New York has pizza. Texas has barbecue. New England has clam chowder. But Yolo County doesn’t limit its iconic foods to just one. From honey to olive oil, beef to walnuts, the county is teeming with delicious, locally produced foods.
As the agricultural heart of Northern California, Yolo County is known for its farm-to-table delicacies. In addition to fruits and veggies, you’ll find nuts, honey, olive oil, and other gourmet goodies. Best of all, local restaurants are proud of the region’s agricultural heritage and don’t shy away from using local ingredients in most of their dishes.
Exploring Yolo County’s culinary offerings makes for a great getaway. You can visit local farms and ranches, indulge at local restaurants, and even pick up gourmet food products to take home. Consider checking out the many hotels in Yolo County before setting out on your trip.
Following is a list of seven delicious and one-of-a-kind things to eat in Yolo County.
Honey and Mead
Sure, you can find honey just about anywhere. But in Yolo County, you can sample local honey straight from the source. The Hive in Woodland offers tasting flights of honey from Yolo County and beyond, including their own in-house honey. But this isn’t just any kind of honey. They specialize in varietal honey, including California wildflower, California sunflower, and California coriander. You can schedule a private tasting and sample mead, a honey-based alcoholic beverage. They also have a food menu that features dishes made with — you guessed it — honey, which you can enjoy on their outdoor patio overlooking their 2-acre pollinator habitat.
Olive Oil
In the northern portion of Yolo County is the scenic Capay Valley, which is ideal for growing olive trees. Séka Hills in Brooks has an on-site olive mill and tasting room, and you can sample their many olive oil varieties, including Arbequina, Taggiasca, and Picual. You can also tour their facility to learn how olives are grown, milled, and processed. In addition to olive oil, they also produce flavored balsamic vinegars, local honey, nuts, and wine.
Lavender Scones and Lemonade
It may not be the most conventional food crop, but lavender is an edible flower that makes for a delicious add-in to baked goods and beverages. At Capay Valley Lavender, you can sample lavender scones, lavender lemonade, lavender jams, and lavender coffee! You can also take home lavender products like baking mixes and tea. They offer tours of their farm or you can join a distillation workshop to learn how lavender oil is produced.
Almonds and Nuts
Yolo County is one of the largest growers of almonds and other nuts, and they celebrate each year with the popular Almond Festival. You can pick up estate-grown almonds at orchards throughout the county, including Capay Hills Orchard in Esparto, which produces raw, organic, unpasteurized almonds and almond butter. You can also pick up almonds, walnuts, and pistachios at the Davis Farmers Market, where you’ll find unique flavors such as garlic pistachios and honey almonds. You’ll also find nuts baked into every type of pastry and bread imaginable; one to try is the walnut levain at Village Bakery in Davis.
Peaches & Peachy Treats
Yolo County is renowned for its stone fruit, from apricots to plums, cherries to nectarines. But Yolo County peaches are especially popular. In fact, they’ve been referred to as the “best peaches in the west.” You can pick up peaches at local farmers’ markets or pick your own at Impossible Acres in Davis. Perhaps best of all is enjoying local peaches in a summertime treat. At Ikeda’s in Davis, you’ll find peach pie and peach cobblers. Or, if you need to cool off, keep your eyes peeled for the seasonal peach shake at Whitey’s Jolly Cone in West Sacramento — it has a cult following.
Beef and Meat
In addition to farming, Yolo County also has a long history of ranching. In fact, the county turns out some of the best beef, lamb, and pork around, much of it premium, pasture-raised, and grass-fed. One of the best places to experience a great cut of beef is Buckhorn Steakhouse in Winters, a traditional meat-and-potatoes kind of place that serves aged, house-butchered, Certified Angus Beef. They also have Buckhorn Meat Co. in Esparto where you can buy various cuts of beef, lamb, and pork to go.
Sarmentine Baguette
Yolo County may be a long way from France, but that didn’t stop Upper Crust Baking in Davis and Winters from bringing a taste of Bordeaux to the states. The sarmentine baguette is an odd-looking baguette with a forked end, resembling trimmed wine grape vines from which they take their name. But it’s the flavor that made them popular. They are made with sesame and include spelt flour for a slightly nutty taste. They’re so popular that they have been featured at Davis’ Village Feast and Sacramento’s Tower Bridge Dinner.
Explore Yolo County Food
Whether just-picked peaches or estate-grown olive oil, Yolo County offers a straight-from-the-source experience you won’t find anywhere else. The farms, restaurants, and bakeries of Yolo County showcase the best of what Yolo County has to offer. Take a deeper dive into the farm-to-table movement in Yolo County. Check out the many lodging specials in Yolo County and book your food-focused getaway today.
