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 Peking Kitchen.
It’s the halfway point for Table at Third & Fairfax, and I’ve still got six more market vendors to try before I’ll have tried them all, aside from the bigger chains like Veggie Grill, Starbucks and Chipotle. This week, I’m up to my neck in sandwich and pizza spots for a planned update next week. As a result, I’m thoroughly tired of bread in all its forms, so I want to craft something green and nutritious despite the market’s limited healthy options. Rather than head to Salad Bar, I decide to mod out a salad at Trejo’s Tacos (est. 2018).
The fast-casual taqueria is partially owned by Mexican American actor Danny Trejo, who opened the local chain’s original Mid-City outpost in 2016. Since then, he and his partners have expanded to the Original Farmers Market, as well as Hollywood, Downtown, Santa Monica and a doughnut shop. (There was also a short-lived location near USC, which I visited as a graduate student in 2019 and thought was just fine.) Though it’s technically a chain, Trejo’s Tacos is still a hometown operation with such a stereotypically L.A. backstory that I think it merits inclusion in this column.
Waiting in line—Trejo’s Tacos is one of the few places other than Pampas where there’s usually a short wait—I decide on the El Jefe salad ($10), which per the paper menu consists of mixed greens, grilled corn, beans, cherry tomatoes, cotija cheese, tortilla strips and a citrus vinaigrette. When I get to the cashier, I add on blackened salmon ($7) and guacamole ($4), which brings my total with tax to a whopping $22.99. I’m used to this kind of add-on bonanza at overpriced hotel restaurants and the like, but the total cost of this downright casual weekday lunch stings.
For the next 10 minutes, I withhold further judgment; it’s hard to say just how much salmon or guacamole I’ll receive on top of my order. When my order badge buzzes, the tiny steel bowl of salad comes topped with two small pieces of charred salmon and a satisfyingly large scoop of chunky guac. I’m pleased with the latter and disappointed with the former. Both items add to the salad’s lack of filling, though the salmon is extremely dry and again, quite meagerly portioned. The citrus vinaigrette, which I order on the side, delivers enough zing to bring the entire dish together.
Despite that, I wouldn’t order the blackened salmon or the salad here again. The overall portion was small for the price, especially when you can walk over to nearby Erewhon and order a high-quality salad for a few dollars more. In the future, however, I plan to visit Trejo’s Tacos for a proper taco or burrito bowl again, once I’ve visited the market’s other two Mexican food options: Magee’s and El Granjero Cantina.
Meals from Table at Third & Fairfax fall into three categories: Skip It, Worth Trying and Must Have.
Vendor: Trejo’s Tacos
Order: El Jefe salad with blackened salmon and guacamole
Verdict: Skip It. Relative to the rest of the menu, this pricey salad feels poorly thought out, and the add-on portion is quite small.