Just came back from a weekend trip in the Santa Ynez Valley. Thank you to everyone for the recommendations here.
Industrial Eats
We stuck to takeout, and may have done ourselves a disservice by sticking to sandwiches, pizza and pasta.
Right when you walk in you notice the wood-fired ovens running on full blast. The smell is incredible, and we couldn’t walk away without a pie. Sadly this mushroom pizza turned out just ok. The crust was great, but everything else tasted very flat.
On the other hand, the Cuban sandwich is absolutely fantastic. I love that the bread is charred to the brink, and filled with porky, cheesy goodness. As a bonus, the lettuce wedge is also incredible. It tastes like it was picked straight out of the ground.
I would come back for this no questions asked.
This is the Banh Mi, which was confusing because it resembled a Big Mac collided with a katsu sando. I’ve never had one with a pork cutlet, that’s for sure. This sandwich was still enjoyable, but I didn’t get pick up on anything calling back to its namesake.
The spaghetti carbonara was disappointing. I expected something much richer and flavor-forward, but like the pizza this fell pretty flat.
Bob’s Well Bread (Ballard)
We adore the original Bob’s Well Bread, and were excited to be staying super close to the Ballard location. Unfortunately we were in for a rude surprise.
I consider the eggs in a jar one of my favorite breakfast dishes ever, but the Ballard location dropped the ball hard here. The bacon is tough while the potatoes and eggs aren’t salted enough. It’s merely good on its own. Otherwise, a tragedy if you’ve had the original.
The mushroom toast sounded incredible based on the menu description. What we got was was a disaster. It’s so heavy handed with the vinegar, and every bite is pucker-up sour.
Maybe the oatmeal raisin cookie will redeem things? Nope! Tough as a rock. I don’t know what happened, but this made my teeth sad.
We left pretty disheartened, although the crowd outside didn’t seem to have any problems. If there’s an upside, the cafe au lait (not pictured) was excellent.
Old West Cinnamon Rolls
We went up to Pismo Beach afterwards, with hopes of finding something to redeem our breakfast.
I didn’t have high hopes for a place that also sells bluetooth headphones. That doesn’t change the fact that these cinnamon rolls are great. We should’ve bought a dozen.
Bob’s Well Bread (Los Alamos)
We did not want to settle for mediocrity. The next day, we drove up to the original Bob’s in Los Alamos to see if it was still as good as we remembered.
Thankfully, the egg in a jar is flawless. The bacon is the perfect texture, and I don’t have to critique the seasoning either. I love this dish so much.
I had had my eye on the bagels last time, and today I walked out with a sesame bagel with cream cheese. Sadly it was a little tough, but the flavor was spot on and I still enjoyed it plenty. I’m sure toasting it would have helped, but a fresh bagel would have been even better. This has a lot of potential.
I did not get a picture of the macaroon we ordered, but it was unexpectedly amazing. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t care much about them. Otherwise, we are relived that the original Bob’s is still great. I will never go back to the Ballard location.
Bell’s
Bell’s is a short walk over, which made for an easy bang bang.
The beef cheek sandwich is very good. A little overboard on the red wine, but still very good. The bread is possibly the best part. If you told me I was in Europe while eating this I would believe you.
I was not prepared for these french fries. They look ordinary, but they are so unbelievably savory - like a fresh batch of McDonald’s fries made using tallow. I really don’t think I have had better fries anywhere. The included bearnaise sauce is also nice. Feels like you’re eating with your pinky up.
Overall, great trip. Didn’t hurt that the scenery was beautiful as well.