How refreshing is this???
I have three places I really enjoy. Barton's on Los Angeles Avenue in the "Regency Center'its quiet, good service, great food, prices are great: and the Vineyards at the old Dakota's..
If you like Sushi,try Fuju Sushi in the Mall next to Macy's, its increditable. Good service, prices, and the food...yummmm

Merry Christmas Everbody!

Leila's at 752 Lindero Canyon Rd., Oak Park, CA 91377
Tel: 818-707-6939. You will not find a better place. Fantastic dishes, changing all the time, great wines, and an owner and staff you will become friends with on your first visit. Reservations required.

Two great places to eat in Simi, Elmers on L.A. Ave and Simi Sam's on Tapo Street.

Old Susana Cafe for the BEST fries! On Kuehner @ Katherine.

Traxx @ Union Station is an easy train ride. Top cuisine & a great wine list in a surprisingly good setting.

Cafe Valentino's for coffee! Near Albertsons at LA & Stearns.

I love Cafe Valentino's! Brian Mack and I went there once to study and I fell in love with the place! They have free wireless too!

West County locales:

Cafe Bariloche on Main Street in downtown Ventura

Caprichios on Main and Palm in downtown Ventura

And nothing beats the pizza at Bottleworks on Telephone Road on the East side of Ventura =)

This small family restaurant is run by Palestinian Americans and has great mid-east food. I plan to eat there before the Thom Hartmann event on Friday night.

See menu at
http://www.alibabarestaurant.com/

Ali Baba's Café Take Borchard Exit - In the IHOP area across from the NP library.

2405-A Michael Drive, Newbury Park, California 91320
Tel: 805-480-0324 � Fax: 805-480-0945

MAP at http://www.alibabarestaurant.com/map.html

When this entry hits 25 comments recommending restaurants I will have a surprise for our readers.

This is a refreshing change of pace, and useful to boot. I've never heard of any of these places. I love Middle Eastern food, so I'll definitely try Ali Baba's at some point.

One of my absolute favorites in Simi is the Greek House Cafe, 2375 Sycamore Dr, at the corner of Cochran. Great hummus and gyros.

Oh Brian....surprise us now!

OK, I'll "bite."

In Ventura:
Zoey's in the El Jardin Courtyard on Main St. Downtown.
Also Cafe Nouveau on Thompson.

Opening soon: The Watermark on Chestnut and Main. A friend is renovating a historic building here and adding a third story. It will be fabulous!

Oops.
Two more:
I Love Sushi on Telephone and Victoria in Ventura and Milano's in the Harbor for pizza.

Marie -- is the Watermark the place that is going to have a ring of fire around the roof??...Ventura is getting so flippin metro.

More places West-County guys:

Just about any dinky Mexican restaurant on Oxnard Boulevard in Oxnard has THE BEST horchata.

Also, I went to Lacascada Mexican Restaurant on Ventura Street (CA 126) in Fillmore in the Super A Parking Lot the other night and the food was awesome!

Heather,
Ring of fire? I have no idea what you are talking about. It has a third story with glassed-in walls for ocean/mountain views. It will be a bar on the top with its own menu. Glass elevator. Elegant dining below. It's that brick building with the fancy tile work.

I'm wasting space so Brian will tell us what the surprise is...

The little Cajun place on Erringer and Cochran in Simi is also very good, La Louissiane Express, next to 7/11.

Cafe Zack's in Ventura
California Grill in Camarillo
El Ranchero (anything)in Oxnard
Evita's (tacos) in Ventura
Bobbi's (burritos) in Camarillo

Yup, Marie -- that's it. Rumor has it those glass walls for viewing are going to have a ring of fire in them, or something along those lines. With the bar on the third floor.

I concur with Katie -- California Grill kicks ass. I don't really eat meat, but the Cheeseburger is AWESOME.

Snapper Jacks Taco Shack.

Private business, but they have two locations: one on Telegraph Road by the college in Ventura AND one on Pleasant Valley/Santa Rosa in Camarillo.

Voted #1 Salsa in Ventura County like umpteen years in a row.

OK I'll bite.
Lombardo's in Camarillo for the best sub
Cabo in Oxnard for Mexican with flair
Tapitio for Mexican Ox and Cam
The Hat in Simi for pastrami
Wood Ranch for a great Burger
Aloha in Ventura for a place to take your date
The all you can eat sushi in the Kimble center in Ventura
Charns in Cam for Thai
Andreas in the harbor for fish

Brian, I could have posted as 10 seperate posts. Does that count as 27?

La Dolce Vida in the Heritage Square center in Oxnard. Great fine dining experience.

I have seen BubbaK several times eating in Der Weinerschnitzel, I wonder why he has not listed it?

I thought Bubba K only ate plant roots and such (gopher food).

Come on, we made the twenty. What is our surprise?
Good point "Marlboro Man". Under the new grading system, he could also eat maggots, which are served in some Asian restaurants.

I agree:
Cabo Grill, Oxnard (love the tortillas)
California Grill, Camarillo (great presentation - a little loud though)
Andria's at the harbor for fish and chips
also-
Cafe Fiore, Ventura, great Osso Buco

The summit in upper ojai

Pot Roast and a bottle of red at my housy. Served over Polenta
That's 25

Tri tip BBQ at my place with garlic mashed potatoes, Chilean red wine and peach (home grown) cobbler for dessert.
OK Brian - what's the surprise????

An invitation to enjoy that would be nice Leslie.

We should have a Dennert progressive thread dinner - all those that dare blog in their own names invited! Or come as your favorite pseudo name...

I can come then. The cobbler sounds good.
Yoo hoo, Brian! We want to know what our surprise is...

I say we make it a costume party. I would have to come as the "Unknown Comic" though (remember that guy on "The Gong Show" in the 1970's, starring Chuck Barris? I'm probably dating myself here, big-time).

Mongo, you'd have to date yourself because nobody else would!

See, I do have a sense of humor.

Mongo, I really think you should come as Camille Harris.

Like all our friends in Simi would know who that is?

Oh, for gosh sakes - Barbra Williamson then!

Hey, Dennert, where'e our surprise? What are you doing, sleeping on the job, or something?

CAP-812 is a JACKASS!

A agree that CAP-812 is a huge JACKASS!!! Stop with the friggin' gopher alerts, would you pal? They are so, so old and immature.

Gopher alerts may be boring, but far less so that listening to you Mongo. Therefore, alerts will continue when Mongo/BK vent their continued hate to Dantona or anyone else for that matter. That said, you and Loser both deserve a community alert.

This is an official gopher alert. Grab your poison and traps. Gopher out from under rock. This is an official gopher alert from the Vector Control Division.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, what a wus! CAP-812 is definitely suffering from the effects of lack of attention as a child, as well as major suppressed anger. It reminds me of my 2-year-old. When he feels like he's not getting enough attention, he keeps repeating the same thing over and over until he gets Mommy or Daddy to listen to him.

Back to topic --

I'm not saying it's good, but Presto Pasta (the shameless chain) had about 1/2 the town of Ventura in it tonight. Next to it is "I Love Sushi"...that is a good one.

That would be really funny if Mongo Flamo dressed up as Camille Harris, but you'd have to carry one of those vague "Save Ventura" signs with you.

Um, was Brian's surprise ever revealed, or was it the restaurant inspection results??

Yeah, either that, or a sign that reads "No Building Over One Story, Ever". Hilarious!!!

Roasted Bubba with a Mongo sauce served over wild rice and a dry Cab. Special dish served at the Klan's Cafe in Lompoc. Yummy!

CAP-812 sounds like one of those alarmist liberals that refuses to accept the fact that the 60's have been over for almost 40 years now. Her implication that good old-fashioned Americans like Bubba and I are Klan members is not only crazy liberal rantings (quite disturbing and weird I might add), but insults the rest of the bloggers trying to make some valid points on this thread.

Did someone mention illustrious Democratic Senator Robert Byrd?

Yeah, um, where and when was anything ever said warranting the Klan comment? JEEZ you all need to chill out.

I am so disgusted by how many "nice" places I eat that got bad reports on that food inspection link -- THANKS DENNERT!

M.an of no good
O.nly to spew hate
N.ever to be constructive
G.oing to accomplish nothing
O.f either intellect or value.

Yeah, nice try, CAP-812. You continue with your juvenile posts, huh? Maybe this guy should be banned. He's becoming worse than Michael Stein!

Why does every single thread have to turn into a school yard fight?

This blog is becoming a waste-land...no-one wants to read about your hatred for each other, they want to read about your hatred for the people in office/candidates!

Bubba/Mongo want to control the blog with their hate of Dantona. Well, it isn't going to happen. Never a bad word is posted to these gophers, unless they spew a bad word first. Sorry, rodents, it just isn't going to be a place where you can spew your venim without being called on the carpet.

Speak of the devil.

CAP-812 said, "Never a bad word is posted spoken to these gophers, unless they spew a bad word first".

That is simply not true. Case in point, several bloggers, including myself, been trying to stay on topic in the Mary Pallent thread. But CAP keeps disrupting it with his juvenile gopher alerts and other attacks. If he wants to wage a war against all that oppose Jim Dantona then perhaps he can keep his comments in the related Dantona threads.

Thanks for proving my point.

So, posing a question of someone who wants to represent your interests and make decisions and policy that will affect your life and freedoms is controlling the blog with hate?

And exercising your freedom of speech and personal liberties by expressing your differences in opinion and voting for the candidate you wish to vote for is spewing bad words?

Hmmmmmm.....

Calling people rodents is pretty hateful. Especially on a thread about food.

In the interest of preserving the thread, I will add Nature's Grill in downtown Ventura to the list of restaurants.

Bubba/Heather, simple of mind, puffed with ego, nothing said worthy of response. A review by the National Review of Bloggers.

CAP-812, thou should give it a rest. Mongo is killing you at the polls.

CAP-812, thou should give it a rest. Mongo is killing you at the polls.

The true irony in all of this is that CRAP-812 has almost single-handedly transformed Mongo from an outcast into a guy that is now far more popular than I could have imagined just a few weeks ago. Talk about a political re-birth.

I wouldn't go that far. Mongo and his other incarnations (Darling Charles, etc.) have a long way to go to make up for past indiscretions. As I have been one of the chief targets of his wrath, I won't easily forget some of the stuff he's pulled.

I'm willing to move on, though. My dear friend Christy Weir was voted mayor of Ventura last night and all is well in my world.

Dear lord, here we go again.

Yeah, Marie, I saw the Christy Weir coronation last night on the tube.

What I found more interesting though was the City Council's snubbing of Neal Andrews (twice in one night) - once for Mayor and once for Deputy Mayor, after being nominated by outgoing Mayor Morehouse for both positions. In my view, this guy, at the very least, deserved to be elected Deputy Mayor by his colleagues. He has been a steady voice of reason (intelligent, fair, objective & balanced) on the Council since he was elected and doesn't kowtow to the special interests as readily as some of the others.

I had no particular problem with Christy Weir being appointed Mayor. She seems pretty smart, fair, committed, and well-liked by her colleagues and the voters (having received the highest number of votes in the election).

However, Bill Fulton was a poor choice for Deputy Mayor. The guy is arrogant, self-aggrandizing, and a planoholic who I don't believe is well-suited to help lead this City into the future, which seems to be his destiny, since he'll probably be appointed Mayor next time. I'm sure he will continue to spin his pie-in-the-sky planning theories, which often don't connect well with the real world (Exhibit A - Victoria Avenue narrowing plan). Great!

I like both Bill and Neal a lot. Both have wonderful qualities they bring to the Council. I also worked on Ed Summers' campaign two years ago. He is also highly qualified to be mayor or deputy mayor and I hope he considers it some day when he is not so busy with bank duties.

I don't find Bill arrogant at all. He is a really brilliant guy who may come off that way to some people, I guess. But he's got a great sense of humor.

One never knows exactly how the mayor/deputy mayor voting will go as the council members are not allowed to talk to any more than two people on any issue because of the Brown Act.

Christy is very well liked in Ventura and she will make a fabulous mayor!

The Neal Andrews Burn is something I have found interesting for at least a year now...what is that all about?

I have heard rumor that he may not run again as a result.

I will hold my comments on Fulton...I kind of agree with Mongo, kind of agree with Marie. In the middle I do know that some of these people appear to be wolves in sheeps clothing, i.e. they are not really true to their campaign rhetoric.

I actually think we're supposed to be talking about food here... So now that you're on, Heather, I asked about that "ring of fire" at the Watermark restaurant. No truth to that rumor. It sounded rather dangerous to me, as it is a registered historical landmark.

When this restaurant finally opens, it will be exceptional.

Heather, I had heard the same thing about Neal Andrews not running again. However, I'm not sure it's as related to the "snubbing" as much as it is to his age and health. I think he's been a man of immense principle and integrity in the past, so I don't believe he would let Council politics stand in his way if he really feels like he has a lot more to accomplish on the Council.

Look for Jim Monahan to run again. In fact, I heard him say the other night at the City Councile meeting that "he looks forward to working with Christy Weir (the new Mayor) for another 6 years". So, that definitely telegraphs it. Too bad, because I think he's burned out and has "hit a wall" as a Council member and hasn't really been effecive in years. He should really step aside and allow for some new blood.

I'm sure Ed Summers will run again too. He's done an "OK" job. I think, from a Chamber point of view, he's been somewhat of a disappointment. However, he did advocate strongly for streamlining the development review process, which definitely needed some help.

As for Brian Brennan, I think he's too much of a free spirit for the confines of the Council meetings, committees assignments, and some of the political garbage you can get caught up in as a Council member. I see him stepping down in 2 years, but I think he'll try his best to find someone with a similar mindset (maybe one of his Surfrider buddies) to run in his place.

It isn't Ed's job to just represent the Chamber. He needs to represent all his constituents.

He's a well-respected businessman with the most financial acumen of anyone up there. He's stood up to the over-reaching demands of VCORD and held his own.

He will definitely run again. Bet on it.