We love a good party at Off the Grid. And throwing big, fun, fabulous events featuring the Bay Area’s best food creators is what we do best.
Throughout our 10 years in the catering business, we’ve worked with a number of standout Bay Area venue partners. In this new monthly series, we’ll highlight the venues that are truly special places to host memorable events.
Read on to see what you need to know, what you can expect and what’s possible to inspire your next event.
This week’s spotlight: Kimberley of Metro Events, Pier 27, Pier 29 & Pier 35
1) What should people know about this fabulous venue?
Metro Events manages the event space. at three of the city’s waterfront piers: Pier 27, Pier 29 and Pier 35. Pier 27 and Pier 35 are San Francisco’s cruise terminals. When they are not being used to welcome guests to the city, they double as event space.
Pier 27 is a very modern facility. It officially opened up for events in 2014. By contrast, Pier 35 is over 100 years old. We lovingly call it our “vintage venue.”
2) What makes Metro Events spaces unique within San Francisco?
The history, the views, the vibe—take your pick! Pier 35 dates back to the early part of the last century. It still has all of its original wood structure with high wooden beams, which makes it a breathtakingly beautiful space.
Fun fact: Pier 35 is the largest indoor event venue space along the San Francisco waterfront.
Pier 27 is unique because of its location and especially beautiful views. There’s no other event space in the entire city where you can see so many iconic landmarks, including Coit Tower, the Ferry Building, and the Transamerica building.
3) What types of events are hosted at your venues?
Pre-pandemic, we were mainly a corporate event venue because of our large size. However, we’re starting to dabble in the social market. We launched a social package in 2019 and are starting to book weddings, bar mitzvahs and galas.
4) Why is it an ideal space for corporate parties and events?
For companies and corporate partners, the possibilities are endless. Because our spaces are “blank canvases” and large in size, there’s a lot of flexibility. Therefore, planners can get creative with branding, signage and decor. There isn’t one set way of doing things and all of our clients really take advantage of that. Our spaces are really flexible.
5) What’s the most memorable event that has been hosted in your venues?
It’s hard to choose just one. All the companies around here are so creative, and our holiday parties are always so fun, with different themes and activations.
Once we had a client bring in the big inflatable moon from the Exploratorium. They rigged it so it was hanging above the party. This inflatable moon, it was amazing!
Because we’re right on the water, we’ve had clients do firework shows, which you can see right through the windows. That’s always very memorable.
6) Tell us about the most surprising thing that’s happened at your venue.
Ben & Jerry’s launched a new ice cream flavor, and the event included a carnival swing ride that was built in the parking lot. It was a public event, so people could come and try ice cream while going on the carnival ride in our parking lot. It was wild and a lot of fun.
8) What are you most looking forward to as an event space in 2022?
Getting back to doing what we love to do and bringing people together is what I’m most looking forward to.
