In 1924 Danish-born Anton Andersen and his French wife Juliette opened a restaurant in Buellton, California. Electricity had recently been introduced to the Santa Ynez Valley and the Andersens owned all electric appliances, including their prized possession, an electric stove, so they named their eatery “Andersen’s Electric Cafe.”
Photo Credit; Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant
Anton and Juliette had met in New York while Anton worked several positions in some of the city’s finest establishments, including Marguery and the New York Biltmore. They married and had their only child, Robert T. Anderson in 1913.
They made their way to California when Anton came to help open the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel, but Anton soon grew tired of what he called the “rat race” associated with city hotels and decided to join his brother in the Santa Ynez Valley, which is how he ended up opening his Electric Cafe in Buellton.
Since most of their customers were travelers driving on the main highway from L.A. to San Francisco, they prepared simple dishes like sandwiches, pancakes, and coffee. The cafe quickly gained a reputation for its hospitality and excellent food. 3 months after opening, they added what would become their signature dish—Juliette’s pea soup and it was an instant hit.
They had initially purchased 10 pounds. of peas, enough for 80 bowls of soup, then they had to place a 100 lb. order and within 3 years, they were ordering a ton of split peas. Anton decided that the best place to store a ton of peas in the small cafe would be to stack the burlap sacks of peas in the window to advertise what he proclaimed was “The Original Home of Split Pea Soup.”
In 1928 the Andersens added a dining room to the cafe and a hotel to the property, making them a welcomed roadside attraction on the highway. They named this larger establishment “The Bueltmore” in reference to Anton’s time working at the Biltmore properties.
In the 1930s their son Robert graduated from Stanford University and after briefly working on his own, he returned to Buellton and joined the family business, which had been renamed Andersen’s Valley Inn during this time. His father Anton retired in 1939 and turned over active management of the business to his son.
In 1941 Robert married Rosemary Mohan, who joined the family business and operated a gift shop upstairs from the restaurant for many years. And in 1942 they had their only son, Robby Andersen.
Robert established a lot of the things that the restaurant is known for today, he installed the famous billboards up and down the state, he nicknamed himself “Pea Soup Andersen,” which became the name of the restaurant in 1947. This is why it’s called Pea Soup Andersen’s, because it’s “Pea Soup Andersen’s” Restaurant.
“Pea Soup” is also responsible for “Hap-Pea” and “Pea-Wee,” the 2 chefs splitting peas that became the restaurants mascots. At first, he acquired the rights to the cartoon “Little Known Occupations” that showed two chefs splitting peas to use in advertising for the restaurant. In 1944 he hired Disney trained artist Milt Neil to re-draw the two chefs, giving them their distinctive personalities. “Pea Soup” also held a naming-contest for them, where “Hap-Pea” and “Pee-Wee” were chosen from thousands of entries.
He also continued to expand the footprint of the restaurant and business, in the late 40s he developed frozen pea soup and then canned soup in the early 1950s. In the late 50s, he introduced a line of Danish wines and added the Hans Christian Andersen Cocktail lounge to the property.
In the early 1960s “Pea Soup” decided to expand the restaurant into a chain, opening locations in Santa Maria and Salinas. However, those restaurants were short-lived and after a few years, “Pea Soup” decided he needed a break from the restaurant business and sold the Buellton restaurant to actor Vince Evans in 1965. The other 2 locations were sold to the Denny’s Corporation.
Vince Evans was a well-known and established leader in the Santa Ynez Valley and he took over the restaurant with high energy and enthusiasm. He continued to expand the dining area of the restaurant adding another dining room in 1967, he also added an aviary, miniature train, and small wild animal park on the property to attract families. These were short-lived as they were demolished in 1970 to make way for the addition of a Danish-style motel.
Vince also had aspirations to expand the restaurant into a chain, opening a location in Mammoth Lakes in 1973, then opening the Santa Nella Location in 1976, and a location in Carlsbad in 1979. Unfortunately, Vince Evans’ plans for continued expansion were tragically cut short in 1980, when the small plane he was traveling in with his family crashed just minutes from the Santa Ynez Valley Airport.
After his passing, the business was taken over by his estate and sold to investors in 1983. Shortly after, a Pea Soup Andersen’s was opened in Selma under a licensing agreement, but that restaurant, along with most of the other locations were eventually renamed, sold, or shuttered. Leaving only 2 locations—the original one in Buellton and the one In Santa Nella—remaining.
In 1999 Central Coast restaurateur Milt Guggia purchased the Buellton location and in 2007, purchased the Santa Nella location, bringing the remaining Pea Soup Andersen’s under the same ownership for the first time in decades.
After many years of running both locations, the Buellton restaurant was put up for sale in 2021 with an asking price of $4.7 million and it finally sold in in January 2024 and closed for the foreseeable future. It’s been reported that the property will be redeveloped and it’s possible that the restaurant could return after the redevelopment, which will take several years.
In the meantime, if you need to get your Pea Soup Andersen’s fix, you can make the trek up the 5 to Santa Nella, where the pea soup is still flowing and the history is still alive.
References:
“Pea Soup Andersen’s Scandinavian-American Cookbook” by Chef Ulrich Riedner, pg. 3-9.
“Pea Soup Puts Buellton on the Map” by Sally Cappon, The Santa Maria Times. Sept. 26, 2006.
“Iconic Pea Soup Andersen’s Restaurant in Buellton Closes for Redevelopment” by Stephanie Breijo, The L.A. Times. Jan. 10, 2024.
“Rites Held in Monterey for Anton Andersen” by staff, The Santa Barbara News-Press. Oct. 11, 1945.