Pier Market Seafood Restaurant

What Pier Market Seafood Restaurant does

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant is a family-owned, single-location seafood restaurant operating at Pier 39 in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, founded in 1983 and currently run by the third generation of the Simmons family through the operating entity Simco Restaurants. The restaurant's core offering is mesquite-grilled sustainable seafood, with entree pricing ranging from $24.95 to $59.95, complemented by a full bar program, a heated outdoor patio, and group/private event capacity for up to 208 guests. In 2019, it became the first restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf to source 100% sustainable seafood, validated through partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.

The business model is a traditional full-service restaurant monetizing on-premise dining, bar sales, and private events, with supplementary revenue from gift certificate sales and a Yelp-powered reservation channel that converts digital demand into covers. Its customer base is bifurcated between San Francisco Bay Area locals and the heavy tourist flow that Pier 39 attracts, with no named enterprise accounts or B2B contract revenue.

The unit sits within the broader Simmons Family Restaurants portfolio of six sister restaurants on the same pier, which provides shared procurement, back-office, and brand-spillover benefits, though each concept operates independently. With 14 employees and a single 208-seat site, the operation is small, mature, and operationally concentrated; growth is being pursued through incremental levers (event channel, digital reservations, sustainability positioning, gift certificates) rather than unit-level expansion.

Name

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant

Legal name

Simco Restaurants

Website

https://piermarket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant is a family-owned, single-location seafood restaurant at Pier 39 in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, founded in 1983 and now in its third Simmons-family generation, serving mesquite-grilled sustainable seafood to tourists and Bay Area locals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Restaurant

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Fast Casual (THAFABAJ)

Keywords

• Seafood restaurant dining
• Mesquite grilled seafood
• Sustainable seafood sourcing
• Waterfront restaurant dining
• Private event catering

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food and Beverage Sales: Revenue from sit-down dining experience including starters, entrees, desserts, cocktails, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages. Average check includes 5% San Francisco Employee Benefits Ordinance surcharge.
2. Private Event Dining: Revenue from private dining room bookings accommodating up to 34 guests, or full restaurant buyout for up to 208 guests. Includes corporate meetings, birthday parties, retirement celebrations, and special events.
3. Take-away/To-Go: To-go window at front of restaurant offers menu favorites for take-away orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant is a family-owned full-service seafood restaurant located at Pier 39 in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, founded in 1983. It sells mesquite-grilled sustainable seafood dishes, clam chowder, cioppino, Dungeness crab, and other seafood specialties via dine-in service, a take-away window, and private event bookings. Fresh seafood is delivered daily and hand-cut by chefs each morning, with the restaurant open 365 days a year from 11am to 10pm.

Product overview

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant is a family-owned seafood restaurant located on Pier 39 in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Founded in 1983, the restaurant offers dine-in services including indoor dining, heated outdoor patio seating, and private event spaces accommodating up to 34 guests. The restaurant specializes in mesquite-grilled sustainable seafood, with signature dishes including New England Clam Chowder, Whole Dungeness Crab, Cioppino, Crab Cakes, and various grilled seafood entrees. The restaurant is operated by the Simmons family (third-generation owners of Pier 39) and is part of the Simmons Family Restaurants group, which includes sister restaurants Fog Harbor Fish House, Eagle Cafe, Crab House at Pier 39, Wipeout Bar & Grill, and Biscoff Coffee Corner.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-In Seafood Restaurant Service Full-service dine-in seafood restaurant experience at Pier 39 serving mesquite-grilled sustainable seafood, hand-cut fresh daily. Open to individual diners, families, and small groups via walk-in or Yelp reservations (parties up to 8, advance bookings up to 90 days). Includes complimentary sourdough bread and access to waterfront views of the Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz Island.
• Private Event and Group Dining Private dining experience accommodating groups of 9 to 34 in the private dining room with waterfront views, or full restaurant buyout for up to 208 guests. Targeted at corporate meetings, networking mixers, birthday parties, retirement celebrations, and special events with 48 hours advance notice required for groups of 9 or more.
• To-Go Window Service Take-away service offering many menu favorites via the to-go window at the front of the restaurant for customers who want seafood to take away. No third-party delivery service is offered.
• Gift Certificates Gift certificates purchased online through simcorestaurants.cardfoundry.com that are valid at all Simmons Family restaurants on PIER 39 and never expire.

Quantifiable outcome

• Voted best clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Simmons Family RestaurantscoreOthersParent company and ownership group for Pier Market Seafood Restaurant. Warren Simmons founded PIER 39 and the restaurant group. Today, Ryan Simmons and family own and operate the most successful restaurants on PIER 39 including Pier Market, Fog Harbor Fish House, Eagle Cafe, Crab House at Pier 39, Wipeout Bar & Grill, and Biscoff Coffee Corner.
• Fog Harbor Fish HouseminorOthersSister restaurant on PIER 39, part of Simmons Family Restaurants group. Also serves sustainable seafood with waterfront views. Co-branded in Pier Market marketing materials.
• Crab House at Pier 39minorOthersSister restaurant on PIER 39, part of Simmons Family Restaurants group. Specializes in crab dishes. Co-branded in Pier Market marketing materials.
• Eagle CafeminorOthersSister restaurant on PIER 39, part of Simmons Family Restaurants group. Historic breakfast and brunch spot featuring dishes like Crab Cake Benedict.
• Wipeout Bar & GrillminorOthersSister restaurant on PIER 39, part of Simmons Family Restaurants group. Casual dining with Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs cart and Flyer Thrill Zone attraction.
• Biscoff Coffee CornerminorOthersSister cafe on PIER 39, part of Simmons Family Restaurants group. Offers coffee, pastries, and signature Biscoff cookies.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPier Market follows the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines for sustainable sourcing. Restaurant is recognized as first provider of 100% sustainable seafood in Fisherman's Wharf.
• YelpcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party reservation platform integrated with Pier Market website. Handles online reservations (up to 90 days advance), online waitlist, and dining reviews.
• California Green Business NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPier Market is an associate member, demonstrating commitment to environmental sustainability practices.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Crab House at Pier 39: Sister restaurant on PIER 39 under Simmons Family Restaurants, specializing in crab dishes and waterfront dining. Shares the same ownership group, guest base, and physical pier footprint, creating direct side-by-side comparison for seafood diners.
• Fog Harbor Fish House: Sister restaurant under the same Simmons Family Restaurants ownership on PIER 39, also serving sustainable seafood with waterfront views and similar pricing tier. Operates the same gift-certificate pool as Pier Market, making it the closest direct concept overlap.
• Waterbar Restaurant: San Francisco waterfront seafood restaurant on the Embarcadero with comparable bay views and premium seafood positioning. Competes for the same occasion-driven seafood diners in SF.
• Alioto's Restaurant: Historic family-owned seafood restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf founded in 1925. Highly comparable waterfront seafood positioning, multi-generational family operation, and tourist/locals customer mix directly overlapping Pier Market's.
• Scoma's Restaurant: Iconic family-owned waterfront seafood restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Comparable as a long-standing, SF-institution seafood destination at similar price points and tourist-segment exposure.
• Farallon Restaurant: Upscale seafood-forward restaurant in downtown San Francisco with a coastal/oceanic concept. Comparable on premium pricing and seafood-focused cuisine, though venue style differs.
• McCormick & Kuleto's Seafood & Steaks: Long-standing SF waterfront seafood-and-steak restaurant at Ghirardelli Square. Comparable as a high-end SF seafood destination serving tourists and locals with similar menu and pricing structure.
• Eagle Cafe: Sister restaurant on PIER 39 under Simmons Family Restaurants, focused on breakfast and brunch with seafood-forward items. Same ownership, same pier location, and shared gift certificate universe make it a direct operational peer.
• Wipeout Bar & Grill: Sister PIER 39 concept under Simmons Family Restaurants offering casual seafood-adjacent dining. Comparable in operating model, location, and ownership group, though positioned at a lower price tier.

Broad incumbents

• Legal Sea Foods: Established national seafood restaurant chain with comparable menu architecture (clam chowder, grilled fish, cioppino-style dishes). Comparable on seafood-centric full-service model, though at broader scale and without Pier Market's single-iconic-location, family-owned tourist positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/piermarket
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pier-market-seafood-restaurant

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pier Market Seafood Restaurant