Jack London Square is Oakland’s waterfront — a stretch of the estuary at the foot of Broadway and Webster Street, with restaurants, a Sunday market, ferries to San Francisco, and a saloon that has been standing since 1880 and looks it.

It is named for the writer who grew up around these docks, and unusually for a place named after somebody, the connection is real and physically present: the bar where a poverty-stricken teenage Jack London hung around is still there, still serving, and still leaning at the angle the 1906 earthquake left it.

Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon

Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon is the reason to come here even if you do nothing else.

It was opened by John “Johnny” M. Heinold in 1883. The building itself is older — it dates to 1880 and was constructed from the remnants of an old whaling ship, at the foot of Webster Street, originally as sleeping quarters for the workers of the nearby oyster beds.

The name is literal. For sailors shipping out of Oakland, this was the first and last chance to drink before or after a long voyage.

The Jack London connection is genuine. The saloon is known as “Jack London’s Rendezvous”. Heinold let the young, poverty-stricken London sell newspapers from a stool and hang around the bar, and the place directly inspired scenes in The Call of the Wild and The Sea-Wolf. It was designated a Literary Landmark in 1998.

It is a tiny, dark, sloping room and it has not been prettied up. That is the whole appeal — this is not a reconstruction of a nineteenth-century waterfront bar, it is one that never stopped operating.

The Sunday farmers market

The Jack London Square Farmers Market runs every Sunday, year-round, rain or shine, from 11am to 4pm, at Webster Street and Embarcadero West.

It carries around 30 vendors — smaller than Oakland’s Saturday market at Grand Lake, and correspondingly more relaxed — selling fruit and vegetables, craft food products and craft goods. It has been a staple of the Jack London Square community since 1989.

The Sunday timing is the useful part: it does not clash with the Grand Lake Farmers Market, which runs Saturdays 9am to 2pm. A weekend in Oakland can comfortably take in both. See the Oakland farmers markets guide.

Eating on the waterfront

Jack London Square is one of the few places in Oakland where you can eat looking at water, and that is most of its restaurant appeal. The dining runs along the waterfront and the blocks immediately behind it, concentrated enough to walk and choose rather than book blind.

We are naming only what we have individually verified, and on this waterfront that currently means Heinold’s. Waterfront restaurant turnover in Oakland is real, and — as this site has documented in other cities — a stale name sends you to a closed door. For what is actually good and open this month, ask in the community feed, which updates faster than any page.

What is durable: the Square is the walk-and-choose part of Oakland’s dining, it has water views that nowhere else in the city offers, and it is busiest on Sunday around the market.

The ferry — the best way to arrive

Jack London Square has a ferry terminal with service across the bay to San Francisco, and taking the boat rather than the train is one of the genuinely good decisions available in the Bay Area.

It costs an ordinary transit fare, it takes you across the water with the bay and both cities in view, and it lands you directly at the Square rather than a walk away. For anyone visiting Oakland from San Francisco, this is the arrival that makes the trip feel like an outing rather than a commute.

The Square also has an Amtrak station — Oakland Jack London Square — which is a useful detail for anyone arriving from further afield in California.

By BART, the nearest stations are downtown, a walk of several blocks. Parking exists but the waterfront fills on Sunday around the market.

What else is down here

The marina and the waterfront promenade are free to walk and are the quietest good stretch of Oakland waterfront. On a clear day the view across the estuary is the reason to linger.

There is a cinema on the Square, which makes it one of the few parts of Oakland where dinner and a film work without moving the car.

And the Square connects on foot to Old Oakland and downtown — Old Oakland runs its own farmers market, and the whole area is walkable from here.

How to do Jack London Square

Come on a Sunday for the market, 11am to 4pm, when the Square is at its liveliest.

Arrive by ferry if you are coming from San Francisco. It is the best part of the trip.

Go into Heinold’s. It takes ten minutes, it is the oldest thing on the waterfront, and it is the single most atmospheric room in Oakland.

Walk the promenade afterwards for the estuary view.

Combine it with the rest of the city. Lake Merritt — the first official wildlife refuge in the United States, designated 1870 — is a short trip away, and downtown sits between the two.

Half a day covers the Square comfortably. It is a waterfront rather than a district, and treating it as one destination among several works better than building a whole day around it.

Who Jack London actually was, and why it matters here

The name on the Square is not decorative, and the short version is worth having because it changes how the waterfront reads.

London grew up poor around exactly these docks in the 1880s and 1890s, working the estuary and the oyster beds before he wrote anything. The waterfront was not a setting he researched — it was the place he was from, and the saloon at the foot of Webster Street was where he spent his time as a boy because it was warm, and because Johnny Heinold let him.

That is why Heinold’s matters more than a plaque. The room has not been restored into a museum version of itself; it is small, dark, sloping and still a working bar. Standing in it is as close as you can get to the waterfront that produced the writer, and it is roughly a hundred yards from where the ferries dock today.

Jack London Square through the week

Sunday is the day. The market runs 11am to 4pm, the promenade is busy, and the Square is doing what it is best at.

Weekday evenings are quiet — this is a waterfront rather than a nightlife district, and it winds down early. Dinner and a film works; a late night does not.

Weekday daytimes are the calmest and the best for the promenade and the marina, when you can walk the water’s edge with almost nobody on it.

The weather is the other variable worth naming. The estuary is exposed and the wind coming off the water is genuinely colder than a few blocks inland — a lesson every Bay Area visitor learns once. Bring a layer even on a warm day.

Jack London Square questions, answered by neighbors

How old is Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon?

The saloon was opened by John “Johnny” M. Heinold in 1883, and the building itself dates to 1880 — constructed from the remnants of an old whaling ship at the foot of Webster Street, originally as sleeping quarters for workers of the nearby oyster beds.

What is the Jack London connection to Heinold’s?

It is genuine. The saloon is known as “Jack London’s Rendezvous” — Johnny Heinold let the poverty-stricken young Jack London sell newspapers from a stool and hang around the bar, and the place inspired scenes in The Call of the Wild and The Sea-Wolf. It was designated a Literary Landmark in 1998.

Why is it called the First and Last Chance Saloon?

The name is literal. For sailors shipping out of Oakland, the bar was the first and last chance to drink heavily before or after a long voyage.

When is the Jack London Square farmers market?

Every Sunday, year-round, rain or shine, from 11am to 4pm at Webster Street and Embarcadero West. It runs about 30 vendors and has been a fixture since 1989. It does not clash with Oakland’s larger Grand Lake market, which is Saturdays 9am to 2pm.

Can you take a ferry to Jack London Square?

Yes. The Square has a ferry terminal with service across the bay to San Francisco. It costs an ordinary transit fare, gives you the bay and both cities in view, and lands you directly at the Square. It is the best way to arrive from San Francisco.

How do I get to Jack London Square by BART?

The nearest BART stations are in downtown Oakland, a walk of several blocks down to the waterfront. There is also an Amtrak station at the Square itself. Parking exists but the waterfront fills on Sundays around the market.

Is Jack London Square worth visiting?

For half a day, yes — particularly on a Sunday when the market is on, or arriving by ferry. Heinold’s alone justifies the trip. It works best as one stop among several rather than a full day, and it pairs naturally with Lake Merritt and downtown.

What is there to do at Jack London Square besides eat?

Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon, the Sunday farmers market, the marina and waterfront promenade, a cinema on the Square, and the ferry itself. Old Oakland and downtown are walkable from there.