"There's already so much great built-in programming there: trivia, live music," Sam Ghadiri told Palo Alto Online this spring, explaining why he put Laughing Monk Brewing inside State Street Market. "It's such a great walkable downtown too."
Ghadiri was describing one block, and he wasn't the last operator to pick it. A coffee company that plans to bake pastries for its whole Bay Area network is finishing a build-out at the same address. The town's weekly market, its outdoor craft marketplace and its December holiday market all set up on State Street too. Main Street is still the downtown most people picture, but most of the fall calendar now runs a block away. October shows it most clearly, because it's the last month the outdoor season and the new arrivals overlap.
One Block, Most of the Calendar
The Downtown Los Altos Farmers' Market runs on State Street every Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. through October 29, according to the Los Altos Village Association. The Village Association and the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association present it. State Street Market is one of its sponsors, along with the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation and the City of Los Altos. So the food hall helps pay for the weekly event that fills the street outside its doors.
Here's the rest of the fall calendar, with where each event takes place.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursdays through Oct. 29 | Downtown Los Altos Farmers' Market | State Street | 4 to 8 p.m. |
| Oct. 23 | Witches & Warlocks Wine Stroll | Downtown | 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Oct. 25 | HEAD WEST Marketplace, final of the season | State Street between Second and Fourth | 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Oct. 30 | A BOO-tiful Downtown Halloween | Downtown and the plaza | Trick-or-treating from noon, plaza games 2 to 4 p.m. |
| Nov. 13 | 23rd Annual Holiday Stroll | Downtown | 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Nov. 28 | Small Business Saturday | Veterans Community Plaza, Main and State | 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Dec. 4 | Holiday Tree Celebration | Veterans Community Plaza | 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Dec. 10 and 17 | Downtown Los Altos Holiday Market | State Street Market | 4 to 8 p.m. |
Six of the eight entries either name State Street outright or meet at Veterans Community Plaza, where State Street meets Main. Even the end-of-year holiday market is booked inside the food hall. The Witches & Warlocks Wine Stroll is planned around 19 wineries and eight bands. The Holiday Stroll page still lists its participating shops, restaurants and musicians as "TBD," so expect the route details later.
A Bar That Counts On Its Neighbors
Laughing Monk shows why so many operators want this block. In March it took over the space that used to be Murdoch's Bar inside State Street Market. Ghadiri runs it through Bedrock Restaurant Group. He trained as a lawyer, started Sammy G's Pizzeria in San Jose, bought Faultline Brewing Company in 2019, and merged it with Laughing Monk when he acquired the brand.
The Los Altos outpost is just a bar. Palo Alto Online reported it pours nine beers, one cider and two draft cocktails, plus wine, because the food hall already covers the food. The made-to-order list includes a lychee martini, an espresso martini, a mezcal Negroni, a black Manhattan and an old fashioned. Zero-proof options include a prickly pear spritz, hibiscus tea and lemonade.
Ghadiri said the to-go cocktails sell well during the downtown farmers' market. A bar with no kitchen gets its food from the stalls around it and much of its foot traffic from the Thursday crowd outside. That trade lasts only as long as the market season, which makes the last four Thursdays of October the end of a run.
The stalls around it, per State Street Market's directory, are Konjoe Burger, Konjoe Eatery, Little Blue Door, Little Sky Bakery, Orenchi Ramen, Orenchi Sushi, The Good Salad and The Penny Ice Creamery. One weeknight can mean ramen, a salad and an ice cream cone without crossing a street.
A Morning Shift for the Block
Everything above happens in the afternoon or evening. Coffeebar's arrival would add mornings.
The Almanac reported on September 15 that Coffeebar expects to open its fourth Peninsula café at 170 State St., inside State Street Market, in early October. Greg Buchheister, a former competitive skier, founded the company in Truckee in 2010. It came to Menlo Park in 2018, then opened in Redwood City and Sunnyvale. The menu covers lattes, cappuccinos and cold brew made from beans roasted at the company's Reno facility. Current seasonal drinks include a pistachio rose mocha, a marzipan latte and a yuzu caramel latte.
The bigger news is the kitchen. The Los Altos site will eventually be the main pastry production facility for every Coffeebar in the Bay Area. During the soft opening, pastries will come from the Menlo Park café. So a downtown Los Altos block would supply croissants to Menlo Park, Redwood City and Sunnyvale.
Coffeebar's locations page lists hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily for the Los Altos store. If those hours hold, the café would be open nine hours before the Thursday market starts at 4 p.m. and would overlap with its first two hours. As of today, October 4, the same page still says "Coming September 2026," and WhatNow's September 19 report described the café as still getting ready to open. Treat the opening as close but not yet confirmed.
The Address One Block Over
LUNA Mexican Kitchen is the one current arrival that isn't on State Street. Its site is 145 First St. The Los Altos Town Crier reported an expected early September opening after more than two years of construction. The original target had been early 2025.
Chef and co-owner Jo Lerma-Lopez and her husband and co-founder John Lopez opened their first LUNA on The Alameda in San Jose in June 2017 and a second at Campbell's Pruneyard in 2019. The Los Altos space is the former House on First, which was Bumble before that. Lerma-Lopez told the Town Crier she first noticed the property walking downtown years ago, drawn by "these big redwood trees and the white picket fence and the 1920s Craftsman home." "I pictured that patio bringing the energy of Valle de Guadalupe or Napa Valley," she said.
As of today, LUNA's own hours-and-locations page lists only The Alameda and The Pruneyard. The September target has passed with no confirmed opening date, so for now the patio is still a plan. When it does open, it will pull downtown's dinner traffic one block toward First Street.
The Last Four Thursdays
October is when the outdoor season and the new openings overlap. Before the market wraps on October 29, these are the dates to plan around:
- Thursday, October 8. Evan Fahey plays the farmers' market, and Wine & Barrel, Co. pours wine by the glass.
- Friday, October 23. The Witches & Warlocks Wine Stroll, 6 to 9 p.m., the night after the second-to-last market.
- Sunday, October 25. The season's last HEAD WEST Marketplace fills State Street between Second and Fourth from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday, October 29. The final market night of the season.
- Friday, October 30. A BOO-tiful Downtown Halloween, with trick-or-treating starting at noon and plaza games from 2 to 4 p.m.
After that, the calendar moves to holiday events and the State Street Market Holiday Market on December 10 and 17. Laughing Monk will spend its first winter without the Thursday crowd, and Coffeebar's pastry kitchen, once it opens, will be in its first months of baking for the rest of the region.
Downtown Los Altos keeps changing one storefront at a time, and those changes shape how homes here are presented and valued. Melanie Kemp has followed that link for more than 40 years and can give you a clear read on what this fall's changes mean for your property. Request a Confidential Home Valuation.
