From Betsy Malloy,
Your Guide to California Travel.
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• Hours: Open daily
• Cost: Parking fee
• Location: Corner of Third and Fairfax, driving directions below
• How Long: An hour or so to browse, longer if you shop a lot or have a meal
• Best Time to Visit: Any time, but livelier on weekends
• See It Now: Photo tour

In 1934, enterprising farmers started an informal market at the corner of Fairfax and Third Street, selling produce from their trucks. Tourists soon discovered the impromptu Farmers Market, marveling at the array of fresh produce available even in mid-winter, and the Farmers Market grew into a more formal complex of produce stalls. Over seventy years later, the Farmers Market is still one of the most popular sights in Los Angeles, an official Los Angeles Cultural and Historical Landmark drawing over 3 million visitors a year.

The cream-colored buildings of the Farmers Market, with their green roofs and brick-colored trim, embrace dozens of small shops and stalls knitted together by a network of passageways. The charm of the Farmers Market lies in unpretentious connection to the past: red vinyl stools and green Formica counters, green-painted folding chairs. The crowd is a combination of Hollywood locals who still come here to buy meats and produce and tourists licking ice cream cones.

Hollywood's glitterati have been going to the Farmers Market for years. Walt Disney sat at a Farmers Market table while he designed Disneyland, and it is said that James Dean ate breakfast here on September 30, 1955, shortly before getting into his Porsche and going for the last drive of his life. Today, groups of writers, directors and Hollywood executives gather for breakfast meetings, and the Los Angeles Times still lists the Farmers Market as the best place in Los Angeles to spot celebrities.

The Farmers Market stays true to its origins, with stalls for butchers and bakers and others selling fresh produce, candies, nuts and cheese. Magee's, one of the Farmers Market's original merchants, grinds 100,000 pounds of peanut butter a year and the folks over at Bob's Donuts begin work at 4:30 AM to bake the 1,000 donuts they sell each day. In all, there are 100 shops here with 500 employees (who speak at least 23 different languages).

If admiring the produce and food stalls works up an appetite, one can also dine at the Farmers Market in many languages. Lines form at Kokomo, said to be a celebrity favorite, for weekend breakfast, and DuPar's serves its red hot meat pies as it has since 1938, but the longest lines form at the Gumbo Pot, a personal favorite for its Louisiana-style gumbo, red beans and rice and sweet potato salad.

The Grove at Farmers Market, an 80,000 square foot retail and restaurant complex opened in 2002. Tied to the Farmers Market by a gleaming green streetcar and a simulated main street, it adds more attractions at the corner of Third and Fairfax. A few older storage buildings were taken down to make way for the construction, but the Farmers Market remains intact, making it possibly one of the most interesting seventy-somethings in Los Angeles.

Review

We rate Farmers Market Los Angeles 5 stars out of 5. It retains a folksy, comfortable quality, serves some great food at reasonable prices and it's unparalleled for people-watching.

Others may disagree. You can see what other people just like you think about it, then bookmark this page and after you've been there, come back and tell us what you think.

What do you think of the Farmers Market Los Angeles as a tourist attraction???

• 0 = Yuck! Just say no to this flea-bitten hole of a tourist trap
• 1 = So-So More fun than a night in jail, but you might enjoy a good nap more
• 2 = OK Some people find it interesting, but I didn't
• 3 = Good Go if you have time, but it's not a big deal if you miss it
• 4 = Great I really liked it, and I think you will, too
• 5 = Awesome! It's a must-see sight that I recommend to everyone

If You Liked The Farmers Market, You May Also Like:

• Ferry Building Marketplace, San Francisco
• Pike Place, Seattle

Getting to The Farmers Market

Exit I-10 at Fairfax and go north to Third. From I-405, take Sunset Boulevard east, then go south on Fairfax.

The primary access to the parking lot is from Fairfax.

6333 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 933-9211
Website