Takahashi Market: A San Mateo Institution Since 1906
The story of a family market that opened in 1906, came home after internment, and became the Peninsula's go-to for poke, Spam musubi, and a taste of the islands.
In 1906, a young immigrant named Tokutaro Takahashi opened a small general store on the edge of downtown San Mateo. He had come from Wakayama, Japan, and his shop sold clothing, boots, and household goods to the area's Japanese-speaking families. More than a century later, that store is still on Claremont Street, still run by the Takahashi family, now four generations deep.
The market has lived through the whole American century. During World War II, the Takahashis, like thousands of Japanese-American families, were forced into internment camps. Kenge Takahashi, one of the founder's children, served overseas with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the segregated Japanese-American unit that became the most decorated of its size in U.S. history. When the war ended, the family came home and reopened the doors.
The market you walk into today took shape in the late 1950s. As San Francisco International Airport expanded, Hawaiian families moved to the Peninsula and started asking for the flavors of home. Takahashi answered, stocking Hawaiian shoyu, poi, fresh limu, poke, and Spam musubi alongside its Japanese groceries. That mix, Japanese roots with an island heart, is what makes it unlike anywhere else around.
In 2006, its hundredth year, the family remodeled and added a kitchen, so now you can grab prepared Japanese and Hawaiian food to go. The case up front holds some of the best poke on the Peninsula, and the Spam musubi has a following that borders on devotion. The shelves run deep with pantry staples from across Asia and the Pacific, the hard-to-find kind that turn a quick errand into a full basket.
What keeps Takahashi special isn't nostalgia, it's that it never stopped being useful. In a downtown that has turned over again and again, it's still here, still family-run, still the place locals send anyone hunting for a taste of the islands. If you've somehow never been, go hungry.
Good to know
When did Takahashi Market open?
In 1906, founded by Tokutaro Takahashi, an immigrant from Wakayama, Japan. It's run by the fourth generation of the family today.
What's it known for?
Some of the best poke on the Peninsula, a cult-favorite Spam musubi, and a deep shelf of Japanese, Hawaiian, and Asian groceries you won't find at a regular store.
Why Hawaiian food at a Japanese market?
In the late 1950s, Hawaiian families moving to the area asked for the flavors of home, so the market started stocking poi, limu, Hawaiian shoyu, and musubi. The Japanese-meets-island mix stuck.
When are they open?
Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 4pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday, and on major holidays.
What should a first-timer grab?
A container of poke and a Spam musubi, then wander the aisles for the island snacks and imports you didn't know you needed.
Visit
Where · 221 S Claremont St, San Mateo, CA 94401
Hours · Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm
Call · (650) 343-0394
Know a San Mateo institution that deserves a spotlight? Tell us at hello@sanmateolocal.com.