Starting the Day Off Right at Kay's

Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen

135 E. Clark Avenue

Santa Maria, CA 93455

We had the whole day to hang out in Santa Maria recently. My friend was having his wedding up here, but the ceremony did not get underway until 4, so that meant we had plenty of time to check out our surroundings on this early fall weekend. We had plans to see the Santa Maria Museum of Flight, and maybe if we had time, we would swing by the Santa Maria Town Center for some shopping. Of course with all of this planned, we had to start our day with breakfast.

I had bookmarked a breakfast restaurant in Orcutt before we left OC. Orcutt is an unincorporated area of Santa Maria, which is an oil town. This community is named after William Warren Orcutt, who not only was an oilman, but he also brought the fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits to the attention of scientists. Old Town Orcutt has a small-town feel to it, even though there are 35,000 people living here now. This main commercial area has an old west kind of vibe going for it, without being too hokey.

We pulled up to Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen at 10:30 and had about a fifteen-minute wait. They were kind enough to have coffee outside for those wanting to eat here. Kay's has been around for over 14 years now, and word has definitely gotten out about this restaurant that's only open until 2pm. There's a nice heated patio here, but we were seated in one of the rooms near the front of the restaurant. This restaurant is housed in a building that dates from 1904, and it has been restored while Kay's been in charge. Walls are adorned with lots of photographs of local history. The menu is what you would expect from a breakfast joint; scrambles, omelets, and pancakes, but there's also a small selection of sandwiches and burgers here for those not wishing to partake in breakfast. We were here for the first meal of the day though, so let's see how that worked out for us.

Katie will start us off with her choice this morning, the Garden Scramble ($10.95). This veggie egg dish included sliced bell peppers, red onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach, then topped with avocado and cheddar and jack cheeses. Katie liked the fluffiness of the eggs, which with the fresh produce really made this omelet a winner. Her choice for a breakfast bread was a homemade biscuit. This was a very good biscuit. It was buttery and not dry at all. This made us wish that we had ordered these biscuits with some gravy.

I did not have a hangover, but I could not resist the allure of having this Too Much To Drink Last Night Omelette ($10.95). Inside this omelet was diced up chicken fried steak and bacon, then it was topped with cheddar and jack cheeses and smothered with bacon and sausage gravy. I'm surprised I have never seen an omelet with chicken fried steak in it before. Predictably this was a delicious omelet. The gravy was full of flavor but did not overshadow the insides of the omelet, a very hard balance to achieve. The cheese did get a little lost here though. You get your choice of either hash browns or home fries with this meal, and I went with the hash browns, which were just okay. I should have maybe gone with home fries instead. For my bread option, I had their seasonal muffin, which just happened to be Pumpkin Spice. This was a pretty good muffin, which did not go overboard on the cinnamon and nutmeg, like other, "pumpkin", items tend to do.

Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen was a great way to start our day in Santa Maria. The breakfasts here are pretty good-sized, so make sure you bring your appetite. We did not think the prices were way out of line for this much food. The service we received from our waitress Kristen was personable and she really made us feel at home, even though we were probably one of the few parties that were not from around here. If we are back in the area again, this is a definite place for us to hit up for breakfast. Of course, after all this food, we predictably skipped our plans to go to the museum and went back to our hotel for a two-hour nap before the wedding. So much for the best-laid plans.

Out of five oil rigs, (since Orcutt is an old oil town), five being best to zero being worst, Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen gets 3.5 oil rigs.

For more information about Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen, go to their website here: https://www.kayscountrykitchen.com/

Sampling Salvadoran Food in Santa Maria

Las Comadres

202 W. Main St.

Santa Maria, CA 93458

I have one rule when we are on vacation. I never want to eat at a restaurant that I could eat when I am at home. That's why you won't see me going to Cheesecake Factory in Boston, scarfing down chicken strips in Times Square at Friday's, or when I'm in Vegas, eating at Javier's. Okay, I don't eat at Javier's here either, but that's just because it's not good. Anyways, the point is that we look for places where the locals eat. These seem to be the best places, and that's what we were hoping for when we went to Las Comadres in Santa Maria.

Las Comadres is a restaurant that hit all of our key points.  It's a Salvadoran restaurant that seemed to get really good reviews on Yelp, it's something that we haven't had at home, and as an added bonus, it was just right down the street from our hotel. How could we not eat here? I did a quick check of Salvadorian restaurants in OC, and Yelp gave me 16 to try, so if we liked the food here at Las Comadres, then we might have to check some of those restaurants out.

After freshening up after our long car ride, we made it to Las Comadres at about 7pm on a Friday night. Not exactly in the most happening part of town, we were welcomed by their neon sign assuring us that they were open. There were a few TVs turned to some novellas, a few soccer jerseys hanging on the brightly colored walls, and some maps of El Salvador thrown in for decor. That's about it for ambiance. This is a no-frills kind of place, where you seat yourself, and then they bring you a menu.

If you are expecting some Mexican cuisine to be hidden on this menu, you might as well keep driving. Salvadoran tamales, yuca frita, and probably the most notable dish from this Central American country, pupusas rule the roost here. The menu might seem a little adventurous, but we were pretty excited to finally try this cuisine. We asked some questions to our waitress and waited for our food to make its way out to us.

I guess I spent all this time telling you this isn't like a Mexican restaurant, and then they place Chips and Salsa in front of us. Okay, there's a tiny bit of crossover here. These were some pretty sturdy tortilla chips, which were almost on the verge of being overcooked. The salsa was on the watery side, but I liked the large pieces of onion in there. This salsa had a big tomato flavor but hit you with a good amount of spice near the end. I had a meal coming my way, but it was hard to resist this salsa.

Whenever it's unlikely we will be back to a restaurant again, I always gravitate towards combination plates, and Katie must have picked this up from me, as she selected Combo #4  which includes 2 Pupusas, a Tamal, Yuca Frita, Beans and Rice ($12.99). She chose to have one of her pupusas filled with just cheese, and the other to have cheese and squash. The cheese they use in these was a Salvadoran soft cheese called quesillo. Katie was really excited by these pupusas. The squash was really fresh, and the cheese was not crazy heavy. The outer corn portion of the pupusa was a great vessel for the insides. The rest of the plate was pretty good as well. The yuca frita was probably the best version I have had. Fried perfectly, very crisp, and not greasy, it was made even better when dipped in the beans. If I had to pick a weak spot here, it would have to be the rice, which was a little on the bland side. Katie left here very happy though.

Not the most beautifully plated dish, I went with a combo as well. The #1 Combo included 2 Pupusas, 1 Chicken Tamal, and half a Plantain ($8.59). I enjoyed my food as well. I had pork, cheese, and beans in my pupusas, which is also known as the Revueltas pupusa. The pupusas are not filled to the brim here, but they will fill you up. The tamal is not like the Mexican versions I have had. These are very moist, not overly stuffed with chicken, and they have a lightness about them. I've never really been a fan of plantain, but this one was one of the best I have had. Not sure what they did to this, but if more plantains tasted like this, I'd order them way more than I do. A very solid plate of food.

It's safe to say that the food at Las Comadres piqued my interest in Salvadorian food. I've already got a place bookmarked that is near my house. As for Las Comadres, this is a no-frills place serving up some delicious Central American cuisine. If you come here with an open mind, and not expecting Mexican food, you will definitely leave here happy. The service we experienced on this night was very pleasant. Glad we shied away from the norm and went with something that was a bit out of our comfort zone. A real hidden gem in Santa Maria.

Out of five video games, (because before his name was famous for being on a video game, John Madden was head coach of Santa Maria's Allan Hancock College's football team), five being best to zero being worst, Las Comadres gets 3.5 video games.

For more information about Las Comadres, check out their website here: https://www.lascomadressalvadoreanfood.com/