On Sunday, September 27, Takahashi Market closed its doors so the block could celebrate it. Deputy Consul General Takeshi Ishihara of the Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco presented the Consul General's Commendation to owner Gene Takahashi. The consulate said the award recognized 120 years of contributing to the Japan-California relationship. San Mateo Mayor Adam Loraine also spoke and presented a commendation, and community leader Stephen Okamoto gave remarks. A photo in the San Mateo Daily Journal shows Gene's son, Bobby Takahashi, greeting people as they arrived.
Before the party, the Downtown San Mateo Association's event listing warned that the market itself would be shut for the afternoon. At 221 South Claremont Street, that schedule is the main thing to know heading into Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, because the market runs a small kitchen on short hours and has done so for a long time.
From a Delivery Wagon to Third and Claremont
The market's own history says Tokutaro Takahashi came to San Mateo from Wakayama in 1906 and opened a general store. A Daily Journal account traces the business from a horse-and-buggy delivery operation to a rented storefront at First Avenue and Claremont. It then moved to a site closer to Third Avenue and settled at 221 S. Claremont in 1969.
The family was incarcerated during World War II, according to the market's history. The Daily Journal reported that the store was shut for three years during that period. Kenge Takahashi served in the 442nd and came home to help reopen it. Gene, the founder's grandson, is now the third-generation owner. In an earlier Daily Journal profile, he said, "It's gratifying being part of the community." He also said his family would feel they were turning their back on the community if they quit.
The grocery side still covers a lot of ground. The market's homepage lists Japanese and Hawaiian foods along with Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Thai ingredients, cooking accessories, cookbooks and free recipes for Asian and Pacific Island dishes. The family made its biggest change to the business in 2006, the centennial year.
The Kitchen That Sets the Pace
During the 2006 remodel, the family added a kitchen and expanded the Japanese and Hawaiian takeout food. The current menu, dated March 14, 2026, credits that food to Sachi's Kitchen inside Takahashi Market. It describes plate lunches, musubi and poke made fresh each day.
The musubi and poke are made before the doors open and sold first-come, first-served during store hours. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. That adds up to 20 public hours a week, plus a senior hour for shoppers 65 and older on Fridays from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The store is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
The menu is open about the limits. It says the kitchen and staff are small, so the market can only take a limited number of orders, and weekend orders fill up fast. Musubi trays can't be ordered for the same day. Here is what that kitchen produces, at the March 2026 menu prices, which the menu notes are subject to change:
| Item | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Spam musubi | 7-inch log | $6.95 |
| Portuguese sausage musubi | 7-inch log | $7.95 |
| Mochiko chicken or flank kalbi musubi | 7-inch log | $9.95 |
| Unagi musubi | 7-inch log | $12.95 |
| Spam musubi tray | 4 logs, 24 pieces | $27.80 |
| Spam musubi tray, packed full | 8 logs, 48 pieces | $55.60 |
| Ahi or salmon poke | 4 oz. | $8.00 |
| Tako or hamachi poke | 4 oz. | $11.00 |
| Lomi salmon | per pound | $14.00 |
A mixed tray costs the sum of the logs on it. The menu's own example combines Spam, salmon, kalbi and Portuguese sausage musubi for $34.80. Poke comes in 4-, 8- and 16-ounce sizes. To reserve poke, you call at least a day ahead and prepay, the same as for trays.
Where the Holidays Fall on a Wednesday-to-Sunday Week
The homepage lists Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day among the market's closures. The menu adds that the store is closed on federal holidays. This season, Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2026 and New Year's Day in 2027 all land on days the market would normally be open, and two of them fall on Fridays, which take a bite out of the run-up to a weekend.
| Holiday | Date | Closed that day | Nearest open days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | Thursday, Nov. 26 | Yes | Wed., Nov. 25 and Fri., Nov. 27 |
| Christmas | Friday, Dec. 25 | Yes | Thu., Dec. 24 and Sat., Dec. 26 |
| New Year's Day | Friday, Jan. 1 | Yes | Thu., Dec. 31 and Sat., Jan. 2 |
Each of those weeks opens on a Wednesday because of the Monday and Tuesday closures. Holiday weeks leave three open days before the holiday at most, and the Thanksgiving week leaves one. A tray needs at least a day's notice, so the latest pickup before each holiday is the day before it: Wednesday, November 25, Thursday, December 24, and Thursday, December 31. Each of those pickups needs a tray call at least a day earlier. The weekend after Christmas and the weekend after New Year's both start on Saturday, which already fills fast in a normal week.
The two Fridays have one more wrinkle. The market's Friday senior hour, 9 to 10:30 a.m., falls on December 25 and January 1, when the store is closed.
Ordering Around the Clock
A holiday tray order follows these steps:
- Choose the pickup day first. Count back from the table above. A tray needs at least one day's notice and can't be ordered the same day.
- Call and prepay. Trays and poke reservations are taken by phone at 650-343-0394, and both are paid for in advance.
- Call early for a weekend pickup. The menu asks for as much notice as possible for weekend orders because the kitchen can only take a limited number.
- Size the tray to the table. A standard tray holds four logs cut into 24 pieces. A single tray can hold up to eight logs, or 48 pieces, if table space is tight.
- Confirm any other date on the phone. The homepage lists specific holidays and the menu covers federal holidays in general, so a quick call settles any day not shown in the table above.
Walk-in shoppers have their own rhythm. Plate lunches are made for walk-in purchase, and the musubi case is stocked before 11 a.m. Since everything is first-come, first-served, the case has the most choice at opening.
The Rest of South Claremont Keeps a Calendar Too
Takahashi Market is one of several longtime community institutions within a few blocks. The San Mateo Japanese-American Community Center is up the street at 415 South Claremont. Its regular hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment. Its news page lists a Holiday Luncheon on Wednesday, December 9. The center's calendar shows a two-week holiday closure from December 21, 2026, through January 4, 2027. It reopens January 5.
A block over, Sturge Presbyterian Church at 25 South Humboldt Street holds Japanese-language worship at 9 a.m. on Sundays and English worship at 10:45 a.m. It has a Christmas Eve service on Thursday, December 24, from 5 to 6 p.m. The San Mateo Buddhist Temple's latest announcements list Family Dharma Services at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 22, and Sunday, November 29. Both can be attended in person or by Zoom.
On Christmas Eve, the market and Sturge are both open on the same Thursday. Takahashi Market's last pre-Christmas tray pickup falls that afternoon, before its 4 p.m. close, and Sturge's 5 p.m. service starts an hour later, a block away.
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