Longtime California seafood chain the Fish Market is leaving the Bay Area. The company is closing its original 47-year-old restaurant in Palo Alto, as well as its San Mateo restaurant and South San Francisco fishery, Farallon, according to a letter from President Dwight Colton shared on its website.
“The difficult decision to cease operations at these locations is due in part to changing market conditions, and other factors influencing The Fish Market’s ability to continue to provide the high-quality seafood dining experience we built our legacy on,” Colton wrote. SFGATE could not reach the Fish Market for comment in time for publication.
Colton also cited imminent real estate development at the Palo Alto and San Mateo restaurants as a reason for the closures. The Palo Alto Fish Market is scheduled to close Sept. 13, and the San Mateo Fish Market is scheduled to close Sept. 20. Farallon Fisheries is set to close in September.
The California chain’s founders opened the first Fish Market — a seafood restaurant, oyster bar and market — in Palo Alto in 1976. Soon after, they opened locations in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Jose (both the Santa Clara and San Jose locations closed in the wake of the pandemic). Now, only two Fish Markets remain, and they’re both in Southern California: one in Del Mar and the other in San Diego.
As the final two Bay Area restaurants wind down, both locations will feature “weekly specials of favorite menu items offered over the years as a tribute” for the month of August, Colton wrote. There will also be a commemorative menu in September, followed by a public online auction of memorabilia after the closures.
“We want to thank our loyal, Northern California guests for their support over the years,” Colton’s letter continued. “Most of all, we’d like to thank our team members, past and present. They are the true heart of our restaurants and we owe our accomplishments over the last 47 years to them.”