Coming Up Hot and Fresh

Here Are Some of Santa Barbara’s Best Breakfast Sandos to Start Your Day Off Right

Hook & Press's The Cubano: applewood smoked ham, scrambled egg, swiss, stone ground mustard and house made dill pickle serrano hot sauce. | Photo: Courtesy

Santa Barbara is certainly not New York City, home of the quick-cooking and iconic Bacon, Egg, and Cheese (BEC) sandwich. But what we lack in bodegas, we make up for in a variety of breakfast sandos that will please any palate. From fluffy French croissant concoctions to kaiser-roll deli classics, Southern-inspired sausage biscuit behemoths, and myriad bagel combinations, there are a number of satisfying breakfast sandwich options coming out hot and fresh from our California kitchens. Here are a few of the top ways to start your day on the right side of the bed.

Alessia Patisserie and Café

Alessia Patisserie’s croissant sandwich, left, and classic breakfast sandwich | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

It’s easy to be enticed by Alessia Patisserie’s dreamy pastry case, bursting with creative confections like a gourmet Snickers bar, dusted with gold and topped with mousse. However, Mom’s advice to eat something savory before dessert is a not only wise but also delicious choice at this light and bright French outpost on Canon Perdido Street. What better place to start than breakfast? Executive Chef Alessia Guehr offers two outstanding breakfast sandwiches, including a classic on their bouncy brioche bread loaded with shaved Black Forest ham or bacon, sauteed mushrooms, tomato, Gruyère, onion jam, garlic aioli, and a fried egg. My favorite is the croissant sandwich, which shows off their perfectly executed pastry, a hypnotizing creation of countless layers of buttery goodness. Filled with fried or poached eggs, Gruyère cheese, heirloom tomatoes, red onion, and hollandaise, this delicacy can be made even more luxurious by adding Black Forest ham or smoked salmon. Crown your meal with a decadent dessert for a truly regal start to your day.

Alessia Patisserie and Café; 134 E. Canon Perdido St.; alessiapatisserie.com

Big T’s Deli

Bacon, egg, and cheese. Simple but, when done right, revelatory. Like a rocking supergroup, Big T’s Deli in the Santa Barbara Public Market manages to take every part and do it just right in their best-seller, the Westside BEC. Eggs beam with healthy yellow yolks and are lightly fried for ideal jamminess, and they use “New School” American cheese, which elevates the snack-bar standby by using real ingredients, such as aged cheddar cheese, resulting in the same meltiness and better flavor. The kaiser rolls are brought in daily from S.B. fave D’Angelo Bakery, and when they’re toasted and lathered in their lightly spiced “bodega sauce,” this creation might just transport you to the streets of Brooklyn. “We take pride in using the freshest ingredients available, ensuring every bite bursts with flavor,” owner Travis Twinning said. “Known for our generous portions and affordable prices, we prioritize quality over quantity; we’d rather run out of a product than serve day-old bread or bagels, guaranteeing that our offerings meet the highest standards.” You can taste this meticulous care in all of their sandwiches and breakfast bagel creations. I was enamored by the Salmon Sammy, a fresh Yetz’s bagel containing a savory blanket of folded eggs, lox, grilled onions, arugula, tomato, and cream cheese. With a menu that will satisfy all of your cravings, Big T’s is the neighborhood deli we’ve been waiting for.

Big T’s Deli; Santa Barbara Public Market, 38 W. Victoria St.; sbpublicmarket.com/vendors/big-ts-deli

Bree’Osh

S.B. has often been called The American Riviera for its Mediterranean climate, winemaking culture, and, I’d argue, its incredible pastries. French transplants and founders of Bree’Osh Bakery, Pierre Yves-Henry and his wife, Nellie, are a large part of this delectable and methodical approach to baking that offers us all a taste of la belle vie. Their popular Brioche Breakfast Sandwich features two soft scrambled organic eggs with Emmental cheese, special sauce, caramelized onions, and arugula. “We like to cook the right way, very gently and slowly,” Yves-Henry said. I added bacon to take it over the edge, but it certainly is not a requirement. The high quality of each ingredient sings a beautiful solo that needs no additional notes. The brioche itself takes 15 hours to make, and it’s a three-day process to create their croissants. You can taste and feel the intentional difference in the lamination in their Croissant Breakfast Sandwich, which includes uncured ham or cremini mushrooms, a sunny-side-up egg, and Swiss cheese. After all of this deliciousness, I expected to feel stuffed or sleepy, but in true French style, their food left me energized, sated, and ready to continue living the good life.

Bree’Osh Santa Barbara, 2700 De la Vina St.; Bree’Osh Montecito, 1150 Coast Village Rd., Ste. E; breeosh.com

Hook & Press

While the main draw to this rainbow of a shop might be their eye-catching and tastebud-dazzling donuts, do not sleep on their excellent array of breakfast sandwiches. The same meticulous care and ingredient sourcing that goes into their creative handmade donuts is evident in their super-satisfying breakfast creations. “Coming from a background as a private chef, I’ve always been focused on creating exceptional and memorable experiences for my clients, so I wanted to bring that same level of intention to our breakfast menu,” co-owner Denisse Salinas said. The GOAT features a fried egg, luscious goat-cheese mousse, a bourbon bacon jam that simmers for hours on the stove, and fresh baby arugula nestled inside their heavenly handmade buttermilk biscuit. Each ingredient works together seamlessly. In their Sausage, Egg and Cheese, their house-made maple-sage sausage patty pairs perfectly with an herby avocado mayo and Jack cheese. Inventive creations like the Cubano, which layers scrambled eggs, applewood-smoked ham, Swiss cheese, and stone-ground mustard on a toasted English muffin, with a side of homemade dill pickle/serrano hot sauce, surprise and delight. “Every sandwich is carefully crafted to balance quality, flavor, and texture — just like our donuts — each with its own unique (and hopefully unforgettable) personal touch,” Salinas said. With vegan options and great coffee as well, there’s something for everyone at this sweet and savory paradise.

Hook & Press; 15 E. Figueroa St.; hookandpressdonuts.com

Lilac Pâtisserie

With all this discussion of bread, I must shine a spotlight on Lilac Pâtisserie’s incredible Breakfast Sandwich, which is made with an ethereal I-can’t-believe-it’s-gluten-free brioche. This thoughtfully crafted creation, available at their Parisian-inspired locations, proves that not all egg and bacon enclosures need be laden with wheat to be delicious. With one bite of this beauty, which combines jammy organic eggs, thick Black Forest ham, bright homemade pesto, baby arugula, and sharp cheddar cheese between perfectly griddled brioche bread, you’ll be planning your next trip back. “The addition of our house-made pesto and the sweetness of the brioche bread balanced by the savory ham is what knocks it out of the park for me,” owner Gillian Muralles said. For a French-infused, open-faced breakfast sandwich, the Croque Madame is a must. This decadent specialty of Black Forest ham, Gruyère cheese, and two fried eggs layered on rustic white toast and draped in a velvety Mornay sauce satisfies on every level and is perfectly balanced by the fresh side salad drizzled with their light and lemony house vinaigrette. With quality ingredients thoughtfully prepared, Lilac provides impeccable dishes that will ease the minds of those who are gluten-free and please the palates of all.

Lilac Pâtisserie. 1017 State St.; lilacpatisserie.com. Lilac Montecito; 1209 Coast Village Rd.; lilacmontecito.com

Revolver

Looking to scratch your bodega-brekky itch? Search no further than Revolver, the Westside’s groovy little vinyl-infused, chef-driven, sourdough pizza haven. “Everything for Revolver, if we can make it in-house, we do,” said owner Nick Bodden, who hails from Long Island. Bodden’s experience cooking in Michelin-starred kitchens, pizza parlors, and bagel shops in New York City and beyond shines in his attention to detail. After returning from a trip to the city, he was inspired to bring the breakfast sandwich culture to S.B., and their Sunday morning pop-up was born. I can’t think of a lovelier way to start a Sunday than pulling up a red barstool at their hole-in-the-wall outpost, grabbing a latte from Considered Coffee out front, and chatting with neighbors or the personable Bodden while awaiting this delicacy. Simplicity reigns here with only two options to choose from: the vegetarian, filled with two fried eggs, avocado, cheddar cheese, and the perfect hit of house-made chili crisp; or the meat version, which rotates weekly. I lucked out on a day that Bodden offered imported Italian mortadella. Ham’s cosmopolitan cousin is the perfect sumptuous costar to savory fried eggs and cheese. Both options are true to Revolver’s from-scratch ethos and nestled inside a house-baked kaiser roll. I didn’t understand the allure of a kaiser roll before trying their cloudlike, tender, poppyseed-topped concoction; now I wish I could buy theirs in bulk. Revolver is a testament to the power in making just a few things very, very well.

Revolver; 1429 San Andres St.; revolversb.com