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 tried Friends & Family Pizza Co, which just landed on this month's best new restaurant list.
From the moment it opens, the lines never seem to stop at Pampas Grill (est. 2001), the cafeteria-style churrascaria at the Original Farmers Market. Many years ago, I visited their standalone location in Culver City with my family, so I’m already familiar with the pay-by-weight pricing model and impressive array of Brazilian classics.
It isn’t even noon yet on a Tuesday, and there’s a small line ahead of me. I’m worried about taking too long and holding up the line, but I want to consider all my options—even with 52 weeks in this column, I’ll probably only visit Pampas Grill one or two more times in 2023. I mull over the plainer sides like black beans, fried plantains and heart of palm salad, plus pao de queijo, the tiny dinner rolls made of tapioca flour and cheese; chicken stroganoff, a creamier, tomato-rich offshoot of the Russian beef dish; and, of course, feijoada, the meaty black bean stew that many call Brazil’s national dish.
From the cold section, I end up with three salads: heart of palm, bowtie pasta with cheese and sundried tomatoes and tomato slices and red onion in balsamic dressing. From the hot section, I ladle some black beans onto my plate (already accounted for on the scale, as the sign above me makes clear) and use the tongs to serve myself some white rice, collard greens and a few plantains.
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Then, of course, comes the fun part, at least for meat-eaters: deciding on which, and how much, of each cut to eat. I try to ask for a quarter-pound of the picanha (sirloin cap) from the employee. “Maybe a few slices,” he responds. As another guy slices the picanha, I can already tell he’s right about portion size. For a little variety, I throw in another slice of the maminha (tri-tip). With a 15 percent tip and tax, my platter comes out to $31.88—or $14.85 per pound. If you’re just looking for hot dishes and salads, it’s $11.75 a pound.
Walking to a nearby table with my tray, I find myself ravenous. Both cuts of beef are juicy and medium-rare, and pair well with the array of flavors, textures and temperatures on the plate: the coolness of the cucumber, the sharp red onion, the sweet plantains. Hardly bitter at all, I’m thankful for the helping of collard greens, which pack some kind of nutritional value to my lunch. The black beans are cooked to perfection, and the bowtie salad is, well, a cold pasta salad. I save the pao de queijo for last, savoring each chewy, mildly cheesy morsel.
The constant lines at Pampas Grill pretty much say it all: Even if you’re not a tourist, you should visit this Brazilian churrascaria. Nearby, there’s more upscale options like Fogo de Chao in Beverly Hills—which has dipped in quality as of late—and the Beverly Center’s H&H Steakhouse, but I honestly don’t see a reason, if we’re considering just the food itself, to ever stray from Pampas Grill. The ambience might run casual, but the top-notch grilling and excellent hot and cold sides are more than enough for the casual diner.
Meals from Table at Third & Fairfax fall into three categories: Skip It, Worth Trying and Must Have.
Vendor: Pampas Grill
Order: Sirloin cap, tri-tip with a bevy of hot and cold sides
Verdict: Must Have. In terms of price and quality, this Brazilian churrascaria is hard to beat—and the line, while ever-present, usually moves pretty fast.