Walk into Oaks by the Bay Park on a Saturday morning and the first thing you notice isn't the vendors. It's the oak. The tree at the center of the park is estimated at 250 years old, wide enough that its shade covers half the market before 10 a.m., and its estimated age exceeds the lifetimes of anyone selling tomatoes underneath it. Everything else in St. Andrews rotates around that fact more than most residents probably realize.
The Market at St. Andrews sets up here every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and it has held this exact spot at 2715 W 10th St since May 2022. That's not a small detail. Across the bay in downtown, the city's other Saturday market was temporarily relocated during construction at McKenzie Park before the Panama City Commission voted unanimously on March 10, 2026, to designate Harrison Avenue as its permanent home. The Market at St. Andrews, by contrast, has stayed under the same tree, giving the neighborhood's Saturday a familiar rhythm.
Two Saturday Markets in Panama City
If you've ever told a friend you're "heading to the farmers market" without specifying which one, you're not alone. Panama City has two separate Saturday markets, so it helps to specify which one you mean.
The Market at St. Andrews is the one on Beck Avenue and W 10th Street, run through the Historic St. Andrews Waterfront Partnership. It started back in 2004 as a small operation at the St. Andrews Marina, grew enough by 2011 to spread onto the Yacht Basin boardwalk, took its current name in January 2019, and settled at Oaks by the Bay Park in May 2022. Four years in the same park is a long run for an event that has changed locations since it began in 2004.
The Panama City Farmers' Market is the other one. Construction at McKenzie Park led to its temporary relocation. The March 10 vote designated Harrison Avenue as its permanent address, with the market rotating between two sections of the street through 2026 so downtown businesses on both blocks get a turn at the foot traffic.
For anyone living in St. Andrews, The Market at St. Andrews has remained at Oaks by the Bay Park since May 2022.
| Saturday market | Where | Hours | Anchored since |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Market at St. Andrews | Oaks by the Bay Park, 2715 W 10th St | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | May 2022 |
| Panama City Farmers' Market | Harrison Avenue (rotating blocks) | Historically 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Permanent as of March 2026 |
What Grew Up Around the One That Stayed Put
A market that doesn't move gives the businesses around it something to build a rhythm on, and Beck Avenue has clearly used the last four years to do exactly that.
Uncle Ernie's Bayfront Grill and Brew House sits right on the marina, close enough to the market that the crowd tends to drift there once the vendors start packing up. This year the restaurant pushed its hours to close at 10 p.m. and added live music every single night of the week, not just weekends. The August lineup names a different performer for each night: Chris Wade on Mondays, Jon White on Tuesdays, Jeff Bouet on Wednesdays, David Yunker on Thursdays, Brooke Washor on Fridays, Jamah Terry on Saturdays, and Hanson LeBouf closing out Sundays. It's a fixed schedule.
A few blocks over, The Grocery Kitchen & Taproom occupies a building that's been standing since 1928, when it opened as a grocery store called Serve-You-Well. Owner Kay Parker Brackett comes from a family that's been in Panama City since 1947, her father among the original owners of the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park. The restaurant runs Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., which means the Saturday market crowd and the Sunday brunch crowd overlap by exactly one day of rest.
Then there's Captain's Table Fish House on Beck Avenue, which has the longest memory of any business in the neighborhood. The story goes back to the 1930s, when a $75 wedding gift let one woman buy the building and open it as a seafood restaurant. Her descendants still run it. Hurricane Michael took the original structure down in 2018, and it took three years of rebuilding before the restaurant reopened under the same name and the same family. Ninety years of continuity survived one storm and came back anyway, which says something about how this particular stretch of Beck Avenue treats permanence.
The Evening Half of the Same Day
St. Andrews doesn't shut down when the market packs up at 1 p.m. The day just changes shape.
Oaks by the Bay Park has hosted sunset yoga sessions through the city's recreation calendar this summer, the most recent one running from 6 to 7 p.m. on August 20. It's a small, unglamorous detail, but it means the park that opens the day with produce stands closes it with people stretching on the boardwalk as the light goes orange over the bay. On select Saturdays, Sound Collective at 1113 Beck Ave runs an evening alley market after dark, separate from the morning farmers market.
By the time the sun is actually down, Uncle Ernie's deck fills in. The restaurant markets itself around what it calls Bay County's best sunset views, and the claim is at least plausible from a table facing the marina. The restaurant combines extended hours, nightly performers, and a direct sightline to the water.
A Calendar That Runs Deeper Than the Market
The neighborhood calendar extends beyond food and music. Keep St Andrews Salty, a local community effort distinct from both the market and the historic Mardi Gras krewe, organized a citywide edition of Worldwide Play Music on the Porch Day this past Saturday, August 29, with musicians performing on merchants' front and back porches across the district. The same group has an art-focused event coming up on Friday, September 4, from noon to 6 p.m., inviting residents to bring a creative project and work on it anywhere in St. Andrews for the afternoon.
These events add to the neighborhood calendar beyond food and music. Like the market, which has been at Oaks by the Bay Park since May 2022, they give the neighborhood a familiar rhythm.
Why the Stability Is the Story
The easy version of this piece would be a list of good places to eat on a Saturday in St. Andrews, and there's no shortage of those. But the more interesting fact is the one underneath it. The Panama City Farmers' Market received a permanent address in March 2026, while The Market at St. Andrews has been at Oaks by the Bay Park since May 2022. Uncle Ernie's lists evening hours and nightly performers for August, and community groups have events on the calendar.
If you already live in the Panama City area and split your weekends between St. Andrews and the Downtown side of the bay, you have two Saturday markets with distinct histories and locations to choose from.
For more on what makes this stretch of St. Andrews Bay tick, or if a friend or family member is weighing a move to this side of Panama City, Gillman Group Realty is always glad to talk through what a neighborhood actually feels like day to day. Contact us anytime.
