I've been coming to this restaurant whenever I'm in the area for as long as I can remember. If you like pea soup, you'll like Andersen's. The Travelers's Special is my usual choice. The soup is all you can eat and served with Onion/Cheese bread and Pumpernickel bread. For $2.50 more you can also order toppings to add to the soup which include ham, onions, cheese, croutons and bacon bits. The soup is all you can eat but one bowl usually fills me up.

Although I have to admit that this is not gourmet or in any way fancy, it is a nice place to stop for lunch for a dependably good bowl of soup. The restaurant includes a Christmas shop as well as another shop and a store with Andersen's souvenirs, food and snacks.

While waiting to be seated you can browse the stores and help yourself to complimentary crackers and cheese spread...yummy.

What can I say? I'm a little biased because I've been coming here over so many years, but it's definitely worth at least a try. I think you'll like it.

The first clue that we should have turned around and walked out was the fact that the bread plate was dirty, as we were first seated at our table. This happens sometimes, so we just mentioned to our waiter that it was dirty and he gladly brought out a clean one. But when we asked for a glass of water to go with the glasses of wine we just ordered, the water glass was obviously disgustingly filthy! You could not have poured water into it and then serve it without realizing how dirty it was.
Without going into repulsive details about the filth on the glass, I could not bring myself to stay and eat food that was prepared by staff that cared so little about serving customers properly cleaned dishes.

As a side note, Anderson's menu was very uninspired. The staff were just all standing around in the serving area because there were hardly any customers.

We went back to our hotel in Solvang and asked our hostess for a dinner recommendation and without hesitation she said "Grappolos" in Santa Ynez. What a contrast! It was packed and needed a reservation on a Tuesday evening, so we ate at the bar. This was so much more interesting than sitting in the main dining room, because we had full view of the kitchen and staff as they masterly performed their duties. I will write a separate review for them, but it was so worth the hassle of leaving Anderson's and driving in the opposite direction, about 6 miles. I strongly suggest you stay as far away from Anderson's, if you care about your health.

If you like split-pea soup, this is the place to go. It really is good. There are also about 10,000 souvenirs for sale.

We have been to Andersen's Pea Soup Restaurant many times before and have always enjoyed our stops here on our way home. I am a vegetarian and I often order their Traveler's choice. You can get refills of the Split Pea soup, however, I never really make it past my first since I get full just with one bowl. There are also choices of burgers and meat dishes which I haven't tried, so I can't really say much about them. I also enjoy brownsing through their gift shop and bakery section. It's a great stop-over after a long drive.

It was a rainy day so we decided to drive about 35 minutes out of our way to try this famous landmark...our cousin had been there 20 years ago and raved about it. Well...the Pea Soup is good...truly what can you say about vegetarian pea soup...good or not good. The place is a 50's era building that has been turned into a tacky tourist trap. Bring travel weary kids in only at your own risk the entrance to the restaurant is a gauntlet of candy and cheap toys. The restaurant itself is a churn and burn Big Boy with hustling busboys, disinterested waitresses and a scowling manager. The food was fine, the prices normal and now I can say I have been to Pea Soup Andersens....