On the Road – Pea Soup Andersen’s

Oct 12, 2023

If you have taken a road trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco, you would have seen the signs for Pea Soup Andersen’s.  I remember seeing the signs the first time I drove up the 101 decades ago.   I am not a fan of pea soup, so I never stopped but a few years back, a couple of friends mentioned that the food is actually pretty good and not only is their pea soup wonderful, their fried chicken is delicious.  We  decided to give it a try and we loved it.

There are two locations, the original is off of the 101 and the second location is off the 5 freeway so it doesn’t matter if we are taking the 101 or the 5 freeway, we always plan on stopping. This was the first time I went to the one in Santa Nella and I was glad to see that it was almost identical to the one in Buellton, complete with the windmill, Danish bakery and gift shop.

I always feel nostalgic when I go to Pea Soup Andersen’s.  The restaurant started in the 1920s.  It started as a stand and over the years, it grew into a restaurant.  At the Buellton location, they added a hotel and from what I read, they even had a zoo when roadside attractions were popular.   The booths, paper placemats, stir sticks and printed napkins reminded me of my childhood road trips and how we all piled into the family station wagon and went somewhere.  It was as much about the trip as it was the destination.  We passed the time in the car playing Mad-libs, Yahtzee and scouring the AAA guidebooks for places to stop.

I often find myself wondering if my parents had stopped at either of the restaurants when they travelled cross country and drove through California.  This would have been right up their alley.    I know my parents would have loved this place and I could see my mom buying a bucket of Danish Cookies for the road.

The food isn’t fancy but it is good and portions are generous and yes, the pea soup is delicious and later I found out, it can be ordered on amazon.com