Burger King in Thousand Oaks On Deck to Become Another McDonald's

Update 12/15/12: Hey look! The new McDonalds at the old Burger King location at Oakbrook Plaza in Thousand Oaks next to Taco Bell, is now open. Time for a late night junk food fix!

Original Post 6/14/12: Many Thousand Oaks residents are aware that the Burger King at 1908 Avenida de los Arboles has been closed for close to 6 months. There was a sign on the building indicating an application with the City of Thousand Oaks "to allow remodel of a fast food restaurant and deletion of parking spaces."

Aside from the oddness of "deleting of parking spaces" (which to geeks like me makes it sound like the parking spaces will be removed with a backspace key), I had assumed they were planning to just upgrade the existing Burger King.

But...nooooo...tipped off by a CVG Facebook Page follower, I asked the City planner as to the plans for this Burger King. I was informed that indeed, the plans are to convert this Burger King into a McDonald's!!

Time frame of this transition is not known, but we will stay abreast (as in Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips) of the situation.

The next closest Burger King locations are in Agoura on Roadside Drive (cross street Kanan), Simi Valley (2 locations) and Camarillo.

This McDonald's will be located less than 2 1/2 miles from the McDonald's on Moorpark Road at Janss and 5 miles from the location across from the Auto Mall on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

On a geographically related note, nearby P&L Burgers, also located in Oakbrook Plaza, serves up some of the most delicous onion rings in town IMO. And the veggie burger I had there was quite tasty, something I cannot say about many veggie burger offerings out there. They are just a few doors away at 2000 Avenida de los Arboles. www.pandlburgers.com  P&L is a favorite among local accountants!

CPK ASAP at The Promenade at Westlake is Closed; "Lemonade" Coming Soon

Update 11/12/12: Lemonade opened TODAY! Pretty neat place that lives up to the description below. More will be posted soon.

Original Post: 6/1/12: A surprised CVG Facebook follower filled me in today that the CPK ASAP at The Promenade at Westlake was closed! I was equally surprised and disappointed because this was a frequent quick-stop place for me and my kids. Sure enough, according to a voice message, CPK closed its doors last Sunday, May 27th.  BUMMER!

Then I found out that another new restaurant is coming to The Promenade sometime soon: Lemonade.

Lemonade offers seasonal, Southern California comfort foods. According to the Lemonade website:

The concept is best described as Seasonal Southern California Comfort Food in a fast-casual cafeteria setting. A comfortable place where locals and visitors enjoy a rotating daily spread of deliciousness: from ruggedly roasted Brussels sprouts to grain salads from around the world to stewed short ribs falling off the bone. Our dishes stress simple preparations with global taste, and are a perfect fit for today’s on-the-go lifestyle and perceptive palate.

Lemonade caters to people looking for a quick lunch or a healthy “grab and go” dinner for the family. The cafés have an emphasis on convenience and affordability, while serving the same fresh, high-quality, and innovative modern cuisine that the brand has become known for.

The food at Lemonade is as creative and diverse as the city’s inhabitants. Our marketplace salads, unique sandwiches, and slow-simmered stews taste as though every culture stirred a bit into the pot. For example, the skirt steak with grilled onions and piquillo peppers with its smoky depth, ping-pongs perfectly with our snappy salad of Chinese long beans, pluot plums, and scallion vinaigrette.

Currently there are Lemonade locations in 6 Los Angeles locations (Downtown, MOCA, Beverly, Venice, Brentwood and USC) and Pasadena, with 3 additional planned openings in Manhattan Beach, Thousand Oaks (Westlake Village) and LAX (Terminal 5).

I checked out one of their menus and it looks pretty reasonably priced, healthful and quite interesting, such as these $5.50 to $6 "Land and Sea" options at the Pasadena Lemonade.

Citrus poached salmon filet

Char Siu chicken lettuce cups

Avocado salmon louie

Seared ahi tuna, crushed orange-ginger ponzu

Curry chicken salad

Buttermilk chicken breast

Tomato, mozzarella and basil stack

Stay tuned...

Burger Express in Newbury Park Closed Its Doors on Tuesday, October 30th

UPDATE: Burger Express Fresh Mexican Grill is located at 3200 E. Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley. www.burgerexpressfreshmex.com

Burger Express at 2140 Newbury Road in Newbury Park closed its doors on Tuesday, October 30th, after serving the local community for nearly 15 years. The owners did indicate on the Burger Express Facebook page that they are looking for a new location in the area, but they can't say where or when at this point. Burger Express served some of the best breakfast burritos in town, according to my sources. Rumor (unconfirmed) has it that we could be seeing BBQ cuisine at this location in the future. We shall see. Hoping for the best for the Burger Express team and to see them elsewhere in town at some point soon.

Akio's Sushi Thousand Oaks Has Been Sold and is Now Called Crazy King Kong Sushi

Akio's Sushi, a Thousand Oaks favorite for decades located at Janss Marketplace, was recently sold and is now called Crazy King Kong Sushi. Yes, that's the name.

Their phone number is 805.496.7106. We've known for awhile that Akio Takahashi was in process of selling the restaurant. Best wishes to the new owners!

As of today, 10/18/12, there appears to be some 50% off coupons posted on Crazy King Kong Sushi's Yelp listing at www.yelp.com/biz/crazy-king-kong-sushi-thousand-oaks. Check it out!

Brendan's Irish Pub to Open Newbury Park Location This Summer

UPDATE 1/2/20: Brendan’s announced today that it has closed its doors.

Brendan's Newbury Park opened on 10/8/12. You will be impressed. Authentic Irish decor, 2 pool tables, 3 dartboards, lots of tables, booths, beverages and good food. The Temple Bar section of Dublin is featured on the wall art below. Hard not to like this place! Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brendansnewbury.

Update 8/27/12: No specific date indicated by Brendan's but it seems we're really close to the grand opening.

Originally posted 4/8/12: The popular Brendan's Irish Pub & Restaurant has announced that it will be opening a third location this summer in Newbury Park where Eric's Restaurant currently resides (495 N. Ventu Park Road at the Palm Garden Hotel). The grand opening is anticipated in the latter part of summer 2012 (Brendan's implies July is a realistic time frame in a recent Facebook post).

Wow! I'm impressed at Brendan's growth! Brendan's Newbury Park will be located just 9 miles from the Camarillo location and 9 miles from the Agoura Hills location.

Visit the Brendan's Newbury Park Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brendansnewbury for updates.

Beer continues to be on a growth spurt in Ventura County.

Eric's will continue to be open for dinner and drinks in the meantime! Call the hotel at 805.716.4200 or Eric's directly at 805.716.4100.

Buddha's Belly Flops in Thousand Oaks; Closed on Saturday, September 8th

Well it is never good news to hear of a local restaurant closure. Buddha's Belly was 2 days short of 11 months at The Oaks shopping mall in Thousand Oaks when it closed its doors this past Saturday, September 8th.

If you became a Buddha's Belly fan during its stint in the Conejo Valley, their other two locations are in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Visit www.bbfood.com for more information.

This closed location previously was occupied by Sisley Italian Kitchen, which has other locations in Sherman Oaks and Valencia.

It seemed like every time I walked by this space at The Oaks, everyone was on the other side waiting in line for the ever-popular The Cheesecake Factory! No word yet on what will be the new tenant in the space...but perhaps The Cheesecake Factory should just expand across the aisle! They certainly have enough popularity to justify it!

VC Star Reports the Thousand Oaks Denny's Closed Its Doors Today

Well it first came to my attention from CVG Facebook friend Steve C. of Newbury Park this afternoon, then confirmed by this VC Star article...effective this morning, the Thousand Oaks Denny's, located at the corner of Moorpark Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard near the 101 freeway, closed today.

Best wishes to former Denny's employees in finding new jobs. There are a number of new restaurants that will soon be opening their doors in town, including DISH, Paul Martin's, Village Burgers, Lure Fish House and Lemonade!

According to the VC Star article, the new owner plans to split the property into three spaces, possibly to include 2 smaller restaurants. We shall see.

The property was originally built in 1973 and includes a 4,084 sq ft building on a 30,927 sq ft lot, according to an online listing on Loopnet. The asking price of this property was $2.9 million.

Well, while we're sad, kind of, to see the loss of this Denny's, there's still another Denny's in the Conejo Valley, in Newbury Park. No worries...don't need to completely give up your local Grand Slam just yet!

Char Fasl in Agoura Hills Changed Hands and Became Maral Cuisine in June 2012

A @ConejoJoe Twitter follower asked about Char Fasl House of Kabob at 5843 Kanan Road in Agoura Hills. Simple enough...Char Fasl changed ownership a few months ago and it is now called Maral Cuisine House of Kabob. According to their website at www.maralcuisine.com:

"Fresh healthy food, attentive Persian hospitality and friendly atmosphere.The kabobs include fresh chicken, beef & salmon, which are marinated in a saffron sauce, and cooked on an open broiler. Traditional khoresh dishes (stews) capture the authenticity and slow cooked flavor of Persian Cuisine. Appetizers, salads and rice with the most unique and authentic flavor of Persian cuisine Saffron which enhances the flavor and aroma of all other ingredients used in Persian cuisine. Persian ice-cream, baklava, zoolbia bamieh and tea."

I don't know about you, but this is making me extremely hungry! But WAIT! Check out their website! They have photos of most of their dishes that look great, like these salmon, whitefish, trout and shrimp kabobs.

Their phone number is 818.889.9495.