Sideways filming locations: a self-guided tour

Where was Sideways filmed? The movie locations, then and now

The 2004 film Sideways was shot almost entirely on location in Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley, Visit Solvang says, and the Hitching Post says the crew spent ten weeks here in October and November 2003. The table lists every valley stop, what happened there on screen, and what you’ll find today.

Not on the list: Pea Soup Andersen’s (the Buellton restaurant closed on January 1, 2024) and a “Clubhouse” bar from an old 2016 map. Neither is on Visit Solvang’s scene list.

Make a day of it: a Sideways weekend for two

Coming up from LA or Santa Barbara for the weekend? Sleep in Buellton, where the film is based, and treat the movie as a route through the valley’s best wine roads rather than a checklist.

• Where to stay: for the full fan experience, ask for room 234 at the Sideways Inn in Buellton. It has a windmill lobby, a lounge, heated pools and dog-friendly rooms. Hitching Post 2 is 0.7 miles away, a 16-minute walk, so dinner needs no driver. Want something quieter and more polished? Walk to dinner and tasting rooms from Los Olivos, or park once at a Solvang hotel.
• Friday night: dinner at Hitching Post 2, at the bar if you can. Order a Highliner and the grilled artichoke. It’s closed Tuesdays, so book ahead.
• Saturday: the full-day route below, with a designated driver or a hired one. Foxen Canyon Road is long and rural, and FOXEN itself warns that ride-shares are hard to get out there.
• Sunday: aebleskiver at Solvang Restaurant (7 minutes from the Sideways Inn by car), then feed the birds at OstrichLand on the way home.

Don’t miss: Kalyra is closed Tuesday to Thursday, The Shack only opens Friday to Sunday and Hitching Post 2 is closed Tuesday. A Friday-to-Sunday trip gets you all three.

The half-day Sideways route (about 4 hours)

Four of the best-known scenes, in order, with routed drive times:

1. Solvang Restaurant, Solvang. A late breakfast in the booth where Jack lays down the rules for the week.
2. Los Olivos Café, Los Olivos: 5.6 miles, 14 minutes. Lunch or a glass by the wall of bottles from the double-date dinner. Grand Avenue has plenty of tasting rooms on foot if you have time.
3. Fess Parker Winery, Foxen Canyon Road: 6.5 miles, 16 minutes. This is “Frass Canyon,” the spit-bucket winery.
4. Hitching Post 2, Buellton: 11.3 miles, 21 minutes. Dinner from 4:30pm, or a drink at the bar from 4pm (closed Tuesday).

The full-day Sideways route (Friday to Monday)

This one adds Santa Rosa Road, Kalyra and Firestone. Kalyra is closed Tuesday to Thursday, so do it Friday to Monday. Add The Shack if it’s Friday to Sunday.

1. Breakfast at Solvang Restaurant, Solvang.
2. Santa Rosa Road: 9 miles, 20 minutes, to Peake Ranch. This is the road from the film’s vineyard driving shots; Sanford’s own estate is 5.3 miles, 14 minutes, farther west. See the old Sanford shack and taste at Peake Ranch (daily 11am to 5pm, $50, reservations strongly recommended), or at Alma Rosa’s Estate Ranch House next door.
3. Kalyra Winery, Buellton: 6.3 miles, 16 minutes. $15 sampler. OstrichLand is 1.7 miles, 4 minutes, from here if you want the ostrich stop.
4. Lunch at Los Olivos Café: 10.2 miles, 16 minutes.
5. Firestone and Fess Parker on the Foxen Canyon side: Fess Parker is 6.5 miles, 16 minutes, from the café. Firestone, on Zaca Station Road, takes walk-ins daily, and FOXEN’s Shack is farther north up Foxen Canyon Road (see our Foxen Canyon Wine Trail guide).
6. Dinner at Hitching Post 2: 11.3 miles, 21 minutes, from Fess Parker. Then it’s a 16-minute walk back to the Sideways Inn.

Pace yourself: that’s four or five tastings. Pick two and skip the rest if you’re driving yourself.

Which wineries were in Sideways?

Sanford, Alma Rosa and Peake Ranch: the first tasting

The tasting lesson (Vin Gris, citrus, strawberry and “the faintest soupçon of asparagus”) was filmed at Sanford Winery’s old roadside tasting room on Santa Rosa Road. The building later housed Alma Rosa, the winery Richard Sanford started after Sanford, which is why Visit Solvang credits the scene to Alma Rosa. In 2019 the Pacific Coast Business Times reported that the old tasting site, a Santa Barbara County historic landmark, stood unoccupied on Peake Ranch, where Peake opened its winery. Today Sanford pours at its estate at 5010 Santa Rosa Road, and Alma Rosa at its Estate Ranch House at 7250 Santa Rosa Road and in Solvang. The shack sits on private ranch land, so visit it as a Peake Ranch guest.

Kalyra: where Jack meets Stephanie

Kalyra is where Jack meets Stephanie (Sandra Oh) behind the tasting bar. The film-era room on Refugio Road in Santa Ynez was lost to a 2019 storm, and Kalyra now pours at 140 Industrial Way #C1, Buellton. Hours: Monday and Friday noon to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 5pm, closed Tuesday to Thursday, with last pour at 4:30pm. Groups of six or more need a reservation.

Fess Parker: “Frass Canyon”

Fess Parker Winery plays “Frass Canyon,” the crowded tasting where Miles learns his book won’t be published and drinks from the spit bucket. It’s at 6200 Foxen Canyon Road, Los Olivos. Hours and fees change, so check fessparker.com. Staying at the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn? It includes tasting vouchers.

Firestone and FOXEN

The four sneak out of a wine lecture into the barrel room at Firestone (5017 Zaca Station Road). Firestone is open daily and takes walk-ins, and its estate tour runs daily at 10:30am for $75 by reservation. FOXEN appears in the split-screen tasting montage, where the pourer turns her back and Miles and Jack top themselves up. The building used was The Shack at 7200 Foxen Canyon Road, open Friday to Sunday. FOXEN’s main tasting room at 7600 is open daily.

Which restaurants were in Sideways?

Hitching Post 2, Buellton

The film’s home bar. Miles and Jack share a bottle of Highliner, Maya (Virginia Madsen) waits tables, and Miles comes back alone. The Hitching Post says the crew used the restaurant for three days and that Madsen spent time in its kitchen and bar before filming. Dinner is Wednesday to Monday, 4:30 to 9pm, and the bar opens at 4pm. It’s closed Tuesdays. Read our Hitching Post 2 guide for booking and what to order.

Los Olivos Café, Los Olivos

The Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café of the film is now just Los Olivos Café, at 2879 Grand Avenue. It hosts the double-date dinner, Miles’s late-night call to his ex-wife, and the Merlot line just before they go in. It has been open since 1995 and serves lunch daily from 11:30am. See it with the rest of the town in our Los Olivos restaurants guide.

Solvang Restaurant, Solvang

The breakfast scene. Solvang Restaurant at 1672 Copenhagen Drive calls itself the home of Arne’s Aebleskiver, the round Danish pancake puffs, and it sells the mix and pans. More Solvang breakfasts are in our breakfast guide.

AJ Spurs, Buellton

Jack meets a waitress named Cami at AJ Spurs, the log-cabin dining hall at 350 E Hwy 246. Dinners are family style and start with vaquero soup, tequila beans and salsa.

Lompoc, Gaviota and Santa Maria: the scenes outside the valley

• Gaviota State Park, on Highway 101 toward Santa Barbara: Jack consoles Miles after his book is turned down. It’s on the way home if you’re heading south. Our Gaviota Wind Caves guide covers the trail and parking.
• Lompoc Farmers Market: Miles and Maya walk through it. The Lompoc Certified Farmers Market, which ran Friday afternoons at Ocean Avenue and I Street, closed in October 2022, KSBY reported; the nearest today is Route One in Vandenberg Village, Sundays 10am to 2pm (see valley farmers markets). Pair it with the Lompoc Wine Ghetto tasting rooms.
• Ocean Lanes, Lompoc: the bowling alley is gone.
• Santa Maria Burgers, 1785 S Broadway, Santa Maria: the former Orcutt Burgers, where Miles drinks his 1961 Cheval Blanc from a paper cup. The Santa Barbara Independent reported in 2016 that the decor was intact but there were no film references.

Can you take a Sideways tour?

Yes, guided or self-guided. Captain Jack’s Santa Barbara Tours runs a Sideways-inspired wine tour, and Tripadvisor (Viator) and VoiceMap sell self-guided driving and audio tours. Prices differ by seller and date, so check before you book. Visit Solvang keeps a Sideways page listing every scene, Discover Buellton has a Sideways post, and SYV Today publishes a current nine-stop tour. Avoid the old 2016 Santa Barbara PDF map, which predates Kalyra’s move. For a driver for the day, compare prices for two in our Santa Barbara wine tours guide.

What else was filmed in the Santa Ynez Valley?

Reality TV, mostly. Vanderpump Rules brought the cast to Solvang in season 7 (“So Vain in Solvang,” aired February 11, 2019): Visit Solvang says they stayed at The Landsby and visited CrossHatch Winery and The Copenhagen House. CrossHatch has since left Solvang and now pours in Santa Barbara. In season 9 (“Engagement Party Crashers,” aired January 18, 2022), James and Raquel’s engagement party was held at Sunstone Winery’s villa in Santa Ynez, as Distractify identified it. Back in January 2010, The Bachelor (season 14) filmed at Sanford Winery near Lompoc, the Santa Maria Times reported. More in things to do in Solvang.

Quick answers

Where was Sideways filmed?

Almost entirely in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, per Visit Solvang. The main stops are in Buellton (Sideways Inn, Hitching Post 2, Kalyra), Solvang (Solvang Restaurant, River Course), Los Olivos and Foxen Canyon (Los Olivos Café, Fess Parker, Firestone, FOXEN), and Santa Rosa Road. A few scenes were shot in Lompoc, Santa Maria and at Gaviota State Park.

Which wineries were in Sideways?

Visit Solvang lists Kalyra, Fess Parker (the film’s “Frass Canyon”), Firestone, FOXEN and Alma Rosa, with Andrew Murray Vineyards in the driving shots. The first tasting was filmed at the old Sanford tasting room on Santa Rosa Road, a shack that later housed Alma Rosa and now stands on Peake Ranch. Hitching Post wines are poured in the restaurant scenes.

What is the Merlot line in Sideways?

It’s Miles telling Jack, on the way into the double-date dinner, that if anyone orders Merlot he’s leaving, because he is not drinking any Merlot (with a swear word in the middle). The scene was filmed at what is now Los Olivos Café on Grand Avenue in Los Olivos.

What Pinot Noir do they drink in Sideways?

At the Hitching Post 2 bar, Miles and Jack share a bottle of Highliner, the Hitching Post’s own Pinot Noir. The restaurant says the film sent tourism up and Pinot Noir sales soaring, and it released a 2021 Highliner “20th Anniversary SIDEWAYS” edition for the film’s 20th anniversary in 2024.

What winery is Frass Canyon?

Fess Parker Winery, at 6200 Foxen Canyon Road, Los Olivos. It’s where Miles gets the call that his novel won’t be published and drinks from the spit bucket. The film gives it a made-up name.

Can you stay in the Sideways room 234?

Yes, by request. SYV Today says room 234 at the Sideways Inn in Buellton is the room used in the film and can still be booked if you ask. The motel was a Days Inn at the time of filming and is called the Windmill Inn on screen.

Is there a Sideways wine tour?

Yes. Captain Jack’s Santa Barbara Tours runs a Sideways-inspired tour, and Tripadvisor and VoiceMap sell self-guided driving or audio versions. Prices vary by seller and date, so we don’t print them: check the operator. To do it yourself, use the routes on this page, and see our Santa Barbara wine tours guide for drivers.

Is Kalyra Winery still open?

Yes, but not where the film shot it. A 2019 winter storm took out the Refugio Road tasting room, and Kalyra now pours at 140 Industrial Way, Buellton. It’s open Monday and Friday noon to 5pm and weekends 11am to 5pm, closed Tuesday to Thursday, with a $15 sampler tasting.

What restaurants were in Sideways?

Four on our map, all still open: Hitching Post II in Buellton (Highliner at the bar, Maya waiting tables), Los Olivos Café (the double-date dinner), Solvang Restaurant (the grumpy breakfast before the wedding) and AJ Spurs in Buellton (Jack meets Cami). Hitching Post II is the one to book for dinner. See the restaurants for hours.