46790 Sat Jun 17 13:03:43 -0700 2006 9 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 232658 Are there any type of Farmer Markets in SF like The Grove in LA that have a large area where you can get lunch from merchents? Or are there any large food halls that have lots of healthy food options? Sat Jun 17 13:03:43 -0700 2006 0 Foodlover 1 232666 Ferry Plaza. Many, many, many posts here. Sat Jun 17 13:22:55 -0700 2006 232658 0 Robert Lauriston 2 232669 Thanks for the suggestion. It seems to be more like a Chelsea Market in NYC than the Gorve. I was actually think of a place more like The Grove where they have tons of lunch places that are very reasonable and not so "high class." A place where they have everything from middle eastern food, to chinese to some mexican to many other types of food. thanks! Sat Jun 17 13:40:15 -0700 2006 232666 0 foodlover 3 232678 The Emeryville Public Market has a large range of inexpensive lunch places. I'm not sure how healthy they are... Sat Jun 17 14:47:00 -0700 2006 232669 0 bugfat 4 232686 I agree with the Emeryville suggestion...but it's called the Emery Bay Public Market. I can't vouch for all the stalls, as I haven't sampled all their food, but the Afghan place is very good. The Indian place is quite good as well. Sorobol Korean bbq place is really good if the meat hasn't been sitting around on the steam table for a long time. There are also stalls selling Greek gyros, Mexican food, burgers, and several other Asian (Vietnamese maybe?). I think there's also a Jamaican place with Jerk bbg stuff. Easy to park and right off I80 at Powell Street. Sat Jun 17 15:49:17 -0700 2006 232678 0 oakjoan 5 232688 No, from the looks of the website, it doesn't seem more than the average shopping mall with mid-scale, not-quite chain restuarants ... I may be wrong if they are not listing all businesses. The Emery Bay Public market has the food court, but a more similar situation would be a few blocks down at the Bay Street complex which even has a theatre with the restuarants clustered around it. They had a farmers market at one time. Don't know if that still happens. Never was there. http://www.baystreetemeryville.com/ Even more on the nose would be Santana Row in San Jose http://www.santanarow.com/ Huh, haven't been there in a while. Will have to check out Lisa's tea treasures Cocola bakery and a few other places. Santana Row also has a farmers market on the weekend, forget if it is Saturday or Sunday. Probably outdoing it will be the Westfield Mall on Market Street that houses Nordstrom. They have a market and a number of new restaurants going in. http://westfield.com/sanfrancisco/ I guess any large shopping center / complex would give you the same thing in this area. Downtown Walnut Creek has an area like that ... Major stores, smaller mid-scale restaurants in a compact area. They even call it the mall, but I would argue it is just the typical down town. However, I would think that Ferry Plaza/Embarcadero should fill the need. There are all the shops at the Embacadero center with some restaurants thrown in ... even a theatre and the Ferry Plaza Farmers market just across the street ... and it has a view of the bay ... and REAL cable cars running next to it. Link: http://www.thegrovela.com/welcome_to_the_grove.php?sec=0&page=shopping_alphalist.php Sat Jun 17 16:31:16 -0700 2006 232686 0 rworange 3 232684 Are you thinking of something more like Rincon Center maybe? It's just south of the Ferry Plaza. I've never been to The Grove so I'm not real sure - from the website it looks like a higher class mall food court? Sat Jun 17 15:41:29 -0700 2006 232669 0 KathySK 1 232685 The Farmer's market on 3rd and Fairfax has two very different lunching areas. The Grove area has restaurants among the fancy shops and the older Farmers' Market area has the Gumbo Pot, Lotteria, Pie place, etc. I wouldn't rule out the suggestion of the Ferry Building Farmers Market on Saturday. They have stands that prepare all sorts of great chow for not too much $$. There are restaurants inside as well, but they may not meet your criteria. The Emeryville food court has stands that are similar to the LA Farmer's market price and quality. Link: http://bunrab.com/yummychow/yummytitle.html Sat Jun 17 15:47:55 -0700 2006 232658 0 Edie 2 232751 Do you mean the 3rd and Fairfax Farmer's Market is like Emery Bay Public Market? It certainly must have changed a lot since I was last there...of course that was 15 years ago so it could have turned into an all-macrobiotic or even a breatharian food center. Sun Jun 18 02:31:21 -0700 2006 232685 0 oakjoan 3 232759 It's similar in that there are many permanent food stands with a variety of inexpensive chow. Sun Jun 18 03:37:52 -0700 2006 232751 0 Edie