Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant, a longtime Santa Ynez Valley landmark known for serving its famous split-pea soup, has been listed for $4.7 million by Radius Commercial Real Estate of Santa Barbara.
The Buellton-based property, comprised of two parcels totaling approximately 3.36 acres on the corner of Hwy. 246 and Avenue of Flags, was listed on Aug. 12, 2020, according to public record.
The 35,000-square-foot building which features a historical diner, gift shops and various banquet rooms is being marketed as "a prime redevelopment opportunity given its proximity to the 101 Freeway, CA 246, and its location in the heart of Buellton’s 'Avenue of Flags Specific Plan.'" The plan is a fundamental strategy drawn up by the City of Buellton in 2017 to revitalize downtown and transform the Avenue of Flags corridor from an aging automobile-oriented thoroughfare to a vibrant, pedestrian friendly main street.
Milt Guggia Jr., whose father purchased both Pea Soup Andersen's Buellton in 1999 and Pea Soup Andersen's Santa Nella in 2007, was not available for comment. Milt Guggia Enterprises also owns other local eateries like AJ Spurs in Buellton.
Pea Soup Andersen's was the brainchild of Anton Andersen from Denmark, and his wife, Juliette, a French woman. In 1924, they established a restaurant renowned for its split-pea soup — a secret recipe of Juliette’s — and named it Andersen’s Electric Café because it had one of the first electric stoves in the area.
The iconic sign for Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton.
Buellton City Council member John Sanchez, who confirmed the restaurant's listing, remarked that since 1924, the property has entertained a hodgepodge of businesses over the years.
Though nostalgic, Sanchez said he sees real potential for its future.
He recalled that the restaurant at one time housed a popular bar that attracted locals, a memorable place where he ceremoniously celebrated his 50th birthday with friends and family.
"It's nice as it is, if someone wants to do something more traditional with it," Sanchez said. "But it would be nice to see somebody buy it and build something nice, too."
Should the property sell, Sanchez said the Buellton Historical Society, which uses a designated area in the upstairs portion of the restaurant as its headquarters, could possibly relocate to the old Willemsen Dairy property purchased by the City last year for $2 million.
"But that is yet to be determined," Sanchez said. "Nearby residents [of the Willemsen Dairy property] are concerned about traffic and noise."
Adjacent to Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant is Pea Soup Andersen's Inn, a completely separate lodging property, partially owned and operated by Linda Johansen, a longtime Solvang resident and travel consultant with Collette Tours.
Johansen said the sale of Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant would not affect her business aside from the obvious absence of a historical landmark.
"Pea Soup Andersen's — the restaurant — really has a word-renowned following. It's really remarkable the international following it has had," she said.
Johansen noted that her property and the restaurant have had a mutually beneficial relationship through the years as Pea Soup's would provide discount meal coupons to distribute to her hotel guests.
"Hopefully the new owners can bring the restaurant back to its glory and we can continue with that tradition," Johansen said. "And if they restore the building we could use the public rooms again for groups as they do have some great space there as well."
Anton, Robert T. and Juliette Andersen stand in front of what began as Andersen’s Electrical Cafe.
Series: Get to know the Central Coast a little better with the help of Judith Dale
Judith Dale has written several columns highlighting the culture, geography and history of the Central Coast. Get better acquainted with our beautiful slice of California with this collection of her work.
So far we are good in Santa Barbara County, but until the first major rain, we are still in danger as our last major fires were during the months of November (Cave Fire) and December (Thomas Fire).
With over 4 million acres having burned so far this year in California, we have not had any major fires in Santa Barbara County. But with all the hot weather we have had and no rain in months, we are still in danger.
Due to arson or carelessness, 430,088 acres and 701 structures burned in these fires spanning 22 years.
We have the perfect setting for fires: thousands of acres of wilderness with rugged terrain and few roads; rainy winter weather that allows grass and brush to grow, followed by months of hot, dry weather; prevailing winds as well as sundowner winds; and people, who are the cause of most fires.
Judith Dale looks back to 1920, offering a timeline of progress the U.S. has made over the last 100 years. In most areas such as life expectancy, industry, technology, and position in the world, the U.S. has come a long way. However, many of the social/cultural challenges the country faced in the 1920s, are still with us today.
Judith Dale discusses the two major events in the 1920s that set the groundwork for what the city of Buellton is today.
This is the bookend article to looking back at Buellton during the decade of the 1920s. This article looks at the establishment of Solvang during that same time.
We often overlook and take for granted the importance of the river to our past development and more importantly to our future development and quality of life.
The forest contributes nearly $103.4 million annual revenue to local businesses who gain from people visiting from all over the nation to hike, bike and camp in our mountains.
Las Cruses was a small community that no longer exists, but it has an important history.
This new Space Force opens the way for Vandenberg to become a spaceport that can launch not only military missiles and satellites, but private and commercial projects as well.
La Purisima Mission is the 11th of the 21 missions founded in California.
This month marks the 215th year anniversary of the Old Mission Santa Inés, established in September of 1804. The mission was officially named …
What do Foxen Canyon Road in Los Olivos, the community of Sisquoc, the American army capturing the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1846, an elementary school and the Foxen Vineyard and Winery all have in common?
At one time, Hollister and his partners, the Dibblee Brothers, owned all the land between Refugio Beach and Point Conception. They owned all the land grants around Point Concepcion, the Ortega family’s Refugio Grant, the La Purisima Mission lands and the San Julian Ranch.
A neighbor who recently moved to the Santa Ynez Valley asked me about the Santa Barbara Channel and the islands she sees off the coast. I told…
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In my last article, I discussed the Santa Barbara Channel and its islands in general. This article will focus on two of five islands in Channe…
The Santa Ynez Valley is a wonderful place for children to grow up. We have excellent schools, churches, nonprofits and sports organizations t…
The property consists of six parcels totaling approximately 554 acres and includes a helicopter pad, two tennis courts, resort-style pool, hiking trails, and barbecue-picnic facilities.
The town was formed from two Mexican land grants: Rancho Los Alamos and Rancho Laguna.
This new Space Force opens the way for Vandenberg to become a spaceport that can launch not only military missiles and satellites, but private and commercial projects as well.
Pea Soup Andersons restaurant was originally named Andersen’s Electric Café because it had one of the first electric stoves in the area.
Lisa André covers lifestyles and local news for Santa Ynez Valley News and Lompoc Record.
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Lisa Andre
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