Bacon & Brine

The restaurant appears permanently closed :(The sign is gone and the insides have been stripped.

Went to lunch there yesterday with a friend. We ordered sandwiches and had water to drink. $ 30 was a little steep.
We had a pulled pork sandwich that had kimchi on it and another one the had spinach on it. The sandwich with the spinach was delicious the other one was ok. Wait time was ok. I have wanted to eat there for a long time and actually was somewhat disappointed. Quality of the food was great, prices are too high.
I wish them good luck for the planned move.

The sandwich I ordered was very good, the meat was excellent and the sandwich was packed with meat. I do think that it was a little on the pricey side for not having any kind of side with it though. This is a cute little place where you eat outside. They have a couple picnic benches as well as stools that you can sit on but I probably wouldn’t go here if it was raining. I heard them say they are going to be moving locations so the outdoor seating may just be temporary, I will definitely go back again.

Tasty, creative, unique, and as healthy as pulled pork can be. First time I had it, I thought it was a bit too wet and messy, but it’s part of the experience. Be ready to get dirty (oink!) and enjoy it.
The sandwich is very big, so if you’re not starving, you might want to share one and save room for the bacon donut.
Been here twice. The menu was completely different in each visit, so even though they have only three choices of sandwiches, know that chances are you get to try something entirely new every time.

I wanted to come to this place for the past year! I finally got to try it yesterday and Chef pink did work! I got the pulled pork NYC style! It was amazing! Thankfully there was no mustard on it due to my «allergies»
Will be back every time I’m here!

Off the beaten path from the main shops in Solvang, but worth the detour! It was a bit of a wait for our food, but it was a holiday weekend and the food was completely worth waiting for!
I highly recommend the Brunch plate, it was absolutely delicious! And yes, the lemonade is worth the $ 5!

In my book, there are two kinds of food: «good» and «damn good.»
To call the «For the Love of Swine» sandwich «damn good» does it a disservice… I may need a whole new category.

So yummy!!! I’m not even a huge fan of pork but this place is amazing! Perfect to eat before a day full of wine tasting. I love that all of their ingredients are locally sourced and their menu changes daily.

They don’t have indoor seating, and their entire three-​item menu is written on a chalkboard. What you see is what you get.
But feast your eyes because you get a lot. The SoCal Swine sandwich is this crazy mix of tomato-​braised pork, picked, and avocado. The pork stays sweet and light — I’ve never had anything like this!
The Kraut Pig is a bit more traditional and more German-​inspired. But even with mustard and Kraut, it still finished less tangy and acerbic than expected. Definitely try both — they’re so different.
Bottom line: Next time I’m in Solvang, I’ll be begging for bacon and burning for brine.

Heaven is this you? All I can say about this place is WOW. Being a Food Network addict that I am I knew exactly who Crystal DeLongpré was aka Chef Pink and already set some high expectations for this joint and boy she didn’t disappoint. You don’t come here for the scene, there are no fancy tables or a dining room to eat in but who cares that’s not why your here… you are here for BACON.
Ambiance: Cool spot ran out of a window basically with picnic tables outside to enjoy your tasty plates. Small, simple, perfect. Oh word of advice before people start getting all crazy about the business hours here lets get one thing straight this place lists their hours of operation on their site however if they run out of food for that day then they close. deal with it and plan ahead. Total score: ⁵⁄₅.
Service: How cool is it that not only is this place owned by Chef Pink but the woman is actually ringing in my order and making small talk with me!!! How cool do I feel right now? Chef-​Ebrity sighting!!! Total score: ⁵⁄₅
Price: I would have paid tripping the price if I knew how good these sandwiches were going to be. Total score: ⁵⁄₅
What was ordered: Take note that this place never has the same sandwiches featured and are always changing things up on the daily.
Hot Hot Bacon Cheezey $ 13.50: Tillamook sharp cheddar, house smoked bacon, red shishito fermented siracha (house made), fresh herbs. Words can’t describe the perfectness of this grilled cheese. This is the kind of sandwich you have to close your eyes to eat as it is THAT GOOD. Worth every damn calorie.
Smokey And The Pig $ 13.50: Slow smoked pork loin, honey pickled fennel, romaine, smokey mustard. Such a tasty and surprisingly fresh sandwich.
Jasmine Green Tea $ 4: House brewed and lightly sweetened. a perfect compliment to the flavorful sandwiches.
I can’t wait to be back to try whatever Chef Pink has crafted and even more so to try that bacon carmel latte! If you are a bacon person do yourself a favor and get here asap it wont disappoint. .And if you are not a bacon person, I don’t want to be your friend anymore ;) KIDDING… kinda.

I am a huge fan of both Bar Rescue and Cutthroat Kitchen, so after reading on Unilocal that Bacon and Brine is owned by the famous Chef Pink I had to stop by!
My girlfriend and I arrived at Solvang at 2 pm yesterday and saw on Unilocal that they were open til 5. We got to the restaraunt around 3:45 — 4 pm and it was closed. We figured that they must have ran out of food, which after eating there, we are sure that’s what happened. Not a problem, we returned today at noon and they were open.
After walking up to Bacon and Brine we were invited by the amazing aroma of the deliciousness inside. We entered the fairly small building and were greeted right away. She was very nice and helped us decide on what to order. The menu actually changes everyday, but today we had shredded pork sandwiches that were absolutely amazing!!! They were packed with so much flavor and loaded with pork. We also shared a sweet tea that was very good as well.
The highlight of my visit was being able to meet and take a picture with Chef Pink. She was very friendly, personable, and genuine. Thanks so much for the memorable experience!
You have to stop by here when you are in Solvang! You will not be disappointed!

I’m giving this one 5 stars for them successfully accomplishing what they are trying to do as far as brand, culture, and FOOD are concerned.
As you pass community tables and a few bistro seating a spots up to the building, you’ll realize that the only thing inside is the kitchen and the bathroom — fortunately, not together. Haha.
Walk in the door to a small area to order where you can see back into the kitchen with a sign that reads «do it with passion or don’t do it at all.» I love it!
Menu is on the chalkboard, drinks are on the counter — tea and water, and there’s a couple of other things sitting around.
We ordered a sandwich and a salad and my oh my. The salad was amazing. A perfect compilation of melon and heirloom tomato and an added surprise of cayenne pepper and cilantro. Sounds strange at first, but oh so good.
The meatball sandwich was messy, but it was as delicious as it hard to keep clean and pretty. Gosh. It was great. See the pictures for all the fixings it had.
Great place for an awesome meal.

Stopped by for lunch on a weekday.
They actually had me at bacon, since I love me some bacon. I was surprised at how small the restaurant is. It’s more like a store front where you can order food and pick up food when they call your name. No interior seating, just some communal seating outside.
They only had 3 different sandwiches and a salad on the menu when we went. We ordered the banh mi and Seoul sandwich.
First of all, the food took a long time, and it wasn’t even busy. When we got the food, I wasn’t too impressed with their sandwiches.
Banh mi had generous amount of pork, but it was a bit dry, and to be honest, not very interesting in terms of flavor. It needed more pickled radish/​carrots, and some more jalapenos and cilantro would’ve been good. Just didn’t have the flavor profile that I love about banh mi sandwiches.
The Seoul sandwich was drenched, soaked in oil. It was almost like they dipped the sandwich in oil, and it soaked not only through the parchment paper, but even the packaging. I considered taking it back and asking if the sandwich was supposed to be like that, because it was just gross to eat. The flavors were ok, I liked that they added nectarines in the sandwich for some natural sweetness that contrasted nicely with spicy kimchi, but again, it was a little difficult to enjoy the sandwich. It was the messiest sandwich, and I went through like 20 napkins eating the sandwich.
I don’t think I’ll be back. I like the concept, cute packging, friendly service, but ultimately I didn’t like the delivery of the food. Too bad, because I wanted to love this place.

Stopped by this place on a quick trip to Solvang on our way to San Luis Obispo. As an avid watcher of food network, I was intrigued that the owner was on Cutthroat Kitchen. This was such a unique sandwich shop, with only a few things on the menu. It was obvious, however, that a lot of careful thought and hand-​crafted goodness went into each sandwich. I had the «little ms Tokyo» which had pulled pork, a sweet chili sauce, pickled onions and cucumbers, and cilantro on a perfectly toasted ciabatta roll. My sandwich was delicious, with a heaping amount of juicy goodness. The pickled toppings were a unique addition, and added a nice crunch to the sandwich. The sandwiches are massive! You will definitely not leave this place hungry. My boyfriend got the «sgt pepper» which had peppered pork, lettuce, and pickled zucchini on a ciabatta roll. His sandwich was also a hit, except for the 2×1 inch bone that was in it. Luckily he saw it and didn’t bite down on it. That was the only negative we had about the experience.
The ambience is also great, it’s located in «atterdag square» which is a cute little area off of the main strip in solvang. It’s quiet and has beautiful flowers and grass.
I would definitely recommend this place if you are feeling like a huge, delicious, and unique sandwich.

Just ate lunch here on Father’s Day while we were walking around shopping and sight seeing in Solvang. I stumbled upon this place on Unilocal and saw the good reviews so I thought it was worth a try.
We ordered the BLK sandwich which was made of Bacon, Lettuce & Kimchi, the Cubano Sandwich which had fried pork chops, corn and coleslaw as well as the house salad which was made with lettuce, blueberries, walnuts and a vinaigrette.
All the food was made with organic ingredients and was well worth the wait!

The bread. So good.
And the rest was good too! I got a pork sandwich with garlic aioli, and I think some kraut. Meat was tender, bread was soft and crunchy… and the potato leek soup was amazing.
The picnic tables outside are a nice spot to sit. Sandwiches are about $ 13 bucks each, so the meal can add up, but they are shareable if you aren’t looking to get stuffed.
This is a great place to grab a sandwich at in between tasting rooms.

Not a typical Danish place to eat lunch, but after seeing it in a magazine about pork and bacon, we had to swing by for lunch. Place was hard to find on the Unilocal map that we ended up walking past the square and had to circle back.
Menu consisted of 4 sandwiches with 1 being vegetarian. Apparently, the menu changes daily. Check their menu on FB. Most of the sandwiches are $ 12-​$ 13.50 so they’re not cheap. Order first, then go sit outside on one of the picnic tables.
I had the «Sweet On My Cowgirl» with brown sugar coffee pulled pork and my husband had the «Ribbed For Your Pleasure» sandwich with oak smoked boneless ribs. Both were on ciabatta rolls, but the sandwich was SOOO soggy and messy that we had to eat with a fork and knife. It was impossible to eat by hand. Didn’t realize that the sandwiches were so big either that I was full after just eating half so I highly recommend sharing one. Overall, flavors and quality of meat were good for both. My only complaints were that the sandwich was too big, soggy, and messy. That’s why I didn’t bother taking the other half home since it didn’t make for a good leftover.
We also had the Huckleberry Honey Blossom iced tea with fresh blackberry which was really refreshing and tasty.
If you’re in the area and love pork/​bacon, this is the place to stop by in Solvang!

Eh, I’m so conflicted. This is a new business by a Food Network winner, and I don’t want to be a naysayer, since I think all new business is great! Unfortunately, I wasn’t blown away by my meal.
I was really excited to try this place. My mom and I were heading home from Solvang, and we wanted to share a sandwich before hitting the road. I found Bacon and Brine and thought the idea was great!
Our sandwich was pulled pork with an apple slaw. The pork was well flavored and fatty, but it was almost too fatty. The slaw was creamy, and paired with the pork, it was over-​the-​top. I wanted something acidic to counter the oil.
The packaging was really cute, though wasteful of paper. I loved the striped string around the entire package. With tax and tip, however, the sandwich was horrendously expensive. I think I was somewhere in the range of $ 17. Such a price makes me raise my taste and expectation standards. Although our meal was good, it was partially disappointing and won’t be on our agenda the next time we roll through.

This place has loads of hype. They normally have 3 sandwich selections, but were sold out of one ½ hour after they opened (so they said)
Our 2 choices left were a sausage sandwich (I asked and they did NOT make the sausage, so we ordered the Pork and kimchi sandwich — it was huge. We also ordered the only side available — potato wedges served with cheddar cheese pieces and arugula, This was quite tasty.
Deleting one star b/​c the should make enough for all 3 sandwiches to be available for the lunch rush.

One of our favorite cities on our recent trip to California was Solvang. It is such a charming city. As we were finishing up our wine tasting at Sort This Out Cellars, we asked for suggestions for lunch. She recommended Bacon & Brine, and oh I am so glad she did! It was wonderful.
It is a very small restaurant with outdoor seating. You go inside and read the current menu on the chalkboard, be warned — it all sounds amazing. Everything appears to be housemade and you can tell. We ordered the Ginger Sweet Tea to drink and the Belly and Kraut Sandwich. We got our mason jar of tea and waited outside. The tea was perfect, obvious fresh ginger flavor. Our sandwiches came wrapped in brown paper and tied with a cute red and white twine. I am a sucker for cute packaging and this totally one me over.
But it was what was inside that was outstanding. This was quite possibly the best sandwich I have ever eaten. The pork belly was flavorful and insanely tender. The kraut was perfect, even the bread was wonderful — a chewy baguette.
If you are in Solvang you have to try Bacon & Brine! I just went to their Facebook page, Bacon & Brine, and it makes me sad that I am so far away in Tennessee. If I was there I would be ordering the Smokin n Nola — oak smoked andouille sausage, Danish red lager, and honey chipotle onions!!!