"Alioto's Plaza opens the wharf to the water, creating a new place for people to sit and gather, while honoring the fishing industry," Mayor Daniel Lurie said at the plaza's opening on Sept. 2, according to the Port of San Francisco's announcement.
For decades, the Jefferson Street side of Fisherman's Wharf looked inland, toward wax figures, mirror mazes and souvenir counters. The projects arriving this fall and winter turn it back toward the inner lagoon, where the fishing boats tie up. The boats themselves are the one part of the season that no agency, landlord or ticketing site can schedule.
The Plaza Where a Restaurant Used to Block the View
Alioto's operated on Taylor Street for nearly a century. Its site is now a public plaza with bay-facing seating, picnic tables, a seating sculpture, string lighting, landscaping, signs on the Wharf's fishing history and a pop-up space for retail and beverage service. The Port says the plaza "expands views and access to the wharf's inner harbor."
The first operator at the edge of the plaza is a San Francisco name. The Port said Woods Beer & Wine Co. would start outdoor service along the plaza in mid-September and planned to open its full taproom later that month. As of this writing, we have not seen confirmation that the taproom in the former Fishermen's Grotto No. 9 on Taylor Street has opened. Woods' own locations page does not yet list a Wharf address. The plaza is open. The taproom is a "soon."
The plaza is also not the first piece of this effort. A new overlook on the inner lagoon along Al Scoma Way was finished in May 2026. The Port describes that stretch as the home of a weekly fish market. Both projects add sightlines and seating where the working harbor meets the street.
What Is Leaving Jefferson Street
The opposite trend runs a block away. SFGATE reported on Sept. 22 that Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which shares a building at 175 Jefferson St. with Applebee's and the Wharf Central souvenir shop, will close at the end of the year. A company spokesperson told the outlet that no single event led to the decision. The company pointed to "the changing landscape of Fisherman's Wharf" and said a final date had not been set.
The museum opened on Feb. 2, 1967. Before it closes, Ripley's plans to sell a selection of San Francisco-related exhibits, including a Golden Gate Bridge model built on the head of a pin, toothpick versions of the bridge, Joe DiMaggio's crutches and a chicken-wire portrait of Janis Joplin. The same report notes that Madame Tussauds closed for good in October 2024.
By the end of the year, that will make two indoor attractions gone in a little over two years, each built to fill a rainy afternoon for a visitor, while public money goes into open space facing the lagoon.
The Season, in the Order It Arrives
New tenants are filling some storefronts, though several are still only announced. Here is the calendar from now into early 2027, with what has happened separated from what has only been announced.
| When | What | Where | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Since Sept. 2 | Alioto's Plaza | Taylor Street, former Alioto's site | Open |
| Since Sept. 21 | Raising Cane's | 211 Jefferson St. | Opened, per SFist |
| Oct. 16 and 23 | Floating Features screenings | Fisherman's Wharf | Listed on the Wharf calendar |
| Oct. 30–31 | Blue & Gold Fleet Halloween BOOs Cruise, 6:30 p.m. | PIER 39 listing | Scheduled |
| Nov. 4 to Jan. 18 | San Francisco on Ice | 80 Jefferson St., next to the SkyStar Wheel | Announced, tickets on sale since Oct. 1 |
| Nov. 23 to Jan. 10 | Holiday season, tree lighting Thursday, Dec. 3 | PIER 39 | Scheduled |
| By year-end | Saigon Sandwich and Little Sweet | Anchor's Landing, 333 Jefferson St. | Announced |
| By year-end | Ripley's closes | 175 Jefferson St. | Announced, no final date |
| Winter 2026–27 | Lighting for the fishing fleet and historic vessels | Inner lagoon | Planned by the Port |
| Early 2027 | Space Karaoke | Anchor's Landing | Announced |
The rink is the biggest new arrival of the season. SFGATE reports the outdoor rink will cover 6,300 square feet, a little larger than the 6,000-square-foot rink in Union Square, which makes it the largest in the city. Organizers expect about 50,000 skaters in the first season. The operator, On Ice Rinks, told the outlet that outdoor skating has been missing since the Embarcadero Center rink closed nearly seven years ago. Tickets are sold through SanFranciscoOnIce.com.
Everett & Jones Barbeque is not in the table yet. It was expected at 300 Jefferson St., in the former Lou's Fish Shack, by September. The business's own website still lists that address as "New Location Coming soon!"
The Part of the Wharf With No Opening Date
Out past the plaza and the overlook, the Port runs a retail fish sales program on Al Scoma Way. Local fishers sell live crab and fresh fish straight from their boats. The rules are simple, and they come from the Health Code.
- Fish and crab are sold whole and uncooked. Fish are gilled and gutted only.
- Every sale has to happen from the vessel.
- Sales depend on weather and catch, and fishers post updates on the program's Instagram and Facebook group.
- The Port advises arriving early because lines form and boats sell out.
- Bring a cooler or bucket. Cash is preferred, though some fishers take electronic payment.
- Al Scoma Way has no parking. Metered and off-street parking is nearby, and the 19 and 49 buses and the F line stop close by.
Dungeness crab is what most people come for, and that is where the calendar stops being reliable. California's commercial Dungeness season is managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which assesses entanglement risk to whales and sea turtles before each opener. As of this writing, CDFW lists both the commercial and recreational seasons as closed, and it has not posted an assessment for 2026–27.
Last season shows how much that review can move things. On Oct. 24, 2025, CDFW delayed the commercial season because of the risk of marine life entanglement and temporarily barred traps in the recreational fishery. A December declaration then opened the commercial season in Zones 3 through 5, which include San Francisco, on Jan. 5, 2026, with a 40% reduction in gear. In 2025–26, the crab boats got going after most of the holiday season had passed.
Last season does show the difference between the boats and everything else in the table above. The rink has ticket dates and the lagoon lighting has a target season. The boats sell when the state, the ocean and the catch allow it.
What the Port Is Planning Around
The long-term plans put the same fleet at the center. Through its Fisherman's Wharf Forward initiative, the Port has finished its near-term improvements. It lists longer-term resilience work running from January 2026 to fall 2030, focused on Taylor Street, Jefferson Street and the inner lagoon.
At a Sept. 9 open house, the Port showed three concepts for the Taylor Street shoreline and the lagoon, called Renewed Wharf, Central Dock and Harbor Promenade. It said it was not choosing one at that meeting. The Port's timeline shows a third community meeting in November–December 2026 and a final concept plan in January–April 2027. No exact dates have been posted. Port materials describe Pier 45 and the inner lagoon as an active working waterfront for fishing, seafood sales and maritime activity, and all three concepts are planned around that.
Port Executive Director Michael Martin described the goal in the September release as "a visual connection between the landside and the working waterfront and the fishers who make this place unique." Each completed piece so far, from the overlook to the plaza to the planned lagoon lighting, adds another view of the same harbor, where off-boat crab sales will start once CDFW opens the commercial season.
At Rossi Real Estate, we follow North Waterfront's piers, plazas and storefronts closely because they shape life a few blocks from home. If you are weighing how the Wharf's plans might affect a property nearby, we invite you to schedule a private consultation.
