Heart of the City Farmers' Market

Heart of the City Farmers' Market is an independent, farmer-operated nonprofit that runs year-round in San Francisco's Civic Center, with roots going back to 1981. The market relocated in 2024 from United Nations Plaza to Fulton Plaza between the Downtown Library and the Asian Art Museum, while keeping its mission centered on supporting small farmers and making fresh food available in the city. That long-running nonprofit structure gives the market a distinct shape: a produce-heavy lineup backed by prepared food, seafood, baked goods, and payment access designed to widen who can shop here.

What you'll find there

The mix here leans heavily toward farm produce, with a notably broad range of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, flowers, seafood, breads, and hot food across both market days. Several growers specialize in crops less common on standard farmers market tables, including bittermelon, taro, saluyot, jujube, purslane, and shiso.

• -Avila Farms brings artichokes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and other vegetables.
• -B & L Produce focuses on vegetables and herbs including bittermelon, bok choy, daikon, ginger, lemongrass, okra, sugarcane, taro, and sunchokes.
• -Coi Farm adds amaranth, chayote, jujube, melons, peanuts, saluyot, sweet potato, and taro to its produce lineup.
• -Far West Fungi sells cultivated mushrooms including shiitake, oyster, maitake, lion's mane, and reishi.
• -Castellanos Farms offers fruit across the seasons, including apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, persimmons, plums, grapes, oranges, and guava.
• -Hidden Star Orchards pairs apples with cider, juice, and hard cider.
• -Yerena Farms brings certified organic berries and produce including blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, and tomatillos.
• -City Fish Company sells wild-caught seafood, with black cod and sablefish year-round, salmon and halibut in spring and summer, and live Dungeness crab in fall and winter.
• -Rize Up Bakery stocks sourdough bread, baguettes, and pastries.
• -Winters Fruit Tree combines nuts, nut butters, fruit jams, citrus, stone fruit, and eggs.
• -Estrellita's Snacks cooks Salvadoran pupusas and tamales and pours aguas frescas on Wednesdays.
• -Pak Food serves Pakistani dishes including chicken tikka masala, samosas, and lamb curry.
• -Tonantzin Mexican Cusine prepares Mexican and Oaxacan dishes including tamales, tacos, and chilaquiles.
• -Medrano's Flowers sells fresh flowers, herbs, and herb starts. The strongest thread here is continuity: this is San Francisco's only independent, farmer-operated nonprofit farmers market, and it has been running since 1981 while continuing into its 2024 move to Fulton Plaza between the Downtown Library and the Asian Art Museum. That long arc shows up not as a single signature product but in the market's structure—a year-round schedule, growers selling on both Sundays and Wednesdays, and an information tent set near Larkin and Fulton where shoppers can access payment programs. The setting has changed from United Nations Plaza to Fulton Plaza, but the market still reads as an established Civic Center institution built around farm sales and food access rather than a once-a-week pop-up.

Know before you go

No dogs are allowed, which is the detail most likely to change how you plan your visit. Free 90-minute parking is available in the Civic Center Garage underneath Civic Center Plaza across from City Hall, and validation can be picked up on the corner of Larkin and Fulton next to the Main Library or at the market information tent. Metered street parking is available on McAllister Street and Grove Street, and additional garage options include Trinity Place Garage and the UC Hastings Garage. Fulton Plaza parking on market days is reserved for farmers market staff and vendors only, and vehicles cannot block access to Fulton Plaza.

Payments & SNAP

The market accepts EBT, credit cards, and WIC, with payment assistance handled at the information tent near the intersection of Larkin and Fulton Streets. SNAP/EBT is accepted here year-round, making the market's produce, pantry items, and eligible foods more accessible across both weekly market days.