As a local - you must go. As a visitor to San Francisco - you must go!

The once old and nonfunctioning is now a grand draw for tourists, foodies, hungry locals and the ferry traveling alike. Saturday and Tuesdays are "Farmers Market Days" and Saturday morning is wildly fun but not the best time to see the building. But, it's the best day to get really amazing produce, meat, pastries and a great place to grab a bite from one of many kiosks and sit open air with your snack. Upstairs several businesses now have one of the most desirable office spaces in the city.

Packed with restaurants with fare from hamburgers to really high end ethic food, it's a great place to spend an evening or as a destination during the day. The shops are also worth a trip. Cheese, meats, mushrooms as well as organic produce, snacks and seafood, a wine bar, flower stalls and cooking equipment can be had at this venue. The Ferry building is along the now great waterfront of San Francisco looking east towards Oakland at the foot of the Bay Bridge. Once largely ignored and covered by an ugly double-decker causeway that partially collapsed and was torn down after the 1989 Loma Preita Earthquake, former Mayor Willie Brown made restoring the Ferry Building his pet project and one that has turned out to be the cornerstone for revitalization of the waterfront.

Most businesses in the Ferry Building don't open until 10:00 am but you can go early, grab a coffee at one of a few open coffee spots and sit along the water until things get rolling.

Parking can be had at several area lots and a reduced rate is obtainable from any vendor by validating your ticket. Street Cars ride along the Embarcadero right to the Ferry Plaza and other forms of public transit are near as well - including the Ferry.

Don’t' miss an opportunity to see a really well done reconstruction project that is enjoyable, tasty and fun!

Lovely views of the Bay bridge, nice place to spend a couple of hours sampling vendor's foods. Mostly touristy and pricy but very nice. Got a picnic together from cheeses at Cowgirl Creamery and salamis from Golden Gate Meats deli, bread from the Acme Bread Company to eat while on our bay cruise. Just walk right back outside and grab an electric street car down to the piers. Super easy, better quality and much less expensive than a comparable size sandwich at either pier. Maybe we were there on the wrong day but this place is like no farmer's market I have ever been to but it was nice.

I never would have visited the Ferry building, if we hadn't decided to go to Sausalito and then miss our ferry : >. What great shopping area! Beautiful sun drenched hallway through high-end trinket shops and food. If it wasn't 9am, we might have spent an hour at the wine tasting bar. If you're catching the ferry, go a few minutes early and look around. It feels a little like Grand Central Station with more light.