Road Trip: Solvang and Los Olivos - Olive Oil, Markets, and Birkholm's Bakery

I mentioned that back in October, the Missus and I took a roadtrip to Santa Barbara. Here are a couple of stops along the way.

I think we really developed our love for Olive Oil during our visit to Crete all those years ago. We both enjoyed our visit to the Peza Union Museum and Tasting Room. Since then, we've always had at least 3-4 bottles of Olive Oil; different grades, for different purposes. These days, it's what we've tasted in Spain, the peppery-grassy olive oils we find fascinating. And while there are places here in San Diego to grab a bottle or two. I thought it would be nice to stop and have a few tasting in Los Olivos along the way.

But first, I needed to grab something for the folks in the office. The last time I was in the area, we got a bucket of cookies from Birkholm's Bakery. Man, that stuff was gone in less than a day!

Since Solvang is pretty much on the way; we decided to make a stop, get those cookies, and stretch our legs a bit.

This time, we even had some coffee.

Really friendly folks......

I loved this sign on the back corner table.

And the folks at work got their bucket of cookies. Not sure why they like this stuff so much. But whatever makes them happy, right?

Birkholm's Bakery
460 Alisal Rd
Solvang, CA 93463

It was a bright, sunny day so we decided to take a walk around the town. It was before the holiday rush and things were still fairly calm and quiet; even on a Saturday.

Another return stop was El Rancho Market.

The Missus and I split a bottle of sparkling water and watched this really aggressive crow beg for demand handouts.

El Rancho Market
2886 Mission Dr
Solvang, CA 93463

Next stop; Global Gardens. This little stand was fairly small and discreet. We chatted with the young lady who was amazingly knowledgeable. We decided on doing the tasting; she wasn't very pushy and we actually only paid for a single tasting. She directed the products tasted to our preferences and could speak to everything we tried.

Some of the blends and styles here are excellent....so good that we spent over $70 on two bottles of olive oil.

Nice job young lady!

Global Gardens
2450 Alamo Pintado Rd
Los Olivos, CA 93441

Meanwhile, we weren't as impressed with the products at Rancho Olivos Olive Oil.

Very nice folks and the dogs were really fun and friendly though....

Rancho Olivos Olive Oil
2390 N Refugio Rd
Santa Ynez, CA 93460

We took a stop at Los Olivos Grocery.

The place was charming.

Though it seems the main draw here is the deli and little restaurant. In spite of what I had heard, there didn't seem to be a large assortment of local products.

Los Olivos Grocery
2621 W Hwy 154
Los Olivos, CA 93441

A short drive later; we arrived in downtown Los Olivos. It's a quaint little town, everything seems centered around 4-5 blocks. We were surprised that the place seemed quite busy.

We had stopped for lunch, but we decided to just do some browsing. This is wine country and there are over 30 tasting rooms in the area. Though, we decided to stop here.

You remember this from my Halloween post?

We took a look at the rather large variety of olive oils available and I chatted with the very nice guy behind the counter.....

We mentioned different flavors; we were looking for something neutral, but still with personality, and he nicely gave us some samples....I offered to pay for the tasting, but he said "no problem". We ended up buying three bottles. Two as gifts; one for us.

Olive Hill Farm
2901 Grand Ave
Los Olivos, CA 93441

Now we were done shopping.....it was time for some lunch!

Comments

[kat]

nice road trip!

[Soo]

Cool trip! I've been wanting to visit Solvang.

[Kirk]

Thanks Kat!

Solvang is fun this time of the year Soo....though I'm not sure what the status of the 101 is right now.

[Derek R]

Looking forward to the lunch post.

And have you tried the olive oil from the Temecula Olive Oil company? They have a small shop in old Town and I've been happy with their offering for something close by.

[Kirk]

Hi Derek - We visited when they first opened several years ago....I don't recall being too impressed...so maybe it's time for us to check them out again.