earlier Daily Journal profile noted that it used to operate at Fashion Island before it moved, and that it once ran Wednesdays as well as Saturdays. Today it runs on Saturday only, and this time of year that day does the work three days used to share.
The vendor roster on PCFMA's market page is heavy on growers with late-fall crops. Each farm's PCFMA profile lists what it's highlighting this season:
- Andreotti Farms: a fourth-generation, 60-acre family farm that grows winter vegetables. Its current highlights include apples, artichokes, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and carrots.
- Blue House Farm: a certified-organic, 60-acre farm in Pescadero that grows year-round. It lists artichokes, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower and celery.
- Iacopi Farms: known for artichokes, fava beans, peas and beans. Its current list adds kale and leeks.
- Allard Farms: grows almonds, stone fruit and citrus. It's highlighting apples, Asian pears, pears, persimmons and pomegranates.
- Far West Fungi: specialty mushrooms, including shiitake, oyster, lion's mane and king trumpet.
- As Kneaded Bakery: sourdough loaves, French baguettes and challah.
- ACE DUMPLING: on the roster as a prepared-food seller.
Those lists match the region's calendar. The San Francisco Environment seasonal guide puts apples, pears, persimmons and pomegranates in November, along with greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, fennel and winter squash. By December the list shifts toward citrus, root vegetables and winter squash. Stalls rotate with the harvest, so any given Saturday's table can differ from a farm's seasonal list.
Three Saturdays to Check Before You Go
With one market day a week, a single closure takes out the whole week. PCFMA's 2026 rules let the association close markets on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Day, as well as the day before or after a holiday, with advance notice when possible. The calendar this year puts two of those holidays on Fridays.
| Saturday | Nearest holiday | Day after a holiday? |
|---|---|---|
| November 28, 2026 | Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26 | No, two days after |
| December 26, 2026 | Christmas, Friday, December 25 | Yes |
| January 2, 2027 | New Year's Day, Friday, January 1 | Yes |
PCFMA's published schedule lists the CSM market as year-round on Saturdays and hasn't posted a holiday exception for 2026. December 26 and January 2 are the two dates the closure rule covers directly. Check the market page the week of each, and stock up the Saturday before so you're covered if one closes.
Paying, Parking and Leaving the Dog Home
PCFMA's Market Match page explains that CalFresh/EBT shoppers exchange benefits for scrip at the information booth and can ask for Market Match. It matches purchases of eligible fresh fruits and vegetables up to $15 per market visit. PCFMA markets also take WIC-FMNP coupons. With only one market day a week, that is the one weekly visit where the match applies.
Parking is simpler here than it was downtown. PCFMA notes ample parking in the lots next to the Galileo lot and points transit riders to SamTrans. Dogs stay home. The 2026 rules bar animals other than service animals inside the market and within 20 feet of its edges. If your Tuesday routine was a walk with the dog along 25th Avenue, the Saturday version needs a different plan.
On one Saturday in November, downtown gives you a reason to keep going after the market. The HEAD WEST Marketplace takes over B Street between 1st and 3rd avenues on November 21 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with local makers, merchants, artists and food businesses. CSM closes at 1 p.m., two hours after HEAD WEST opens, so you can shop for produce first and still get to B Street for most of the afternoon.
A neighborhood's weekly routines, like knowing which lot is open on which day and what's planned for it, are part of what we follow at The Canlas Brothers. If you're thinking about how downtown San Mateo's next few years affect your own plans, Schedule your free Home Strategy Consultation.
