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TTF Patsy D'Amore's
Photograph: Time Out/Patricia Kelly Yeo

Table at Third & Fairfax: Patsy D’Amore’s Pizza

Grab a slice of history from one of the city’s very first pizzerias.

Patricia Kelly Yeo
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Patricia Kelly Yeo
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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 BHC Chicken again.

“Institution” is one of the most overused words in L.A. food media—a thought that first occurs to me occurs to me as I eat a slice of mediocre cheese pizza ($5.60) from Patsy D’Amore’s (est. 1949), one of the market’s oldest vendors and among the city’s very first pizzerias. If you want to get technical, however, the actual honor goes to Casa D’Amore, a now-closed Hollywood restaurant founded in 1939 by brothers Franklyn and Patsy D’Amore. A decade later, the latter split off to open his own place at the Farmers Market, and it’s still owned by his descendants today.

The lukewarm slice is just 40 cents cheaper than the cheese slice at nearby Friends & Family Pizza Co., but of slightly poorer quality. The crust is chewy, the marinara sauce is generous and the melted mozzarella is, well, cheesy, but it’s not the kind of pizza I’d rave to friends about or even add to the rotation for home delivery. The pizza is quite literally a slice of history, but the food quality doesn’t actually hold up in the same way other old-school places like the Apple Pan and Philippe's do. Is Patsy’s an institution? Definitely not. It’s just long in the tooth, which isn’t the same thing.

Patsy D'Amore's
Photograph: Time Out/Patricia Kelly Yeo

I sit at a table commemorating a late local journalist, and consider the prospect of another seven months of eating at the Farmers Market. After five months, I’m finally closing in on my first pass at almost every vendor, though I’m honestly a little bit tired of the project. Lunch, it turns out, is a time-consuming, afternoon slump-inducing meal, but I’m committed to finishing this year of weekly visits for you, dear readers, in the name of service journalism—which is what Time Out is all about. 

What’s keeping me excited as I look ahead to the next seven months of Table at Third & Fairfax is the outcome of the market’s “New Originals” competition, which will bring a new grocery or food vendor to the old Rick’s Produce space by the end of July. Plus, there’s also the chance to revisit Pampas and Singapore’s Banana Leaf—my personal two favorites of the places I’ve tried thus far. On my way home, I chase my weekly meal with yet another new restaurant on the way home: Laki Ramen, a chicken ramen specialist straight from Japan. Did I mention it’s less than a mile away from the Farmers Market?

Meals from Table at Third & Fairfax fall into three categories: Skip It, Worth Trying and Must Have.

Vendor: Patsy D’Amore’s
Order: Slice of cheese pizza
Verdict: Skip It. Patsy’s serves a slice of history, but modern-day pizza techniques have shown there’s more to pizza than these mediocre pies.

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