Going Sideways to Solvang

January 16, 2006 8:04 PM

I'd like recommendations on places to stay and things to do in and around Solvang, CA.

For our annual anniversary trip, my wife and I are going to go all "Sideways" and head down to Solvang. A couple of notes:
1. We're driving down there, so transportation isn't an issue. If there's something neat to do in the vicinty, that'd be great.
2. We're going in late July, and will be spending the weekend, probably arriving late Thursday and leaving early Sunday, so if there are festivals and whatnot, we'd like to know.
3. We generally prefer smaller B&B's, so we're particularly interested in those, but if there's a more traditional hotel that's cool and has some local flavor, we'll consider it. Regular old hotels and motels are not to be considered. Our pricing requirements are pretty flexible.
4. We're both really into wine tasting, so that will absolutely be a primary focus of the trip. Recommendations for specific wineries to visit (or to avoid) are appreciated.
5. We'd also like to hear about good restaurants in the area. At least one meal will be the big "official" anniversary meal, so we need someplace fancy for that, but other ideas for all meals would be great.

posted by robhuddles to travel & transportation around Solvang, CA (13 answers total)

This isn't in Solvang, but it's not too far (+/- an hour north), and arguably on your way there or back. (And SO worth the side trip...)

The Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe serves one of the best steaks I've ever had, served Santa Maria BBQ-style with salsa and pinquito beans on the side.
posted by dersins at 8:44 PM on January 16, 2006

Here's a great article in from The Guardian that I read before taking a guest on a Sideways tour of Santa Barbara and the surrounding area - we had great fun at Chef Karim's Moroccan Restaurant.
posted by forallmankind at 9:04 PM on January 16, 2006

Get Santa Maria tri tip from a truck on Broadway in Santa Maria on the weekends.

Definately eat at the Hitching Post, get a steak and order the house pinot noir. Make a reservation - the place starts getting packed at 4 p.m.

Go to the dunes in Guadalupe - it's where the massive sets for the 10 Commandments are buried. (You can't see them but just knowing they are under foot somewhere is cool.)

Go to Avila Beach if you like a mellower beach town. They have an okay art market there too on the beach. The crab cakes at the joint right on the beach, the big bar with tables out front, are to die for.

Los Alamos has really terrific antiques and junk stores.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:22 PM on January 16, 2006

My recommendations were posted here, but you can email me if you need more. And I second what CL said about the tri tip.
posted by cali at 9:32 PM on January 16, 2006

Places to stay: The Inn at Petersen Village, or for total class, the Alisal Guest Ranch.

There are TONS of wineries in the area. Best bet: take a few winery "day tours" where you are driven around in style and don't have to worry about the CHP or local sheriff appearing in your rear view mirror. ;-) Here's the Sideways tour and the Santa Ynez Valley Wine Trail listings.

Best things to do in late July: PCPA Theaterfest (Solvang) for awesome live theater, outdoors; it's plenty warm in the evenings in the summer. Old Mission Santa Ines: one of the California missions that's very active here in the Valley.

Restaurants: TONS of great ones. The best steak ever, and the place featured in "Sideways," Hitching Post is the " in Buellton. Others are: Trattoria Grappolo (Italian) in Santa Ynez, The Alisal River Grill (Solvang), Brother's Restaurant at Mattei's Tavern (Los Olivos), Taco Roco aka Taco Loco for the best Mexican food (Solvang & Buellton), Rudy's for Mexican (Buellton), The New Danish Inn (Solvang), & Firestone Brewery ( Buellton) for great beer/ale brewed by Firestone-Walker & tasty food in a unique surrrounding.

Hope this helps as you start on your research. If you need anymore information, post away!

The Barron
posted by thebarron at 9:42 PM on January 16, 2006

Fox Pictures did a whole "Sideways" guide as a downloadable pdf, where you could visit all the places seen in the film. Seems like a fairly good starting point.
posted by frogan at 9:56 PM on January 16, 2006

I ate at the Hitching Post in Buellton three years ago when I was in Solvang. I'm sorry to say I've had better steak at TGIFridays, for about half the price.
posted by euphorb at 11:43 PM on January 16, 2006

Well, for what it's worth, I've eaten at some top flight steak houses and still think about the one I had at the Hitching Post so your mileage does, as they say, vary.

Also, if I were going back to the area on a romantic anniversary trip, I would want to stay at the Sycamore Springs spa. I was in the area with a bunch of people for work and some of them stayed there and raved about it. (I was in a Comfort Inn. Don't go there.)
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:58 AM on January 17, 2006

I was in Solvang briefly for business (pictures) and stayed at The Inn at Petersen Village. Nice rooms, fantastic people. They have their own restaurant which has a good range of dinner choices (less so if you are vegetarian), plus it is quite private and fancy. If you make a reservation, they'll mail you info on one of the Sideways tours along with your confirmation. I didn't have a chance to take any wine tours, but really all you have to do is show up and you won't be at a loss for what to do. There is also a wine-tasting house in town. The chinese restaurant, while not fancy enough for the "official" dinner is quite tasty.

There is a farmer's market during the week. There are many bakeries with delicous-looking pastries. In fact, if I had to sum up Solvang in three words they would be "Wine, Bakeries and Vikings".

There is some Indian casino gambling just out of town as you head towards Santa Ynez. I didn't find a lot in Santa Ynez, but there was one excellent trading post stocked with authentic American Indian wares, both contemporary and vintage.

On your drive to Solvang, there are lots of good places to stop (depending on your route and interests): Half Moon Bay, the tidepools at Moss Beach, Santa Cruz, Mission San Juan Bautista, San Luis Obispo. And of course not much further south is Santa Barbara, which has plenty to do. If you want good - but definitely not fancy - Mexican food there hit up Cesar's Place on Milpitas.
posted by mikepop at 5:56 AM on January 17, 2006

I second CunningLinguist's recommendation for Sycamore Springs spa. Very nice place.
posted by Eddie Mars at 6:30 AM on January 17, 2006

If you happen to be a cyclist, the whole area is FANTASTIC riding. If you were coming earlier in the year (now-ish, I think), you might see Discovery Channel riders training here. The Santa Barbara Bike Coalition has a couple of Sideways-themed recommended rides which are fantastic.

Even if you're not a cyclist, you might look at those route maps since they include various sites from the movie. The ostrich farm, for example, is interesting for 10 minutes or so and is on the way everywhere.

As for wineries, I'd echo the suggestions for Santa Rita Hills, and especially Sanford (great atmosphere) and LaFond (good reds). I'd recommend against Fess Parker and strongly recommend against Mosby. Of course, your tastes could vary drastically from mine. Regardless, you will probably want to get one of the free maps of the wineries available at all the wineries or online:

Santa Barbara County Wineries.

If you continue on Santa Rosa Road (towards SRH wineries), you'll wind up in Lompoc, which has tons of flowers (and a festival) in June. I don't know if they're still around in July.


In Solvang itself, there are cute shops, but mostly, it's sorta touristy. If you or the Mrs. are into knitting, weaving, or spinning, I'd highly recommend Village Spinning and Weaving. I've not been to a restaurant in Solvang that I would recommend, but I've only been to a few.

Also, consider Santa Barbara for a daytrip if you're getting bored with wine country.

I guess that's it for now. If I think of more, I'll let you know.
posted by JMOZ at 10:00 AM on January 17, 2006

As for the fancy restaurant, cali recommended Downey's when I had asked about nice restaurants in Santa Barbara, and I'm glad she did. It was absolutely wonderful and perfectly romantic. No it's not right there in Solvang, but it is so worth the drive.
posted by DakotaPaul at 3:23 PM on January 17, 2006

There are quite a few top-notch and very worthy restaurants in Santa Barbara, and Downey's is certainly near the top of that list. If you're interested in coming down that far for dinner (~45 minutes from Solvang), I'll put together a few that I like/regularly hear good things about.
posted by JMOZ at 5:45 PM on January 17, 2006