The iconic, kitschy, HWY 101 tribute to Danish soup and Americana tourism has closed its doors after 100 years of roadside service in Buellton, California.

The Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant is officially in escrow according to the Santa Ynez Valley News, after longtime owner Milt Guggia Enterprises listed the landmark for $4.7 million in August 2020.

“It’s been listed for several years,” explained Krista Guggia to syvnews.com , Guggia Enterprises property administrator. “There have been many interested parties and [Milt Guggia, Jr.] turned down a lot of offers. He didn’t want it to go to someone who who didn’t have a real heart for preserving what is a huge piece of Buellton — and California — history.”

And given that the condition of the century-old edifice makes it impossible to preserve, Guggia said the new buyer plans to tear it down and redevelop.

“There will be a restaurant involved — whether it will be a Pea Soup Andersen’s is yet to be determined,” she told syvnews.com. “The new buyers are working closely with the City to make it something that’s going to be a new, exciting, fresh thing for Buellton. He put his heart and soul into the place,” Guggia said.”

via www.peasoupandersens.net

Guggia Jr., purchased the iconic 35,000-square-foot eatery located just off Highway 101 in 1999.  Even if you never stopped at the Andersen’s restaurant or hotel,  anyone driving on highway 101 between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara saw the very distinctive billboards.

The Danish-themed town of Solvang (just past Buellton on the same exit), positioned in the wine country of Central Coast California, is one of the strangest and most incomprehensible towns in existence.   Take a minute to ponder how much sense it makes to have a miniature Danish village in Santa Ynez, CA…

But Solvang has been around long enough that it doesn’t seem all that crazy anymore, like the Madonna Inn or the Winchester Mystery House, if a place exists for several generations, no matter how odd it is, it becomes a piece of the landscape, an accepted relic of the State.

Sadly, this highway monument has finally run out of gas. Hopefully, the new owners resurrect it, in some form.

Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant was never really about green soup, you don’t go there for that, you go there for a piece of unique Americana and the golden years of the 1950s/60s roadside attraction.

Here’s how a Danish community built a unique place to visit in the middle of the Golden State…

Postcard of Andersen’s restaurant, Buellton, California Date issued: 1930 – 1945

The History of Pea Soup Andersen’s

We’re not sure how long the Pea Soup Andersen’s History will be up online, so here’s a summary of the institution’s history.  Don’t forget that there is still the newer Pea Soup Andersen’s roadside restaurant (est. 1976) in operation in  Santa Nella on Highway 5, and a Pea Soup Anersen’s Inn in Buelton (separate ownership), so visit them!

How it all started

The story unfolds on Friday, June 13th, 1924, when Anton Andersen, a native of Denmark, seized an opportunity in the Golden State. Originally part of a Mexican land grant owned by Jose Maria Covarrubias and Joaquin Carrillo of Santa Barbara, the land had changed hands over the years, with the Buell brothers acquiring it in 1865. Under R.T. Buell’s stewardship, the land transformed into a thriving horse and cattle ranch and dairy farm named Rancho San Carlos de Jonata. R.T. Buell, who married Miss Emily Budd in 1892, passed away in 1905 and was laid to rest in what is now the parking lot of Pea Soup Andersen’s Hotel, before being later moved to Oak Hill Cemetery in Ballard.

The landscape of Buellton experienced a rapid transformation in the early 1900s. By 1911, Danish settlers flocked to the area, establishing farms and businesses. William Budd, brother of Emily Buell, opened a post office in 1920, and with the diversion of the highway through Buellton in 1924 and the introduction of electricity to the valley, the time seemed ripe for change. Anton and Juliette Andersen seized the opportunity, acquiring a small parcel of land and a building from William Budd to open a restaurant.

ELECTRIC STOVE, INSPIRING IDEA

Trained in prestigious restaurants in Europe and New York, Anton Andersen, having recently left the hustle and bustle of city hotels, traded his tuxedo for a bib apron. Alongside his wife, Juliette, they inaugurated a modest restaurant named “Andersen’s Electric Cafe,” paying homage to their prized possession, a new electric stove.

This marked a significant departure for Anton, who had previously worked with renowned establishments such as Marguerey, Voisin, Louis Sherry, and others. The café, strategically located on the route to the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, drew attention from notable figures like Arthur Brisbane and O.O. McIntyre, writers for Hearst’s newspaper empire. In 1928, the Andersens expanded, sinking a well, and constructing a hotel and dining room, naming it the “Bueltmore” in playful reference to Anton’s association with the Biltmore.

Anton’s charisma, coupled with Juliette’s warm hospitality, attracted celebrities and Californians alike. The legendary split pea soup, crafted by Juliette, became a signature dish. As demand surged, the Andersens, astounded by the need for one ton of peas, proudly proclaimed their restaurant as “The Home of Split Pea Soup,” a slogan that endures to this day.

THE LEGACY CONTINUES WITH ROBERT “PEA SOUP” ANDERSEN

In the 1930s, their son Robert returned to the family business after graduating from Stanford. Known as a forward-thinking individual, Robert introduced billboards that became synonymous with the restaurant. In the early ’40s, a cartoon depicting the little-known occupation of splitting peas inspired advertising, leading to the adoption of the nickname “Pea Soup” and the eventual renaming of the family business.

During World War II, the restaurant served the military, providing accommodations and meals for personnel stationed locally. In the post-war era, Pea Soup Andersen’s rebranded with the iconic Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee characters drawn by Disney-trained artist Milt Neil. The restaurant thrived under Robert’s leadership until he sold it in 1965 to Vince Evans.

EVOLUTION UNDER VINCE EVANS AND BEYOND

Vince Evans, a larger-than-life personality and actor, brought his dynamic energy to Pea Soup Andersen’s in 1965. The business flourished under his ownership, with expansions, attractions like an aviary and a miniature wild animal park, and the opening of a Santa Nella location in 1976. Tragically, in 1980, Vince, his wife Margery, and their daughter Venetia perished in a plane crash.

Despite changes in ownership post-Evans family, Pea Soup Andersen’s remained a Central Coast icon. Under Milt Guggia’s ownership since 1999 (Buellton) and 2007 (Santa Nella), the restaurant continued to preserve its warm, family-friendly atmosphere. It stood as a symbol of community in Buellton and a cherished stop for highway travelers and their families, just as it did in the days of Anton and Juliette.

Here’s to Pea Soup, and hopefully a continued legacy with the new ownership.

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