Bay Area night markets: A foodie’s delight with arts vendors, music and more

Remember yesterday’s food truck festivals?

Street cuisine chefs could just roll into a parking lot, set up their mobile kitchens, and the diners would show up. It was new, it was novel. Everybody wanted in. Restaurants bought food trucks to appeal to this new customer.

Those fests have now morphed into something much more — the night market.

“People are finding, especially after the pandemic, that there is something special in coming out to eat, to shop and to be part of a community,” said San Jose entrepreneur Ryan Sebastian of Moveable Feast, who has successfully bridged the two culinary revolutions. “Food alone is not enough to really engage the community.”

The trend is gaining in popularity this summer in the Bay Area, with weekly events supplementing a few humongous regional markets. And by humongous, we mean 100 food vendors or more.

Here are highlights of four night markets of varying sizes to check out, along with a list of some others — Fremont Street Eats, Pablo’s Alley in Oakland — worth your foodie dollars.

FOODIELAND NIGHT MARKET, Albany, San Mateo, San Jose

It’s not often you see adults and children alike sipping passionfruit mango lemonade as it sloshes inside teddy bear containers bulky enough to make one’s hand tired. But this is FoodieLand Night Market, where the only rules that apply are that you become one with the over-the-top sweet indulgences around you.

FoodieLand began four years ago at Albany’s Golden Gate Fields, built on the idea of re-creating Asia’s signature outdoor food markets. Today, the company hosts more than 110 food booths and 75 vendors at events from Sacramento to San Diego. And the markets’ popularity continues to rise. Alex Monterroso, who owns the Hawaiian Honey Cones stall, was pleased with the turnout at a recent market held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose. “It was one of the highest attended events so far,” he said.

Julie Paxman, a first-time attendee at the San Jose market, had been adamant that she wasn’t going to try  the traditional deep-fried foods found at so many fairs. What she found instead was Monterroso’s stall and its unusual, J-shaped, vanilla-stuffed treats.

“It’s rich and creamy and delicious,” Paxman said. “The core reminds me of a lightly flavored kids’ cereal.”

LemonTea Squeeze was doing brisk business, too, with its lineup of lemonades and tea refreshers in translucent, oversized jars shaped like cows, pigs, bears and “chonky” cats. Friends and family clutched the plastic animals as they took photos by a sunset backdrop near the entrance.

Best bites: Ghostix had some of the longest lines at FoodieLand with fans queuing up for its signature Korean-style corndogs covered in rainbow sprinkles, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos dust and mozzarella. (Yes, really.) The diced potato “Goblin” corndog ($15) is decadent in all the right ways — and ideal for those wishing to pile on the calories. Finish off with a Churro Sundae ($15), topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and caramel or Nutella, from the Churromadness booth.

Good to know: FoodieLand requires advance purchase of its timed tickets ($7). No tickets are sold at the gate.

Details: Open from 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 1 to 10 p.m. weekends at these locations: June 30-July 2 at the San Mateo County Event Center, 1346 Saratoga Drive;  Aug. 4-6, Aug. 11-13 and Oct. 6-8 in Albany at Golden Gate Fields, 1100 Eastshore Highway; and in San Jose from Sept. 8-10 at the fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road. No pets allowed. Purchase tickets at https://foodielandnm.com.

GORDON BIERSCH NIGHT MARKET, San Jose

Now in its seventh year, the spring-to-fall Gordon Biersch market (formerly the Taylor Street Night Market) stands out as a true community gathering, with an estimated 30% to 40% of the hundreds of attendees living close enough to walk or bike to the Japantown market in the brewery parking lot.

There, on Thursday evenings, they find a rotating selection of eight to 10 food trucks curated by Moveable Feast — maybe Chick N’ Bros, LUV’s Brownies, Old Greenwood BBQ, Cielito Lindo — plus about 25 vendors from SJMade, live entertainment and craft beer. The San Jose Jazz BoomBox provides music most weeks; once a month, it’s live wrestling.

On this particular night, Silicon Valley AI entrepreneurs Iba Masood and her husband, Syed Ahmed, spent time both shopping and eating. After buying a colorful handcrafted resin tray and coasters from artisan Doug Musto, who said he loves the atmosphere at this event, they split up and got into two of their favorite food lines. “It’s awesome that Gordon Biersch is able to give this space out to businesses,” she said.

Across the way, nearby residents Annie Capper and Taylor Smith — sorority sisters from Oregon State who work in the South Bay now — were also shopping (a hat and a bracelet) and dining (sushi and a teriyaki box from Akita).

“It’s our first time. I love it. I didn’t know it was hopping like this!” Capper said.

A number of groups have embraced the opportunity to converge here weekly. Take the local bike community, Sebastian said. “They go on rides together and then come to the night market” — where bike parking is provided — “and eat together.”

Good to know: Seeing as how this event is held at a brewery, the taps will never run dry.

Best bites: The tandoori-spiced Chicken Over Rice, with a nice little side salad ($15) from the Golden Gate Gyro truck of Concord and the saucy Garlic Shrimp with macaroni salad and rice ($19, cooked with shells on) from the local Poke Braddahs.

Details: 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays. Free admission, dog-friendly. 357 E. Taylor St., San Jose; www.sanjosemade.com/pages/night-market-2023.

626 NIGHT MARKET, Pleasanton and Milpitas

Credit this event for launching the night market phenomenon in Southern California. Founder Jonny Hwang and his 626 market (named after the San Gabriel Valley area code) started as a block-long Asian food party in Pasadena in 2012, and has been expanding to other cities ever since — while broadening the focus to other cuisines. It’s now considered the largest night market in North America.

This summer in the Bay Area, 626 will host a major market July 28-30 at the Alameda County fairgrounds in Pleasanton and several mini markets in July and August outside the Great Mall in Milpitas.

Consider the mini markets the appetizer, with 12 to 15 booths (including a full bar) to whet your appetite. At a major 626 market, “there are probably 10 times more food stands,” said Kailyn Ramos, a San Jose State University engineering student, surveying the scene on a Milpitas evening. Her friend, Alexis Peck, a Cal State East Bay communications major, added: “I feel like if you’re a foodie you’ll enjoy it.”

They were noshing on a Cheese Shell Taco with Lobster ($27) and Bulgogi Fries ($23, the dish they preferred), both from the Miniyaki booth. which also serves Wagyu Steak Yakitori.

Good to know: The food’s pricey, so your group should scope out the booths before committing to a few dishes. Also, seating is extremely limited at this small market. Attendees recommend bringing your own lawn chairs.

Best bites: Mestizo Paella, which promises “Spanish flavors, Filipino portions,” serves a filling portion of classic paella — with a dollop of aioli — for $30, along with other versions.

Details: Mini markets run from 1 to 10 p.m. on July 1-2, July 15-16, Aug. 5-6, Aug. 19-20 at 447 Great Mall Drive, Milpitas. Admission and parking are free for these mini events, but attendees must pre-register at www.626nightmarket.com. For the three-day July 28-30 event, hours are 3 to 11 p.m. Friday and 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Single-day admission is $5, three-day admission is $9 (buy online) and parking costs $15 at the fairgrounds, 2005 Valley Ave., Pleasanton.

BERRYESSA NIGHT MARKET, San Jose

If you thought Friday nights were hopping at Santana Row, head to San Jose’s venerable Flea Market, where the Garden at the Flea event space draws 1,000 to 2,000 festival-goers for themed Friday night markets from spring to fall.

And it’s a terrific array of themes. July 7 will be Salsa y Cerveza night, with salsa music from Orquesta Salson and free dance lessons from the Get Down Dance Studio. On the second and fourth Fridays of the month, the space becomes a Vintage Market from Pop-Up SJ, with vendors and makers selling collectibles, thrift apparel, artwork and more. Are you into spicy food? Street cuisine chefs at a dozen trucks will show off their best tongue-burning recipes on July 21.

Every market features some of the regular Berryessa vendors, and there are lots of tables for diners on the grounds.

A recent market celebrated Philippine Independence Day with live performances and local Filipino-owned small businesses, and the food truck options included Los Kuyas, a Filipino-Mexican eatery from San Francisco. “The whole experience was great,” said Dineah Mejia, a local 17-year-old attending the Filipino festival for the second time with her mother and her brother, Nathan. “I greatly appreciated all the Filipino vendors — it reminds me of how amazing my culture is.”

Good to know: Plan to arrive early. Then back up that time, and plan to arrive even earlier. The food truck lines can grow to 30 to 50 customers long. Ditto for the quest for beer.

Best bites: OK, so we failed to take our own advice about getting here early. Thankfully, we were able to find dessert while the hordes were still lined up for dinner. A cute little truck from San Mateo called Jolly’s Old-Fashioned Teas Cream — “where the ice cream parlor meets the tea house” — offers ultra-thick, rich scoops of flavors including Earl Grey, Orange Cardamom Chai, Redbush (Rooibos) Vanilla and the bestsellers, a lovely Rose Pistachio packed with nuts and the intriguing Chocolate Smoke, infused with Lapsang Souchong, a smoked black tea from China. (Scoops cost $3, $6 or $8.50; flights of four or eight mini scoops are $9 or $15.)

Details: 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays from April to October. Free admission. BART-friendly location. Parking, $5. No pets. 1590 Berryessa Road, San Jose; https://gardenattheflea.com/berryessanightmarket.

MORE MARKETS TO CHECK OUT:

Fremont Street Eats, Fremont: Weekly food truck event every Friday, 5 to 9 p.m., from the Fremont Chamber of Commerce and the Food Truck Mafia.  3500 Capitol Ave.

Pablo’s Alley, Oakland: Every third Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, from the Uptown Downtown Community Benefit Districts. Next dates: July 19, Aug. 16, Sept. 20, Oct. 18.

Pobladores Night Market, San Jose: New weekly Thursday event, 5:30 to 9 p.m., from the San Jose Downtown Association and Filco Events, at Parque de los Pobladores, the intersection of South First, William and Market streets.