3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue (Los Angeles, CA)
Spend a Friday or Saturday morning sampling delicious world cuisine in the heart of mid-city Los Angeles. This walking and tasting tour from Melting Pot Tours includes tastings at various stops in the famous L.A. landmark Farmers' Market at 3rd and Fairfax. Then, heading west along 3rd Street, you'll enjoy additional small gourmet bites at specialty eateries and a visit to a renowned cookbook store.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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What a fun event this was! I live in LA County but hadn't been to the Farmer's Market since I was a child, so it was a treat to see the remodel that was done a few years back. Oh sure, I could have gone there on my own to see it, but taking the Melting Pot Tour was the much better way to go. I learned about its history, got insider information on some of the shops there, and ate lots of tasty free samples that our tour guide had pre-arranged for our convenience and enjoyment. Then we walked down 3rd Street to visit a cookbook store and a few other places, including a local perfumery where we "sampled" perfume fragrances. My ex-sister-in-law, who was visiting from Australia, just loved the entire experience as it was a great way for us to visit, as well as meet other people. I highly recommend this tour if you love L.A. and love to eat.
What a fun way to spend a Saturday morning! You'll learn about amazing vendors, hear fun stories and eat a ton (come hungry!) I highly recommend to both L.A. natives and visitors looking to learn more about the "melting pot" of L.A. culture and food.
I took this tour Friday and have been raving about it to my local friends since then! I have lived across the street from the Farmer's Market for almost two years and go there often but until taking this tour there were many things I'd missed or didn't know existed. The tour also covers many places on Third Street that I hadn't discovered. I have a nice list of places to return to. I highly recommend this tour for locals or tourists.
Just wanted to let everyone know that this, to me, was worth the money.. I had done a Food Tour by the same company in NY twice, and because I loved it so much, decided to try this one in LA with my new boyfriend. Obviously, the food and history are quite different between the two places, but we both really enjoyed ourselves, and the places that you go to sample are neat. The gals who led the group (hi, Mary!) were wonderful... I liked that they take you outside the Farmer's Market and around to local shops and restaurants as well. Thumbs up, and recommended.
It was what we expected and more. As someone that has been visting the Farmer's Market and surrounding restaurants for more that 35 years, we saw, learned, and enjoyed things we didn't know were there. I recommend this for locals, but out of towners will also enjoy it. We already recommended this to our friends.
This food tour was very fun. My husband and I enjoyed all the great tasting samples and learning more about the LA area. You eat plenty of good food and you don't leave hungry. If anything you leave full and satisfied! Would recommend this to anyone who enjoys sampling good food and enjoying the LA experience.
I would recommend this to locals(like me ) and tourists.
I would go on it again,too!
This tour was a birthday gift to myself. It turned out to be a 3 generation tour complete with my mom, husband and 2 year old son. We all had a great time and really enjoyed the entire experience. We were well fed and full! Diane was an excellent tour guide, she was both knowledgeable and very personable. We are inviting more friends and looking forward to other tours offered by Melting Pot Tours.
This tour was eye-opening and delicious - definitely a tour for the senses! I grew up in the Los Angeles area, but I've only recently taken an interest in exploring my surroundings. As a frequenter of the LA Farmers Market, I never really did explore as much of the Market as I could have, butI was completely surprised and delighted by the history and information I got out of this tour. I wandered corners of this market I would've neer thought to wander.
The faces we met on our tour were friendly, and everyone had a great time. I especially enjoy that our 'tour guides' were familiar and friendly with every person we were introduced to. They really opened up our senses to the great things 3rd & Fairfax has to offer. You'd never know it from driving right through the area, but there are gorgeous and fun places to eat and shop at.
Monsieur Marcel's to Littlejohn's Candies. Pampas Grill to Bob's Doughnuts. Cook's Library to Joan's on Third. Mishima to The Little Door. There's going to be something that everyone loves most, and the food tastings were excellent!
It's definitely a brilliant opportunity to get to know your city a bit better and find a real appreciation for the little thriving businesses tucked away in the nooks and crannies.
The tour gave a brief but informative overview of the history of the "Farmer's Market" and businesses on 3rd Street as we stopped at various merchants. There was a variety of foods to sample and I don't believe anyone went away hungry. Our tour guides and the group in general were all very friendly which made the acitivity particularly enjoyable. On the down side . . . It was a hot day and I think the walk down 3rd street was hard on some of the older adults on the tour. The tour provided a bus ride back to the Farmer's Market which all but two participants took advantage of. I appreciated the fact that there was "NO" time for shopping during the tour. It was basically an introduction to the area and if people were interested in going back to a merchant they could do it on their own time after the tour. It was a tight schedule and we were able to see and visit many places because we kept to it.
It was great - the 2 owners were very knowledgeable and seemed to know everyone's (12) name within minutes. The owners should really advertise that they give you a shopping bag, water, bus fare back to Farmer's Market, help with parking, etc. We enjoyed it very much and would highly recommend to others. There was one awkward moment - when one of the owners asked for tips at the end. Maybe this could be handled differently.
What a great idea. This walking tour of the Farmer's Market and 3rd St. eateries (and one perfume shop) was great. Even having been to the Farmer's Market before I experienced things that were all new to me. You spend about the first 1 1/2 hours at the Farmer's Market visiting different food stops where you are able to taste the wares as well as listen to great tid bits of history from each. The brochure states that you will not leave hungry and they were right. I was stuffed by the end of the tour having ate doughnuts, monkey bread, bread, cheese, olives, sirloin tip, linguica, yucca, cheese bread balls, chicken salad, buckwheat noodles, spider rolls, and french macarroons!!!!! it was all so delicious. I can't wait to go again on this tour or one of the other tours that this group has. The guides were wonderful and very friendly and knowledgable. I highly recommend this tour to everyone, LA native or visitor. Although the tour itself is 3 1/2 hours, I recommed that you allow plenty of time after the tour to return to the places you stopped along the way as you will want to return to buy all the great things you have tasted and there is no time to do so on the tour itself.
I loved this tour. I have lived in LA for 10 years, and I had never really been to the Farmer's Market. It was a great tour because we tasted food from many great restaurants, learned a little bit of history about the area, and found places I never knew were there like the Cookbook Library. I would highly recommend this tour for tourists as well as Angelenos.
It was a fun morning spent with our delightful, knowledgeable and friendly hostess, Lisa. I will bring more friends and do these tours again!
This walking tour of the Farmers' Market and shops on Third Street was very informative and enlightening. We found out things about the Farmers' Market we could not have learned any other way. We tasted foods and tried new things we would not ordinarily have tried. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful and well-informed about the shops and eating establishments on our tour. It was a very pleasing experience. We have been back to visit other vendors since, that we would not have, had we not taken the tour.
This was such a great event. I have lived in LA for 10 years and I this tour helped me to come across some great local finds that I knew nothing about. It wasn't just restaurants either. The two sisters who run it are fabulous and very knowledgeable about LA having grown up here. I also got in a nice walk and got to skip my cardio session. This is definitely worth doing even if you have lived here many years or you are just visiting.
I am always looking for new ideas for gifts to give to friends' for birthdays. This was alot of fun and we had a great time. Neither of us had been to the Farmer's Market in a long time and had never wandered on 3rd street. We found many new places to go back to and learned some great stories. Have already recommended this tour to several people.
You should go on this tour!
Diane and Lisa led a fun, informative food tour -- even though I've been to the Farmer's Market many times, I have my favorites and this allowed me to expand my "favorites" list. I even went back and did most of my grocery shopping when the tour was complete.
The walk on 3rd Street was also great -- it was a real treat to meet Joan (of Joan's on 3rd).
I can't wait for their next neighborhood tour.
Our tour guide Diane was fabulous! What a gem of a tour--I tell everyone I know that this is a must do tour. As native angelinos we sometimes forget the gems we have here in LA...the food was great and all the merchants were ao gracious and generous.
What a great way to spend several hours in LA! I loved learning about the local area and my out of the country guests loved it as much as I did. The food was great and the tour was very informative.
I highly recommend it.
Melting Pot Tours presents a brand-new 3.5-hour walking and tasting tour of the Farmers' Market and West 3rd Street. During the tour, you'll delight in a taste of Japan, India, France, Brazil, America and then some. Tour stops are often hosted by owners and merchants who will share stories of how their businesses began, and now thrive, in this highly desirable neighborhood. Tour leaders Lisa and Diane Scalia will also spin funny and heartwarming stories about this special pocket of L.A. and what allure it holds for celebrities, tourists and locals alike.
Tours include a return to the Farmers' Market at the end of the tour via a short, air-conditioned bus ride.
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