Pea Soup Andersen’s future demolition hinges on how Buellton decides to preserve parts of the more than 100-year-old building.
Designated by elected leaders as an official city landmark in 2020, the restaurant has been closed since early 2024. That year also marked its centennial.
For Buellton to approve the shuttered eatery’s demolition, staff told the City Council at its March 26 meeting that certain preservation measures may need to be taken—depending on the outcome of a “historical resources report” in progress, to mitigate “the loss of a local historic resource.”
The council could consider approving the removal of different parts of the existing Pea Soup Andersen’s building and allowing its owner to transport them to other areas, City Manager Scott Wolfe explained.
“It’s a considerable amount of work,” Wolfe told the council, “[but] the property owner has indicated a willingness to do it.”
Councilmember Hudson Hornick asked Wolfe what kind of future development the site owner is hoping for.
“We don’t have any kind of plans, or an application, or anything of the sort,” Wolfe replied. “Our primary concern with that site [tonight] is less what it’s going to turn into and more … [the] removal of that building.”
What staff was looking for, “at this point,” Buellton Planning Director Andrea Keefer said, was direction from the council on whether staff should explore the possibility of relocating some of the existing building to a large grass median (known as median 3) in the Avenue of Flags corridor.
“Obviously with the Avenue of Flags specific plan, the approved design style is art deco, and this building is clearly not art deco,” Keefer told the council. “So, that is basically the crux of our question here—given the building that it is.”
Hornick said he wouldn’t support simply “lopping off a piece of the building and plopping it” on the median.
“I think it’s a cool idea to honor Pea Soup [Andersen’s], … but … I’d be worried about piecemealing median 3 alongside this, and whatever is potentially coming on the Pea Soup Andersen’s site,” Hornick said. “I would like to have clarity on at least what the developer’s thinking on that site.”
Mayor David Silva said he would like to see “more creative ways” to pay homage to the 102-year-old building’s legacy.
Moving forward with the median 3 proposal, in his view, would lead to “an affront to our business community—to have forced them to go through the art deco [protocol] and then say, ‘We’ll add this Danish cottage in the middle of the street.”
While Councilmember Elysia Lewis said she’s not a fan of the city’s art deco design policy for the Avenue of Flags corridor, she’s also not a fan of the median pitch.
“We’ve had a multitude of discussions about art deco. I’ve made it pretty clear that it’s not my favorite choice. However, that is the choice we have gone with and changing it at this point in time would negatively impact people who have already started developing or interested in developing,” Lewis said. “While I’m a huge supporter of preserving whatever we can, I don’t think that is the place for it to go if we do preserve it.”
Councilmember John Sanchez said the relocation proposal “just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“It’s a nice thought, but what I think we have to come up with is another plan for the preservation. Maybe some kind of plaque, but not to move an old building to another site,” Sanchez said. “It would never work. It would never pass any kind of inspection, and it couldn’t be built back to state standards.”
Hornick asked Wolfe for clarification on the existing building’s condition, in relation to its owner’s application to demolish it.
“I was under the impression that the building was questionable in terms of its resiliency, of standing upright?” he asked. Wolfe confirmed that was correct.
The council directed staff to return with alternative preservation proposals ahead of the restaurant’s anticipated demolition, although there’s no clear timeline on it yet, Planning Director Keefer said.
“If I had to pull out my crystal ball, I’d say maybe three to six months,” she estimated, “and that’s being generous.”
This article appears in April 2 – April 9, 2026.
This is all very sad. We moved to Buellton in 1960 and Pea Soup Anderson’s was the landmark of Buellton. Back then the population was only 90 people. One of my first dates with my husband was having pea soup at Pea Soup Anderson’s. I think a small building or a truck serving Pea Soup would be wonderful there with one of those funny cut out’s where you can put your face through being Hap Pea or Pea Wee. We enjoy going to the Pea Soup Andersen’s in Santa Nella. So much for memories.