The Presidio Pop Up's 2026 spring and summer season was billed to run from April 1 through October 31. Kona Ice, Bao Bao Express, Swahili Spot and WhatCoffee & Bakery were among the trucks rotating through, and the season was built for long, light evenings at Tunnel Tops. A few hundred feet away, The Mess Hall at 201 Halleck Street opens every day at 7 a.m. and has about 88 seats indoors.
This is The Mess Hall's first winter. For Marina neighbors, that matters more than any single opening this year. Fort Mason has a full holiday calendar on the east end, and the west end now has a warm room where an evening can start or end. Add the stage calendars at the Palace of Fine Arts, the Cowell Theater and the Presidio Theatre, and November and December line up along the whole waterfront.
A food hall in an 1897 Army building
The San Francisco Standard reported that the building went up in 1897 as a depot and storage facility. It was later moved within the park to its current spot overlooking Crissy Field. The team kept the original wood floors and used the old-growth fir on the front of the bar and the restaurant counters. A wood frame that once held a large winch is now part of the coffee bar. The paper also reported that one corner of the bar looks out on the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts. Founding partner Nate Leonard told the Standard, "We wouldn't have done this if it was anywhere else."
The hall opened on August 15, 2026, and 7x7 confirmed it was serving within the week. One team runs all three restaurant concepts, though they are not all open yet:
- Breadwinner for smashburgers, now serving
- Dayboat Seafood for oysters and seafood, now serving
- Boda, the Korean-inspired concept, still listed as coming soon
- Wrecking Ball Coffee, a full bar, and a market stocked with picnic supplies
The Mess Hall website says the burger and seafood counters serve from 11 a.m. until close. The coffee shop, market and bar keep separate hours, so check the site before a late visit. 7x7 also noted Breadbelly pastries at the coffee counter. Without a car, the Muni 43 stops at the Presidio Transit Center.
The Main Post's next addition is further off. The Presidio Trust announced in July that Fieldwork Brewing signed a lease for the former Presidio Social Club at 563 Ruger Street. The plan is craft beer, cocktails, nonalcoholic drinks, full-service food and brunch, and the projected opening is early 2027.
The first November weekend fills both ends
With a dining room at Tunnel Tops, the first big weekend after Halloween splits across the waterfront. Here is how the dated events fall from this Thursday through mid-November.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Through Sun., Nov. 8 | Greens Diwali Lunch Pop Up, Tuesday through Sunday | Fort Mason |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Día de los Muertos and Diwali Festival, free | Presidio Tunnel Tops |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m. | San Francisco Ballet, Tiny Dances, runs Nov. 7–8 | Palace of Fine Arts Theatre |
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Guided "250 Years on the Presidio" walk | Presidio |
| Sun., Nov. 8, 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. | Sunday Farmers Market | Fort Mason |
| Thu., Nov. 12, 5–9 p.m. | Greens collaboration dinner with Anna Voloshnya | Fort Mason |
| Sat., Nov. 14, noon–4 p.m. | Rhône By The Bay tasting, $45–$105 | Gallery 308, Fort Mason |
| Sat., Nov. 14, 7 p.m. | 28th Annual San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest, runs Nov. 14–15 | Palace of Fine Arts Theatre |
Saturday, November 7 shows the shift best. The Presidio's festival listing describes an all-ages day of performances, arts and crafts, cultural ceremonies, storytelling, dance and song at Tunnel Tops. San Francisco Ballet's Tiny Dances starts at 11 a.m. that day at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. Both are on the western end, and lunch no longer means a trip back toward Chestnut Street. Over on the east end, Greens is running its Diwali lunch pop-up the same week, so the holiday is marked at both ends of the waterfront.
Fort Mason sets the weekly rhythm
The east end runs on a weekly schedule more than on single events. Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture holds its Sunday Farmers Market from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., rain or shine, with more than 50 family farmers and food purveyors. It keeps going into December. The calendar lists a December 6 market with the same hours.
Greens has built its whole season around the holidays. Its holiday listing covers these dates:
- Thanksgiving meal pickup on Wednesday, November 25, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Hanukkah lunch and brunch specials from December 4 to 12
- Christmas meal pickup on December 23 and 24
- New Year's Eve dinner with live music on December 31, from 5 to 10 p.m.
Greens says reservation links for these will go up closer to each date.
The free Fort Mason Night Market is scheduled to run monthly on select Fridays through December. The last date the center has confirmed was October 16, and later dates are listed as TBA. When it runs, Greens, The Interval at Long Now and Radhaus handle the food, and Arion Press and FLAX Art & Design stay open late. Two installations are on view for the whole season. The "Attentive Earth" installation runs through January 24, 2027, and Leah Rosenberg's "The Sea Is But Another Sky" runs through December 31, 2027.
December is a three-stage month
In December, each of the waterfront's three theaters has its own holiday programming, and the calendars barely overlap.
Cowell Theater, Fort Mason. Mark Foehringer Dance Project brings back Nutcracker Sweets, a 50-minute family ballet, from December 5 to 20 at the 437-seat waterfront theater. Shows on December 5 and 6 are at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. On December 12–13 and 19–20 a 4 p.m. show is added. Tickets are listed at $23.50 to $65.50.
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. PAAM's Holiday Spectacular plays December 5 and 6, with a 5 p.m. show on the 5th. The ONEUS World Tour: Full Moon stops there on December 9. The Grand Kyiv Ballet's The Nutcracker Symphony of Lights is on December 23 at 7 p.m.
Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Avenue. This year's Panto in the Presidio is Alice in Wonderland, an all-ages holiday musical running November 28 through December 27. Evening shows start at 6 p.m. and matinees at 1 p.m. There are performances most weekends and right up through December 22, 23, 24, 26 and 27, so the Presidio Theatre is the latest-running of the three.
December 5 and 6 are the busiest days. Nutcracker Sweets opens at the Cowell, PAAM's show runs at the Palace, the panto is in its second week on Moraga Avenue, and Greens' Hanukkah specials have started at Fort Mason. A Saturday matinee at Moraga Avenue can be followed by an early dinner at The Mess Hall, a short walk downhill toward Tunnel Tops. The Mess Hall opened in August, so this is the first December that plan has been possible.
Where Tunnel Tops fits after dark
Tunnel Tops is a free public park, open daily, that links the Main Post to Crissy Field. It has the Visitor Center, the Outpost playground, the Field Station and picnic areas. In summer, the lawn and the trucks were the draw. In December, the draw is the indoor seating, looking across the water toward Alcatraz from an Army building that dates to 1897. The Mess Hall's market sells picnic supplies, so you can still bring food out to the lawn on a clear day.
Expecting family for Thanksgiving or the December holidays and short on room? Home 2 San Francisco arranges furnished homes for stays like that, close enough that guests can walk to Fort Mason on a Sunday morning or to the Presidio Theatre for the panto. Tell us your dates and we'll find a place that feels like home while they're in town.
