Liberty Public Market

The highly anticipated Liberty Public Market soft opened this past weekend. The project was announced last year: a food hall housing dozens of local and artisan vendors, echoing the likes of San Francisco’s Ferry Building or Seattle’s Pike’s Place Market. After several delays, it’s finally open. And you guys, it’s pretty awesome.

I actually hadn’t planned on visiting this weekend. I got word that it was open on Saturday and thought I’d go check it out next week. Then Sunday morning I woke up and just couldn’t wait another minute. We cancelled all our plans (luckily plans that didn’t involve anyone else) and made our way over for lunch. Despite being only in its soft opening stages, the market was already crowded with people and almost all of the vendors were ready for business.

It is even more wonderful to see in person than through photos. The Ferry Building is one of my favorite places to be in San Francisco, and this really felt like San Diego’s version. In terms of food, there is so much to choose from, with many familiar faces and several farmer’s market favorites opening their first permanent location.  Venissimo Cheese, Le Parfait Paris, Cecilia’s Taqueria, Fully Loaded Juice, MooTime Creamery, WestBean Coffee Roasters, Pasta Design, Stuffed, Fishbone Kitchen, Mama Made Thai, and Bottlecraft were just some of the vendors open when we visited. The full vendor list can be found here.

(Sadly Maine Lobster was not yet open.)

There is also plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and many people took full advantage of the beautiful weather and were relaxing in chairs outside while sipping on beer.

The food hall also includes a restaurant, Mess Hall, which was not yet open for business. Directly across is Bottlecraft, which has beers on tap as well as a retail space with bottled beers for purchase.

After making a few rounds and tasting some of the samples, we finally got a few items to dine on outside.

Paraná Empanadas

One of the longest lines was for Paraná Empanadas. Luckily, the line moved pretty quickly and once we paid, the food was already ready.

WestBean Coffee Roasters

I couldn’t resist getting some coffee from WestBean. We ordered a cold brew and a cortado. The cortado didn’t make it to the photos. I especially enjoyed the cold brew.

Le Parfait Paris


I had to stop by one of my favorite places, Le Parfait Paris, especially since it was Macaron Day. I ordered a croissant and Ludi’s Macaron.

Pasta Design

After seeing the colorful display of fresh-made pasta and tasting a sample they were handing out, I ended up buying a pound to-go for dinner later. They make regular flour pasta, spinach flavored and red pepper flavored. Our favorite was the red pepper. When we were there, we had tried it with the Pink 50/50 sauce which we really enjoyed too.

Overall, we left feeling quite happy. There were such high expectations that came with the announcement of this project and I think it really delivered. It was so great seeing so many of my favorite San Diego vendors now with their first permanent location. All the vendors we talked to seemed relaxed and happy to be up and running, and we saw many of them checking out other vendors during their breaks and seeing the mutual support was very heartwarming. By the time we left, the outside patio was completely filled. Children were playing on the artificial turf, adults were relaxing and soaking up the sun, sipping on craft beers. All of it felt so very San Diego and I just loved it. I definitely foresee this as being a destination to take people who are visiting from out of town and also just a place that Mr. K and I’ll enjoy on the weekends as well.

Here is a rough video Mr. K put together from our visit. Sorry there was no time to pick out any music.

Liberty Public Market
2820 Historic Decatur Rd, San Diego, CA 92106