"It looks and feels exactly the same," Max Perry told the Marin IJ in May, days before the Silver Peso's scheduled reopening. He was talking about the dive bar at 450 Magnolia Avenue. He and Conor Flaherty, the managing partners at Sam's Anchor Cafe in Tiburon, took over its lease earlier this year and scheduled a grand reopening for noon on Saturday, May 30. That makes this the Peso's first fall under the new team.
The Peso's return is the biggest downtown story of 2026, and it came down to two operators deciding one old bar was worth saving. Out at Larkspur Landing, a single property runs a calendar with something on it nearly every weekend this month. Larkspur's October is split between those two models. One is a managed shopping center that books its own events. The other is a main street where each event depends on someone choosing to open a door. That split explains the vacant-building debate at City Hall this year.
The Landing runs on a published schedule
Marin Country Mart at 2257 Larkspur Landing Circle posts its whole season on its events page. October looks like this:
- All month: the annual honor-system pumpkin patch, open October 1 through 31. You pick an heirloom pumpkin and pay on the honor system.
- Through October 31: the giant-pumpkin weight guess at the Trading Post. The pumpkin arrived October 3, and the winner will be announced at the Halloween festival.
- Thursday, October 8, 4 to 8 p.m.: a holiday-collection preview at Diptyque, RSVP required.
- Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10: a trunk show at Hero Shop with Anteros merino shirts and Cecilia bags.
- Saturday, October 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: the 14th Annual Pie Baking Contest at the Farmers' Market. First prize is $200, there's a kids-under-14 category, and Three Babes Bakeshop and Salt & Straw sell pie by the slice à la mode. Drop-off is at 10, and winners are named at 2.
- Fridays at 6 p.m. through October 30: the last weeks of the outdoor movie series that started June 19, with food, beer and wine from Mart businesses.
- Saturday, October 31: the Halloween festival, with an 11 a.m. courtyard costume contest and trick-or-treating from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Mart also held two Oktoberfest afternoons on September 27 and October 4, with the Zicke Zacke Band. The pie contest is in its 14th year. These events come back because one owner plans them, books them and promotes them on one page.
The city's pumpkin morning is the same Saturday
The City of Larkspur runs its own seasonal event, and it overlaps with the Mart. The Piper Park Pumpkin Patch runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 10, at 250 Doherty Drive. That's the same morning as the pie contest, which runs until 2 p.m., so a family could fit in both if the kids hold out. Piper Park also had a busy summer at the council level. In July the council settled a long court dispute with a split of two tennis courts, one pickleball court and one mixed-use court, with resurfacing named as the next step.
So the city plans one morning and the Mart plans a whole month. Downtown has no one doing that job.
Magnolia Avenue fills one storefront at a time
The Peso shows how a downtown comeback works when there's no central events team. Longtime owner and bartender Rebel Lee sold the business and its remaining lease in February. The new operators aimed for a St. Patrick's Day reopening, depending on a liquor-license transfer. The building's owners, Larkspur residents Tommy and Shannon Lamanna, put money into the structural work. The grand reopening ended up scheduled for late May.
"There's no rebranding, just preserving it as it was, and once folks get a chance to see it, they'll feel the same energy as before." Max Perry, to the Marin IJ in February
The update itself was modest. It covered refinished floors and bar siding, fresh paint, new bathrooms, new pool tables, upgraded TVs and a refurbished shuffleboard table. The taps pour IPAs and Kölsch-style beers, and the chalkboard menu lists margaritas, negronis and martinis. Posted hours are noon to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends. Food comes from partner trucks for events and on weekends, and The Humble Cheeseburger truck parked outside on reopening day. The building has served drinks since the 1930s and became the Silver Peso in 1961. It also has its own calendar habit: the yearly Thanksgiving Eve reunion crowd. No 2026 date has been announced, so treat it as tradition, not a promise.
Other recent arrivals on Magnolia are just as individual:
- Feerma Love, a coffee cart at 455 Magnolia, serves coffee, specialty lattes, matcha, cold-pressed juices and pastries. The IJ covered it in February. The same report described a planned Feerma restaurant and bar at that address, serving modern North African and Mediterranean food, with a summer target. No source has confirmed an opening yet.
- Internos Wine & Beer Bar at 1110 Magnolia is in Marin Magazine's August guide to eating in Larkspur.
- Tavola Rustica, a Cal-Italian restaurant from San Francisco, is in the same guide at 286 Magnolia.
Downtown's biggest group event of the year happened in late summer. The 14th annual Downtown Larkspur Wine Stroll ran from 4 to 7 p.m. along Magnolia, from the Lark Creek Shops to Ward Street. It had more than 22 wineries and breweries, food tastings and music from Larkspur's own Funk Nugget. That was one afternoon. The Mart has at least seven dated items on its calendar for October alone.
The empty windows are now a City Hall topic
When a downtown depends on individual operators, every vacancy shows. At a June 17 workshop, the City Council discussed a possible tax on vacant buildings and a registry that would charge owners a fee and set maintenance standards for vacant property. City Attorney Sky Woodruff explained that a parcel tax would be a special tax needing two-thirds voter approval. The city would decide the rate, which properties qualify and what counts as vacant.
Mayor Stephanie Andre named specific sites: the former Lucky's, the former Bed Bath & Beyond, and several empty bank buildings on Sir Francis Drake near Bon Air. The IJ reported that many of the letters the city received focused on the former Lucky's and on the town's need for a grocery store. City Manager Dan Schwarz said the vacancy count "ebbs and flows" depending on how vacancy is defined. Nothing was adopted. The council asked staff to hold another workshop, and the mayor mentioned spring as a possible ballot window if the idea moves forward.
The issue has also reached the election. Seven candidates are running for three council seats on November 3, and the IJ's candidate roundup includes a candidate who said empty Magnolia storefronts pushed him to run. There's also a city-owned vacant lot at 255 Magnolia, about 3,000 square feet near the Arch Street steps, that was proposed as a mini-park in January. The council asked for a revised cost estimate before adding it to the city's project list.
The business community has been working on the same gap. In January, the Larkspur Chamber of Commerce asked the city for $20,000 to support business retention, marketing, events, a business survey, and help for small businesses with counseling and permits. Marketing and events are on that list, and at the Landing they come from a single events page.
Dates that run past October
Two dates are easy to miss once the pumpkins are gone.
The town's holiday tree lighting, Holiday Magic Happens!, runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, at Larkspur Community Park. The Chamber's earlier version was called "Holiday Magic on Magnolia," and its page still describes a 2024 event on the avenue. If you're planning around a downtown tree lighting, this year's is at the park.
At the ferry terminal, Golden Gate Ferry's $10 Sail & Rail combo with SMART is ending. The district's notice sets October 31 as the last day to buy and November 30 as the last day to ride. The ticket covers one one-way trip between San Francisco and the North Bay, with one ferry leg and one SMART leg through Larkspur in either direction. It's sold only in the SMART app, not on Clipper. If friends in Sonoma County ride down to Larkspur and take the ferry into the city, this is the last month they can buy that $10 fare.
If you have a strong opinion about what should go into the old Lucky's building, or you can't believe the Peso's shuffleboard table survived, I'd love to hear it. I'm Marc Machado, and I've lived in Marin for more than 20 years. I'm always glad to talk about what's opening, what's still dark on Magnolia, and how the town's quieter corners change. Reach Out Today, even if it's only to argue about the best slice at the pie contest.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
