What's Opening On Marin's Tables This Summer

Something is happening to the map of Marin's dining rooms this year. Operators who spent a decade or more earning followings in San Francisco are signing leases in Strawberry Village, on San Anselmo Avenue, along the Sausalito waterfront, and out at the edge of Point Reyes Station. A few are homegrown Marin projects. Most are not. What they share is a decision to plant something permanent north of the bridge rather than run a pop-up or a second-act experiment.

For anyone already living here, that means the answer to "where should we try this month" is going to keep changing between now and September. Below is the working list, organized by the corner of the county where each opening lands.

Strawberry Village Is Turning Into A Food Stop

The Mill Valley shopping center at 800 Redwood Highway has always been convenient. This year it is becoming a reason to drive there on purpose. Tartine, the San Francisco bakery that has drawn lines around the block on Guerrero Street for two decades, is opening its first Marin location at Strawberry Village. The opening was originally scheduled for late 2025 and pushed to this spring. Country bread, morning buns, laminated pastries made with the kind of obsessive precision that earned Tartine its national reputation.

Landing alongside it is Cholita Linda, the Oakland-born Latin street food spot known for its fish tacos and agua frescas. The pairing is smart on the part of the landlord. A serious bakery and a casual Latin counter cover two of the three occasions most families cycle through in a week, and neither of them competes with the other.

San Anselmo Avenue Gets Two New Anchors And An Old Friend Back

The stretch of San Anselmo Avenue between Bank and Tunstead has been due for a signature dinner spot for a while. That gap is closing.

Tu Tap has moved into the former Kientz Hall space at 625 San Anselmo Avenue. Chef Justine Kelly spent 18 years at The Slanted Door, one of the most influential Vietnamese restaurants in American food history before it closed its Ferry Building location. Her partner in the project is Bill Upson of the Real Restaurants group, which has operated respected Marin tables for decades. The concept is elevated Vietnamese and Asian fusion, served in a redesigned dining room with an open kitchen. The detail that has people talking: a rooftop bar with a direct sightline to Mount Tamalpais. Tu Tap was aiming for a March 2026 opening. By the time summer arrives, it should have its footing.

A few blocks away, the pastry side of the street picks up a serious operator. Maison Nico is set to arrive in San Anselmo in early summer. The celebrated French bakery and café led by Michelin-starred chef and owner Nicolas Delaroque will bring its signature croissants, pistachio Paris-Brest, and elegant pastry-wrapped classics, along with expanded offerings like ice cream and Parisian grab-and-go staples.

And then there is the return that carries the most emotional weight for long-time residents. Hilda's Coffee Shop is coming back. After more than sixty years as a San Anselmo staple, Hilda's closed in late 2025 and is set to reopen in 2026 under new ownership from the team behind Creekside Pizza. The plan keeps the heart intact while sharpening the menu around breakfast, brunch, and burgers. This one matters because it's about continuity, not reinvention for the sake of it.

Three openings on one avenue, from three very different operators, all betting that the walk-in dinner crowd and the Saturday morning coffee crowd will finally overlap on the same block.

The Waterfront And West Marin

Sausalito gets its own headline this year. Piccino, a beloved community hub since 2006 in San Francisco, is bringing its seasonally driven, ingredient-focused Italian cuisine to the Sausalito waterfront as Piccino Sul Mare, where fresh antipasti, hand-tossed pizzas, housemade pastas, and craft cocktails are served alongside sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline. A twenty-year Mission District tenant crossing the bridge for a permanent second address is not a small move.

Further out, the coast picks up something quieter and, in its own way, more significant. Bar Auklet, a small-plates seafood restaurant with a wood-fired grill and wine bar, is slated to open in Point Reyes Station in early June at 11180 Highway 1. Shannon Gregory leads the project, partnering with the Point Reyes Good Luck Fund. They are refreshing the former Station House Café space with new paint, updated flooring, modern equipment, and artisanal woodworking by IDo Yoshimoto. The Station House Café was a Point Reyes fixture for decades. Watching a locally led project take that room and rework it around a wood-fired grill is exactly the kind of transition West Marin tends to get right when it happens at all. You can read more about the project through the Marin County Visitor guide to West Marin openings.

Everyday Tables Filling In The Gaps

Not every opening is a special-occasion dinner. Several of this year's newcomers are pure weekday utility, which is arguably more important for the way most of us actually eat.

Two things stand out from that table. First, San Rafael's 4th Street is doing something that looked unlikely five years ago and now looks obvious in hindsight. Second, three of the six spots are recycling recognizable prior tenants. Amy's, Patxi's, Don Antonio's, Crepevine. When restaurant real estate turns over this fast in a small county, the churn itself is the story.

Why So Many, Why Now

Restaurant openings tend to cluster for boring reasons: lease cycles, a good broker, one operator seeing another sign a deal and deciding the market is proven. This year there is also a specific policy nudge sitting underneath the wave, at least in one town.

As of May 20, 2026, Mill Valley's updated commercial regulations are in effect. Use permit requirements are now tailored to business type, business size and zone district, new administrative and temporary use permit processes have been introduced, and use permit fees have been reduced. Land uses such as personal business services, food and restaurant, art studios, health and fitness centers can now be established in most commercial areas without use permit approval, reducing cost, uncertainty and time for those interested in establishing a business in Mill Valley. The full text of Ordinance 1368 is posted on the city site.

For an operator weighing a lease, the difference between a use permit hearing and an over-the-counter approval is months of carrying cost. Mill Valley is one town among many, but its downtown and Strawberry Village are two of the most-watched restaurant addresses in the county, and the message that the process is now faster is not a small signal.

The other quiet mechanism is Marin's real estate itself. The character-heavy commercial buildings in San Anselmo, on Magnolia Avenue, on the Sausalito boardwalk, and at Point Reyes Station cannot be replicated in a new-build shopping center. When Kientz Hall or the Station House Café comes open, an operator who has waited years for that kind of room will move on it quickly. That is why the résumés attached to this year's list read the way they do.

A Working Guide For The Next Few Months

If you are trying to prioritize, a rough order of operations for the summer:

1. Coffee and a pastry run at Tartine in Strawberry Village, followed by a walk.
2. A weeknight rooftop drink at Tu Tap once the crowds settle.
3. Saturday breakfast at Hilda's for the sake of the neighborhood.
4. A Sunday drive out to Bar Auklet in Point Reyes Station when the fog behaves.
5. Piccino Sul Mare on the waterfront for the evening it feels like a small trip.
6. Feerma on Magnolia when the full restaurant is open, with an earlier stop at the Ferma Love cart if you cannot wait.

None of these places existed in their current form six months ago. By fall, most of them will feel like they have always been there. That is what a good year for a food scene looks like from the inside.

If you are thinking about a move within Marin, or from Marin into another North Bay pocket, and you want a local read on how neighborhoods are shifting around amenities like these, Rob Sullivan is happy to talk. Let's Connect.