Table at Third & Fairfax is a weekly dining column in 2023 where Food and Drink editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will eat her way through the Original Farmers Market. Each column will drop on Thursday for a week-by-week recap of her journey through the classic L.A. tourist attraction. Last week, Kelly ranked the market’s French fry options from worst to best.
Thirty eight: That’s the number of iced or cold drinks my taste buds, bladder and editorial budget could tolerate this Tuesday afternoon, when I spent $250 hunting down the very best cold (non-alcoholic) drinks at the Original Farmers Market. As with last week, when I tried the market’s mere seven different French fry options, collecting all of my food and drink orders from various vendors was a struggle. For the sake of this guide, I left out all the unsweetened iced tea and unflavored lemonade options, of which there were many. (If either of these guides sounds interesting to you, feel free to email me.) I also excluded canned and bottled options as well as Starbucks, for the obvious reasons that these are all cold drink options you can get at countless other places than the corner of West Third Street and Fairfax Avenue. I also consider milkshakes and ice cream floats more desserts than beverages, so I left these out as well.
That still left dozens of drinks to sip on, so over the course of 90 minutes (the exact amount of time you’ll receive free validated parking from the market), I tried all 14 iced and cold drinks on the menu at Coffee Corner (est. 1946) and the four iced drink options at Singapore’s Banana Leaf (est. 2002). I also sampled all but one of the nine freshly made juices, five different fruit-flavored lemonades and the one flavored iced tea (passion fruit) at the Salad Bar (est. 1980-something). At Trejo’s Tacos (est. 2018), I sipped on the date-sweetened horchata and two agua frescas available: pina verde and jamaica agua. Last and least, I tried two sparkling sodas and a chocolate New York-style egg cream from Local Ice (est. 2017), none of which made it into my guide to the Original Farmers Market’s 10 most delicious, refreshing ice-cold drinks.
10. The Beetonic juice at the Salad Bar ($9.25, 16oz)
The eight freshly made juices I tried at the Salad Bar were the most expensive drinks I ordered by far—and most of them, since they’re made fresh to order, were close to ambient temperature when I finally tried them all. Most of the combinations were standard or unsurprising. Since L.A.’s juice cleanse obsession has finally somewhat died down, I mostly judged these off taste, rather than any particular nutritional value. Oddly enough, this beet, carrot and apple concoction emerged as a frontrunner among the Salad Bar’s house juice items. With zings of ginger and lemon juice, the earthy, slightly sweet drink tastes less like health food and more like a complex adult version of fruit punch. The Beetonic outperformed the similar-sounding Red Zinger, which substitutes green apple for regular apple juice and tastes more sour as a result.
9. The Fresh Wonder juice at the Salad Bar ($9.25, 16 oz)
Made with watermelon, cucumber and lemon, the Fresh Wonder combination tastes like a sweeter version of a drink you’d get at a spa. The distinctive watermelon flavor gets tempered by the cucumber and lemon juice, and the overall drink is refreshing and delicious.
8. The herbal lemonade at Coffee Corner ($3.50, size small)
The mint leaves give this flavored lemonade a refreshing mojito-like flavor that’s distinctive from the standard variety offered at Coffee Corner. It’s definitely worth deviating from the plain options at Charlie’s Coffee Shop, Fritzi Coop and Bryan’s Pit BBQ to try this one if you’re in the market for a lemonade.
7.The date-sweetened horchata at Trejo’s Tacos ($5.50, one size)
After making horchata from scratch for the first time, I now understand the appeal of the usually chalky, syrupy-sweet drink that I've bought from random taco trucks. This subtler, date-sweetened option at Trejo’s Tacos tastes almost just like the one I’ve made at home, with subtle hints of cinnamon and an almost-silky texture. It’s also far superior to the other two aguas frescas I tried on my visit, which ran far too sweet for my taste.
6. The raspberry lemonade at the Salad Bar ($5.99, 16 oz)
I tried all five of the flavored lemonade options from the Salad Bar, and this was the best of the bunch. The watermelon and pineapple options tasted mostly like the fruit flavors themselves than lemonade, while the blueberry option didn’t really incorporate the actual berries (they were stuck frozen, somewhat artfully in each piece of ice). The strawberry was nice enough, but the raspberry lemonade stuck out the most. The tiny drupelets—as I learned they’re called while filing this column—break up nicely, imparting a tinge of raspberry to the lemonade.
5. The ice blended Spanish latte at Coffee Corner ($6.25, one size)
Years ago, when I used to work at Eggslut’s Venice Beach location, my one indulgence for the day was always a Spanish latte from Menotti’s down the street (one of the city’s best coffee shops, by the way). This ice blended version at Coffee Corner lacks the bold cinnamon flavor of the ones from my past life as a cashier, but it’s got a mild sweetness that makes it slightly more interesting than a standard ice blended latte.
4. The frozen strawberry lemonade at Coffee Corner ($3.50, small)
While I enjoyed the strawberry lemonade made with real fruit from the Salad Bar, the slightly more artificial tasting frozen variety from the Coffee Corner actually captures what I imagine most people have in mind when they order “pink” lemonade: a day at the beach, Fourth of July or even just a humble cup from a kid’s lemonade stand.
3. The passion fruit iced tea at the Salad Bar ($4.60, 16 oz)
Of the flavored iced teas I tried from the market, this one was the best. The passion fruit tastes real here—it’s a juice and smoothie bar, after all—but doesn’t add too much sweetness, so you can still taste the flavor of the black tea leaves coming through. If you want a great flavored iced tea, it’s worth walking across the market from the Coffee Corner on the East Patio for this wonderfully tropical iced tea.
2. The ice blended cookies and cream at Coffee Corner ($5.95, one size)
Despite the slightly chalky aftertaste (that’s the cookies for you), this ice blended dessert beverage is a delightful thing to drink on a hot summer day. Compared to Coffee Corner’s other ice blended drink options not on this list (green tea, chai and mocha), this one tasted the most like the flavor advertised, though it does lack a jolt of caffeine. This can be easily supplemented with a shot of espresso, which tacks on $1.40.
1. The cendol at Singapore’s Banana Leaf ($5.45, one size)
This shaved ice treat straddles the line between beverage and dessert, but as the ice melts, as it’s likely to quickly do on a hot summer day, the “chendol” (as SBL labels it, so people pronounce the drink correctly) definitively becomes something you drink, rather than scoop with a plastic spoon. Primarily consisting of light coconut milk, dark brown palm syrup and finely shaved ice, the drink’s two main attractions are the pandan jellies layered within the cup and the red adzuki beans atop the mound of shaved ice. Once mixed together, the bright green jellies give the drink an herbal, almost minty flavor, while the naturally sweet beans add a slightly earthy sweetness.
BONUS: The honeydew cantaloupe juice at the Salad Bar ($9.25, one size)
While this was listed as an off-menu special, I decided to order one anyway along with the rest of my made-to-order juices. The two fruits combine into one refreshing sweet drink that’s worth ordering whenever melons are in season.
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