Say it ain't so – Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant in Buellton, California, the original home of the Traveler's Special, is on the chopping block! (Thankfully, the Santa Nella location is not for sale.)
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…
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.
Someone give me $4.7M to buy this iconic property, please. [Thanks, Mark Kliem!]
Photo by Rusty Blazenhof.
