A Nutty Place in the Valley

One of my favorite tv shows growing up was The Brady Bunch. Not only was it the perfect depiction of 1970’s suburban idealism, but it taught me “caveat emptor” and not to play ball in the house. If you want to check out the actual home used as the Brady house exterior, it’s located at 11222 Dilling Street in Studio City. While you’re in Studio City, I suggest you complete your Brady Bunch expedition by heading over to Spread PB for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the quintessential suburban after-school snack.

Spread PB is a new restaurant devoted entirely to peanut butter, which they make themselves in numerous varieties including regular, nutty, dark chocolate, maple bacon, coconut, cinnamon raisin and banana chunky. Their extensive menu features childhood favorites such as “Ants on a Log” (celery sticks with peanut butter topped with raisins or chocolate chips) and “Smiles” (apple slices layered with peanut butter and mini marshmallows; pictured above) and creative concoctions such as “Banana Sushi” and greek yogurt peanut butter smoothies.

The main attractions, however, are the sandwiches. You can build your own with your choice of peanut butter, bread and a long list of toppings, or select from a list of house specialities. My favorites are the Chicken Curry Sandwich with green curry peanut butter and “The P’s Please” sandwich with peanut butter, pickles and potato chips. Both are surprisingly good; perhaps even better than the ones Carol and Alice used to make for Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy.

SpreadPB is located at 12215, Ventura Blvd, Suite 104 in Studio City. UPDATE: Spread PB is permanently closed. I also heard that NYC’s Peanut Butter & Co. is closing. It’s sad timed for peanut butter.