Sitting at a table by the window inside Grover Beach Sourdough, Jacob and Brooke Town can still see the site of their former restaurant across the street. In an unexpected, bittersweet turn of events, the owners had to close The Spoon Trade one year ago and pivot.
A developer bought the building that housed The Spoon Trade for a decade and plans to tear it down. Within the next few months, the couple will watch it crumble while continuing business at their bakery.
“We’re at the mercy of our life’s path. We’re still on it, and I think this is a good equation,” Brooke told the Sun. “That restaurant was a little bit big for its britches.”
Savory sourdough
Order to-go baked goods or have a seat at the Grover Beach Sourdough café Thursday to Monday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant is located at 236 W. Grand Ave. in Grover Beach and can be found on Instagram @groverbeachsourdough. Read the full menu at gbsourdough.com.
After closing the restaurant’s doors, the Towns also halted production at Grover Beach Sourdough so they could spend time renovating the space next door into a full-service dining room. The new and improved operation opened in early September.
“It’s an opportunity to go back in time 10 years and ask ourselves, ‘What would we do differently?’” Jacob said. “So, we got to do that. We got to combine both businesses under one roof with a new concept.”
Jacob and Brooke took time to clear out their 2,400-square-foot restaurant and move supplies to the 1,000-square-foot space across the street. For a while, the new dining room was filled, nearly floor to ceiling, with restaurant necessities.
“It definitely felt a little out of place for us as far as clutter and stuff piled up,” Jacob said. “It was four months of being out of our comfort zone for sure because we know food and beverage. We do not know nails, screws, construction, and plumbing.”
Customers who walk in the front doors today won’t be able to tell. With 32 seats, the café feels intimate without being too crowded. The café can only get so busy, Jacob said. Sometimes there’s a waitlist.
Mementos of The Spoon Trade are hidden in plain sight at Grover Beach Sourdough. Small spoon sculptures hang on the walls, and some of the artwork also survived the move.
“I just wanted it to kind of nod to those memories, those fond memories, without it being exactly the same,” Brooke said. “We were definitely really crisp over there [at The Spoon Trade] as far as the palette, but here it’s buttery yellows, rich eggplant color. Just feels a little bit warmer.”
The dine-in menu features brunch items like vegetable hash with sautéed Halcyon Farms produce on top of an onion puree, finished with a poached egg and a slice of rosemary sourdough. Avocado toast comes with corn, cilantro, a poached egg, and a salsa of jalapeños and pink beans.
Find lunch specialties like their hot bologna sandwich, chicken and tuna melts, roast chicken and potatoes, salads, and seasonal soups.
Take one step down from the dining room to enter the original bread shop. It has its own entrance, too, greeting guests with an open kitchen and a selection of baked goods. Jacob and his bakers batch bagels, pretzels, loaves, baguettes, rolls, cookies, and muffins.
Grab-and-go foods are available for those craving a quick breakfast sandwich, biscuit and gravy, or a helping of chicken and dumplings—one of Guy Fieri’s favorites when Jacob was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
“We’re busier than we’ve ever been. We’re busier than the restaurant was before,” Jacob said. “The bakery is now getting customers that come in for breakfast [who] are getting bread to go, and some people who are getting bread to go are getting breakfast. So, it’s a really good balance of both concepts.”
Visitors have been “piling in” to check it out since it opened, he added. However, the owners know that they can’t please everybody.
Before, the bakery offered hot grab-and-go sandwiches, but that doesn’t work anymore, Jacob said. Everything besides cold sandwiches are made to order, meaning there’s a wait for certain items.
‘We’re at the mercy of our life’s path. We’re still on it, and I think this is a good equation.’
—Brooke Town, Grover Beach Sourdough co-owner
Dishes are still made with locally sourced, organic ingredients when possible.
Another thing that may catch people off guard is that menu items may change, just like at The Spoon Trade.
“Be ready for something not to be there but be ready for something new to show up also,” Jacob explained.
“Like we used to say over there, we reserve the right to change things up and have fun doing it,” Brooke said.
Adjusting to an earlier schedule has been a challenge for her and her husband. Jacob falls asleep between 6 and 8 p.m. because he arrives to work by 4 a.m.
“My bakers are here by 3 [a.m.], and if I’m baking, I’m here by 2:30 [a.m.],” Jacob said. “My crew gets in at 5 [a.m.] for the savory stuff.”
Transitioning from nighttime wine pairings to a bright and early coffee service was new for Brooke.
“I’m definitely a wine person, and I adore wine service and just talking about it, learning about it, getting people excited about it,” she said. “But knowing that we serve some of the best coffee in the county is a very prideful moment, so I just put a different attention to detail and just kind of shift my gaze towards that.”
Brooke still gets to tout their wine selection when guests come in for lunch, and of course, many groups ask for bubbles with brunch.
“We had $20,000 worth of wine on the shelf at the restaurant when we moved over, so we had to sell something,” Jacob said.
They’re making their way through that “extensive inventory,” Brooke added, and she hopes to use some of the bottles for evening happy hour pop-ups next year.
The financial burden of closing for four months was another challenge, but the Towns are excited to have returned to serving their community.
“It’s crazy to go from four months being closed to being open. It’s like, it feels like two years ago, but at the same time, it also feels like yesterday,” Jacob said. “It’s incredible. People are so loving and supportive.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in October 22 – October 29, 2026.
