Opened on July 13, 1898, the San Francisco Ferry Building is one of the city’s most recognizable junctions. Like City Hall, the Palace of Fine Arts and the War Memorial Opera House, the Ferry Building is a grand, Beaux-Arts style landmark that should be appreciated for the architectural marvel that it remains. And it has the best clock tower in town.
These days, however, the Ferry Building isn’t best known as the 19th century place to take a boat ride across the San Francisco Bay, although you can certainly still do that here in the 21st century. The Ferry Building is now most renowned as a place to find high-quality food and beverage businesses as well as the host to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market by Foodwise on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Several Off The Grid Creators are merchants in the Ferry Building or appear at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Below, you’ll learn about some of these wonderful Creators, and you’re encouraged to ask Off The Grid Catering how you can design a memorable corporate or personal event with the historic Ferry Building’s culinary and artisanal flair in mind.
Cholita Linda
In 2020, 12 years after Vanessa Chavez and Murat Sozeri first began business at the Jack London Square Farmers Market in Oakland, their Cholita Linda — named after Chavez’s Peruvian-born aunt, who was called Cholita — opened in the Ferry Building.
The menu, which is focused on tacos, sandwiches, salads and plates, explores flavors across Latin American countries, making them an ideal Creator to tap to set a festive mood at your event.
Get in touch with us to book Cholita Linda for your next event.
Señor Sisig
Sisig, a calamansi citrus-marinated and stir-fried pork dish that’s a staple in Filipino households, is the specialty here at Señor Sisig, a popular Off The Grid Creator’s restaurant locations (at the Ferry Building and in Oakland) and fleet of trucks, which launched in 2010 by high school friends Evan Kidera and chef Gil Payumo. But the sisig doesn’t stop there — you can also try alternate versions made with tocino (sweet cured pork), chicken or vegan tofu in tacos, burritos, bowls, fries and more alongside fun drinks and desserts. You can even get your burritos wrapped up in an ube-hued tortilla!
Craving Filipino food for your next event? Get in touch!
El Porteño
With locations at the Ferry Building and in the Napa Valley and a prominent presence at several Bay Area farmers markets, Joseph and Teresa Ahearne’s El Porteño, a family-owned business since 2008, is the trusted name for Argentinian empanadas. Empanada options include beef, chicken, ham and cheese, mushroom and chard as well as sweet versions with cherry and Malbec or banana with dulce de leche. An empanada party is a good party, just sayin’.
Get a taste of Argentinian empanadas at your next company event.
Fort Point Beer Company
The Ferry Building is home to the Fort Point Beer Garden, which sells beer, cider and creative non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy there or at home. Food selections are minimal but well-focused, such as a fresh crab roll or a “fancy” hot dog with housemade kraut and IPA mustard in hand in either location.
Book Fort Point Beer Company for your next party with Off the Grid.
Peaches Patties
Shani Jones is one of the leading chefs bringing Jamaican meals to the Bay Area. She now has two San Francisco locations to serve customers: a shop open daily in the Ferry Building and a catering pickup spot in the Mission. Peaches Patties offers savory, hand-held Jamaican pastries filled with beef, curry chicken, irie lentil or spinach, which are both vegan. You’ll also find a lively Rasta Stew and jerk chicken, which can all be washed down with sorrel, a hibiscus drink, or freshly brewed ginger beer.
Try Jamaican delicacies from the comfort of your own home.
Roli Roti
Anyone who has attended Saturday’s huge Ferry Plaza Farmers Market has definitely noticed the rotisserie chickens twirling inside Swiss butcher Thomas Odermatt’s veteran Roli Roti truck and the often massive line to procure them. Imagine the truck pulling up to your event and dazzling guests with fresh roasted chicken — sounds like a smart recipe for a memorable party.
Reem’s
Chef Reem Assil is a James Beard Foundation Award finalist for Outstanding Chef and a two-time semifinalist in the Best Chef: West category for her Palestinian cuisine made with California freshness. Her Reem’s restaurant has two locations in San Francisco: one in the Ferry Building and another in the Mission District. Catering options from Reem’s include mezze and wrap pinwheel platters, flatbreads and an array of Arab cookies, cakes and pastries sold by the dozen.
All of these creators (and hundreds more) are available to you with OTG catering. Start building your Ferry Building experience here.
