Tupelo Junction Cafe - Santa Barbara, CA

Somewhere in the heart of beautiful Santa Barbara is a restaurant that serves amazing breakfast food for those of us who had to wake up early in order to beat the traffic out of LA. This place is worth waking up early for. But don't wake up too early because they don't open until 8am. Sister K and I had been driving for about 2 hours from LA when we decided to stop in Santa Barbara for something to eat. We had both been awake since probably 5:00am and were both hungry and Sister K wanted to check out Santa Barbara since she had never been. When we rolled into town, all the restaurants and shops were still closed. We had no idea where to go for breakfast. We Yelped and found Tupelo. We had to wait 5 minutes because it was 7:55am. Thank you Yelp for a fine recommendation.

Photo credit to Sister K

Photo credit to Sister K

Dungeness Crab Cake & Potato Hash w/Avocado Salsa, Poached Eggs & Lemon Butter Sauce - if you come here...order this dish! It is kind of an oxymoron but it is a luxurious rustic dish. Luxurious because of the crab cakes and rustic because of the potatoes and toasted baguette slices. It is a variation on a traditional eggs Benedict. Really tasty!

Cinnamon Apple Beignets w/Creme Anglaise - I really liked these and it was the perfect pairing with the savory dish that I had ordered. Sister K and I shared the the crab cakes and these beignets. This satiated my need for a little something sweet in the morning. I am always torn between savory and sweet when breakfast is involved. These beignets were denser and less sweet than other beignets, Sister K informs me. In fact, they were cake-y but we both agreed that it was still good, especially when dipped in the creme anglaise.

Sister K - we have to come back here soon!

Tupelo Junction Cafe
1218 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 899-3100