Castro Hosts One of the City's Best Neighborhood Markets

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The year-old market has notably enthusiastic shoppers, say the organizers.

​Clones, leathermen, bears: The Castro's long been known as a neighborhood of self-expression, not culinary revelation. Last year, that began to change. How to navigate the ultimate gayborhood's new edible landscape? As S.F. Pride Week kicks off, we're cruising the Castro's newest food hot spots and oldest favorites.

In the past two years, San Francisco farmers' markets have sprouted as thick as fennel in a chain-link lot. The year-old Castro market, which runs from April through October, is one of the best of the city's new crop.

John Birdsall

​Last Wednesday there were 26 vendors ― just about the peak-season max ― on the block-long stretch of Noe. They included more than a few prime Bay Area vendors: Frog Hollow, Prather Ranch, Far West Funghi, Happy Boy, and a brand-new vendor, Pescadero's Fifth Crow Farm, which sells eggs and grains.

Enormous strollers clogged Noe at last Wednesday's market. Guys still moist from the gym picked over shiny mounds of cherries, while the mass of he-on-he and she-on-she couples, moms, and toddlers blended into the sidewalk scene in front of Café Flore.

Elizabeth Howe, regional market manager for Pacific Coast Farmers' Markets, says Castro shoppers are among the city's most enthusiastic.

"We've heard about Castro potluck nights, where neighbors get together and cook things they picked up from the market," Howe says."People are just super-excited about trying new things."

​Chef demos roll out on the third Wednesday of the month, and there are monthly kids' days with crafts, balloons. Howe describes the parents as a mashup of gay and straight. "It's a total mix," Howe says. "It wasn't something I expected to see."

Castro Farmers' Market Noe at Market, Weds. 4-8 p.m.