RIP Anderson's Pea Soup

[Greg]

If you drove the 101, you know this place. I've seen their billboards my entire life. I vaguely remember stopping in there once just to see. Maybe.

SANTA NELLA, Calif. —

One of California’s most recognizable roadside restaurants has closed without so much as a goodbye to longtime fans and travelers.
Pea Soup Andersen’s, the staple Central Coast destination in Buellton, California — just off Highway 101 en route to the Danish holiday town Solvang — has gone dark, and rumors are swirling that the property itself may be redeveloped for housing. The property was previously listed for sale for just under $5 million in 2021, but no buyer was publicly announced.


The restaurant has a robust history on the Central Coast, claiming at its height to serve 2 million cups of soup to locals and travelers every year. Originally opened by Denmark-born Anton Andersen in 1924 as a highway restaurant serving everyday cafe fare, the signature pea soup quickly became a signature dish and, in short order, the name and calling card for the place.
Even those who have never stopped in for a bowl will know Pea Soup Andersen’s for its famously kitschy billboards. The retro advertisements set along the 101 depict a pair of cartoon chefs counting down the miles between the sign and the restaurant, along with the slogan “home of split pea soup.” A wooden cutout of the two billboard chefs made for a great photo op too, with customers sticking their own faces in cutout holes and smiling for the camera.
Multiple people confirmed the quiet closure to SFGATE, including workers at the restaurant’s other historic location off Interstate 5 in Santa Nella. A person who answered the phone at the inn in Buellton said that the restaurant is “completely closed,” but declined to comment on the future of the business or the building. 
The sudden closure of Pea Soup Andersen’s is certain to be a shock to weekenders used to seeing the famous restaurant when driving through Buellton toward Solvang or the Santa Ynez Valley’s rolling wine country. In many ways, the restaurant has become woven into the Central Coast getaway experience, much like the Hitching Post II or Paula’s Pancake House, and there had been talk of some kind of 100-year celebration for the property in 2024. Now the place is closed entirely, and the future of the historic site remains to be seen.