Olive Pit - Corning, California

As the Dining Companion's hermana and I were traveling up the California coast we passed a couple of billboards for the Olive Pit. Tempting us with the promise of olive tastings, there was no way either one of us could resist a stop.

 

What we found when we arrived was a cute store all about olives and olive related products. Oh, and wine too.

The store features an olive bar. There you can taste a large variety of olives, olive oils and vinegars.

Photo from the Olive Pit website

We wandered around trying to see everything at once. There was a lot to see.

Everything from the expected...

...to the hey look at this

to the what the hell?

The only thing that stopped me from buying everything in the store right then was the flight I still had to make a few days later. Good thing for me the Olive Pit ships. There are prepared gift boxes in the store for purchase that can be mailed out. (You can also fill a gift box with your own selection of products.) Also, from their website you can place orders online. We didn't leave completely empty handed. A few snacks for the road may have made it back to the car.

All that walking around looking at food was hungry work. Good thing for us there was a cafe right on the premises. As the clock struck lunchtime we made a beeline for the counter.

Photo from Olive Pit website

Looking over the menu one thing caught our eye; the lunch menu featured a Muffuletta sandwich. Which may seem an odd choice seeing as how we're nowhere near the city that put that sandwich on the map. However, one of the main components of a muffuletta besides a variety of coldcuts is a delicious olive salad. The one on the menu at the Olive Pit is made with their own version of that salad and it was delicious.

 

Muffuletta Sandwich

A random billboard along the highway or even a recommendation from the hotel clerk can lead to unexpected finds. The nice thing about taking a road trip is that you can stop at interesting places you happen upon along the way. The Olive Pit proved to be a fun stop and well worth the time.

After enjoying lunch and armed with snacks for the road we headed back to the car. Happy that we took the time to stop and looking forward to where the road would take us next.

Happy travels!