Drover’s Doughnuts ups the dessert competition in Solvang with sandwiches, cake shakes, dirty sodas

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Egg topped with cheddar cheese rests comfortably on a bed of sausage. A hint of salt from the everything seasoning greets a kick of chipotle aioli. 

But this breakfast sandwich doesn’t include a bagel. Instead, Drover’s Doughnuts Harvest Moon comes on a plain doughnut. 

The doughnut shop opened its Solvang location on May 30, and the out-of-the box sandwich is just one of the ways Drover’s is changing what a doughnut can be. 

“This is our first opportunity to have an expanded menu,” said Loren Ollenburger, who owns and runs Drover’s, along with his wife, Sarah. “In Buellton, we have the traditional doughnut and coffee bar. Here, in addition to those, we’re more meal-oriented with savory breakfast and lunch sandwiches.”

Along with doughnuts and sandwiches, the menu also includes cheese and pepperoni do-pizzas. 

“We do the whole classic doughnut menu—glazed, chocolate, maple, old fashioned, fritters, that sort of thing—and we have a monthly rotation of seasonal flavors,” Ollenburger said. “We try to infuse as many local flavors as we can. We have a lavender honeycomb and a blueberry lemon. This month, we’re doing a strawberry rosé.”

They also have Fruity Pebbles, horchata churro, and s’mores doughnuts on the menu.

Lunch sandwiches come with your choice of kettle chips or mixed greens. The Bulldogger is an essential. Succulent shredded pork, cheddar cheese, and slaw with a house spice dressing are topped with crispy onion strings and served on a savory plain doughnut. 

Thirsty? Wash it down with one of Drover’s signature dirty sodas. 

Choose from Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke, and Dr. Pepper and add vanilla or coconut creamer and a splash of strawberry, cherry, peach, vanilla, caramel, lavender, or white chocolate. Ollenburger said it’s up to customers to create the flavor combination they want. 

Drover’s shakes are also a little different: They include cake doughnuts. 

The Cookies and Cream Cake Shake is best described as a milkshake that meets a birthday cake that meets a doughnut that meets an Oreo. 

After running their Buellton location for about six years, Ollenburger said the Solvang location has provided him and Sarah their first opportunity to design a colorful space reflective of their rainbow array of doughnuts. 

The pastel chandelier matches the cerulean, turquoise, fuchsia, and salmon rolling pins and cooking spoons attached to the wall. The servers’ black uniforms complement the hues of the Whistle Pig Barrel-Aged Vermont Organic Maple Syrup bottles for sale. Even the drinks are served with a vibrant magenta straw that echoes the carnation-colored sprinkles on the chocolate and strawberry doughnuts. 

Leaning into the drover identity, the back seating area includes a brown and white fuzzy faux fur cow ottoman and gold bull light fixtures.

“I often get the question, ‘Is drover your last name,’” Ollenburger said. “No, drover is another name for cattleman [or] rancher. It celebrates the Santa Ynez Valley and Western heritage of California.”

The idea for the Solvang location took two years to become a tangible building open for business, he said, adding that he’s had some of the menu ideas in his head for up to five years. 

“The one thing we’ve learned from being in the business is that every single person has their own, personal doughnut memory,” Ollenburger said. “This is a chance to create new memories in new ways that still involve doughnuts.”

Reach Staff Writer Reece Coren at rcoren@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jul 3-10, 2025.