One of my first trips out in LA was to The Grove the nearby Farmers Market.
The Grove
The Grove shopping and restaurant area
The Grove is an open air shopping and restaurant area not far from West Hollywood. Warning – it gets very busy. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was packed. It’s not huge but has a good selection of shops and restaurants and generally a nice feel being open air. It’s great for a stroll with a water feature and a few green spaces to take a break and people watch with a coffee or an ice cream. There’s also live music on different days and a tram running through the middle to keep the kids entertained.
The Grove
Although it’s a nice place to visit I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to rush back to The Grove, but the Farmers Market next door is the star here and definitely makes a visit to the area worthwhile.
The Farmers Market
As mentioned the Farmers Market is adjacent to the Grove and a lot more authentic dating back to 1934. This open air setting has over 100 stalls with 40 of these being food options so you are really spoilt for choice with all cuisines covered making this the perfect place to eat.
Farmers Market (get there early for a seat!!)
There’s lots of communal seating between stalls and there’s a great atmosphere here with tourists and locals alike. For a London comparison, I thought there were similarities in parts to Camden Lock Market, mixed in with a sprinkling of Borough Market.
Farmers Market
I would recommend wandering through the stalls before you make your choice. This could take a while. I opted for one of the enormous traditional Magee’s Kitchen sandwiches but a French restaurant called Monsieur Marcels looked amazing and would be my choice for next time. Other popular options included The Pampas Grill (a Brazilian BBQ place) with a queue for miles but it looked worth it. There’s plenty of options for dessert too from crepes to cookies to ice cream.
Farmers Market – it gets very busy on the weekend!
Getting there
I got an Uber from Beverly Hills which was really easy. Although I did decide to walk back which in hindsight probably wasn’t my greatest idea to date. I definitely underestimated it and should have listened to the advice that LA for the most part isn’t made for walking (having said that Beverly Hills definitely is). On a positive, strolling down 3rd street between Fairfax Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard did reveal some great eateries to try and I perhaps wouldn’t have found these without strolling. Post the other shopping area of the Beverly Centre on La Cienega Boulevard there’s not a great deal until you hit Beverly Hills but at least I walked some of the food off!!