662705 Tue Oct 27 11:30:52 -0700 2009 7 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 5134911 I'm currently looking for advice and reviews of specific farmers markets in the South Bay. I've been to a few farmers markets in the area, but I'm trying to look for something bigger. I've been to both Milpitas markets (at the Great Mall and at ICC), downtown Santa Clara farmers market and the San Jose Alum Rock market. Though I liked the SJ Alum Rock market, I was wondering if anyone had better advice as to where I could find a bigger market (with preferably fish and cheese as well as fresh produce). Usually, I don't get time off of work on the weekdays, so they would have to be weekend farmer markets. Any suggestions!? Comments are much appreciated! Tue Oct 27 11:30:52 -0700 2009 1113332 conpoopee 1 5134965 It has been a while since I've been down that way but I always thought the Sunday Los Gatos market was one of the best. To get a list of Santa Clara County farmers markets by day of the week select search by county. http://www.cafarmersmarkets.com/index.cfm Tue Oct 27 11:42:48 -0700 2009 5134911 10264 rworange 2 5140577 Sunday Los Gatos market is really nice. A couple of weekends ago, and I assume still, had pumpkin pie available that made me want to cry it was so good. don't pass up the ladies cooking Mexican food either. Bigger/more variety to be found at the Saratoga market on Saturdays. Lots of produce, plus meat and cheese. Go early, have killer pork tamales for breakfast. Thu Oct 29 11:05:32 -0700 2009 5134965 18147 Geoff 1 5135197 There are a LOT of farmers markets in the south bay. Here's some info about the ones I've been to. I know the Mountain View market the best since I'm there most every Sunday. There are plenty of vendors, pretty good variety, a fair amount of organic stuff, along with the cheese and fish you're asking about. Forget about hot, prepared food, though. By agreement with Castro St. restaurants, they don't have any. High Ground Organics is a terrific source of veggies. TLC and Pampero sell grass fed beef. TLC has pork and lamb, too, along with good free range eggs. The real free range kind, not the ones that are marketed as such, but really live in confined quarters. There's another place that sells free range eggs where you hand pick the ones you want. That's where I get mine. There are a couple of cheese vendors. Bravo Farms has raw milk cheeses, though they tend to be focused on cheddars. If you're looking for goat's milk cheeses and other cheeses, this market's not that great. Really good places to get cheese in the south bay are not easy to come by, period, at least in my experience. There are a few vendors of Asian veggies. Lots of stuff, all in all. There's some degree of similarity between the markets run by Urban Village in that they tend to have the same vendors. Sunnyvale on Saturday, Campbell on Sunday, Cal Ave in Palo Alto and Los Altos on Thursday evenings in summer are the ones I know from them. Cupertino has the advantage of having Prather Ranch on hand selling meat. That alone makes them worthwhile. I think Sunnyvale's the biggest of the bunch. There is hot Indian and Mexican food, fresh sauerkraut, a bunch of other prepared food vendors that you won't find as much of in Mountain View. The vibe is a little more appealing to me at these markets than Mountain View, but excluding prepared foods, there are fewer vendors and less to pick from. I buy most of the food for my family at the Mountain View market. That would be harder to do at the others. Tue Oct 27 12:58:56 -0700 2009 5134911 109657 maigre 1 5135561 Mountain View is our go-to spot as well...it's big and has lots of vendors and is what i'd call "all-business" compared to some of the others. We find it a bit cheaper than some of the other places we've gone as well. As somebody else said, if you want to loiter and hang out and try lots of prepared foods and mingle with the neighbors, it's not really the best spot for that. More neighborly spots are farmer markets in Palo Alto (on California Avenue) and the spot in downtown Los Gatos is great as well. Tue Oct 27 15:19:09 -0700 2009 5134911 1104765 vis 1 5136034 Campbell has cheese, fish, meat, hot foods, as well as lots of fruits and vegetables. Tue Oct 27 18:24:20 -0700 2009 5134911 78213 emi50 1 5136278 i would say mt view is the best. a variety of vendors and farmers. great location (near castro and accessible via light rail and cal train). prices are reasonable. only lacks street food vendors and non food sellers, if you are into those sort of things. sunnyvale market is very similar. near caltrain and light rail and contains many of the same vendors. just in a smaller space and overall fewer vendors. if you are further south, saratoga has a nice market. i go there to buy my eggs and chickens from paul hain's farm. not big, but good enough selection of veggies and fruits. Tue Oct 27 20:07:39 -0700 2009 5134911 1095041 majordanby 1 5139459 Thanks for all the replies. I'll definitely try the Mtn View farmers market this weekend. I don't usually look for hot prepared foods when I go to farmers markets, so it sounds like Mtn View will serve my needs easily! Thu Oct 29 00:14:10 -0700 2009 5134911 1113332 conpoopee