Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Post other items directly to the Community Announcements section of the site.
Some temporary Hooters signage on display at the future Hooters of Thousand Oaks today. The inside of the place still appears to need a lot of work but I'm sure we'll be hearing more about the opening date at www.janssmarketplace.net. Hooters hiring fair this coming weekend.
Today was/is a cold, rainy, windy and now....HAILY day. Yes, with late afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 40s here in usually sunny Ventura County, I've seen reports from Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Oxnard of hail falling from the skies. We don't see a lot of that in these parts so let's check out the Oxnard hail that Patty shared this on this brisk St. Patty's Day!
Yes, after such a dry, sunny winter in Ventura county, we are FINALLY experiencing a real winter thunderstorm on the very last weekend of winter. The 24th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ventura was cancelled today due to the rain.
UPDATE: N'Awlinz Bistro closed this location on 12/21/13 to focus on its new, larger location in downtown Oxnard.
N' Awlinz Bistro opened its doors at the Wendy/Kimber Plaza in Newbury Park in February 2012. They serve contemporary New Orleans French-Creole style food created by chef and co-owner, Marcus Webster and George Pero.
The Wendy/Kimber Plaza, aptly named after the intersection it resides, is a non-descript strip mall that is most famously known as the birthplace of Baja Fresh. Ah, I remember those days fondly in the early 1990s. Baja Fresh has since left Newbury Park but N'Awlinz Bistro will be providing new foodie memories for years to come.
They serve Po'Boyz, gumbo, sliders, jambalaya and other cajun specialties. We ordered tri-tip sliders, shrimp po'boyz, gumbo, catfish and side orders of zydeco slaw and homemade potato chips. I tried a bit of everything and over-ate. It was really good. Food like this you don't find many places around here. Loved the gumbo, the blackened catfish smothered in Bourbon Street etouffee, the crunchy thick-cut potato chips, the braised shrimp po'boy as well as the fried shrimp po'boy. Didn't get around to tasting the kids' tri tip sliders as they were quite territorial about them.
The Po'Boyz were really tasty as they were made with a nice, tasty cajun sauce with some cole slaw inside. The bread was quite nice too. This was a welcome change from someone who dines on fast food sub type sandwiches on a regular basis. These had some originality going for them. My teen enjoyed his po'boy too and he really raved about the gumbo. (Stop by and I bet they'll give you a sample taste!)
N'Awlinz Bistro is located at 3321 C Kimber Drive in a small spot where Jetway Gourmet used to be, with 2 small tables to dine at and a couple off tables outside. (We ordered take out.) But the good news is that they are expanding and in the next several months will have indoor dining for 24 tables.
I've received unsolicited feedback about this restaurant several times. People are raving about it. N'Awlinz Bistro is something new, unique and high quality. We met Chef Marcus Webster and he aims to please.
See their menu at www.nawlinzbistro.com or call 805.499.7400. Their current hours of operation is Monday to Saturday, 11am to 8pm.
JJ Brewsky's in Old Town Camarillo is currently in renovation to re-open as The French Bulldog Bistro & Lounge next weekend! Specifically, the new owner indicates they will be opening on Thursday, March 15th and reservations are currently being taken via email. (See The French Bulldog Facebook page for details.) The French Bulldog is a gastro-tavern serving a new selection of martinis, specialty drinks, beers and food by Chef Gael Lecolley! Their website is www.thefrenchbulldogbistro.com and phone is (same as JJ's) 805.482.5249. Should be fun to check it out!
Anyone else noticing the clear trend in gastro pubs and taverns around town!? Brendan's Pub in Camarillo and more recently in Agoura Hills, The Tipsy Goat and The Mermaid Tavern in Thousand Oaks, Ladyface Alehouse and The Lab Brewing Company in Agoura, the new Cronies location in Newbury Park (also in Simi, Ventura and Camarillo), The Kitchen in Downtown Oxnard and more. Bottom line: Beer is recession-proof!
Update 1/31/12: Brendan's has announced via Twitter they are opening the Agoura location on March 5th!
Originally posted 1/27/12:
For the 12 of you who aren't aware, Brendan's Irish Pub and Restaurant is a wildly successful, authentic Irish pub located in Camarillo at the old Sizzler building on Daily Drive. They opened their doors on January 15, 2011 and have been doing extraordinarily well. Beer like you won't believe poured with an authentic Irish touch and a kitchen that dishes out outstanding food like scrumptious corned beef sliders, shephard's pie and fish and chips. Mouth watering. I can tell you that first-hand.
In an email to its customers today, the owner of Cafe Provencal announced he will be shutting the restaurant's doors this Sunday, March 4th. Cafe Provencal has served French cuisine in the Thousand Oaks area for 16 years. It is located in the Select Conejo Plaza next to The Lakes and Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. It is always sad to hear of a local business closing and we wish the best to owner Serge Bonnet in his future ventures. www.cafeprovencal.biz 805.496.7121
A snippet from the email:
Dear Friend and customers,
This is one of the most painful moments of my life, but as you know there is always sunshine after a storm and rain.....
This week is the last week!
The restaurant will be closing on Sunday March 4th for good.....
Despite all the faith and prayers, time has come to say bye bye...
***
I invite you to come for lunch and dinner one last time.
I can always usea little bit more of your support to go through the final bills and also to make sure I get your email info if I don't already have it.
***
We will have a farewell "goodbye" nights on
Friday and Saturday after 9p.m.
Join us for drinks, laughter, music and desserts....
It was only about a month ago I could have sworn I stopped by Johnny Rockets with the kids at The Oaks mall. I've rarely seen it crowded in there so I could always count on grabbing table there. But someone mentioned the location had been closed on the CVG Facebook wall today and, sure enough, it is as if it never existed. Phone number disconnected, not on the Johnny Rockets website, no mention on The Oaks website, nada. So we stopped by today and indeed...the place is boarded up.
The unspectacular view of where Johnny Rockets used to reside at The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks.
Well, there's always the other local Johnny Rockets locations at the Camarillo Premium Outlets, Agoura Hills (near the movie theaters) and Calabasas Commons.
For those of you who react to this closure with a "Oh my! Yet ANOTHER restaurant closure in Thousand Oaks!!" - well keep in mind that there's plenty of new places that have opened or plan to open as you can see here in the Conejo Valley Guide "Local Buzz" blog. And there's been quite a pull towards the east end of The Oaks of late with all the new(er) restaurants...Lazy Dog Cafe, Red Robin, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, not to mention the Muvico Theater...which probably did not bode well for my JRs.
Last month Abercrombie and Fitch contacted the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to announce they will be shuttering their stores at the Simi Valley Town Center by the end of March. Never good news to hear of local stores closing, but this is part of a wider plan announced by Abercrombie this past Wednesday that it plans to close 180 of its 1,014 U.S. stores over the next 3 years (following the closure of 71 stores in 2011). This will eliminate 117 jobs in Simi Valley, though hopefully new jobs will come when they find new tenants for these spaces. A&F generated $4.2 billion in 2011, with net income of about $128 million.
There are California laws that require employers with 75 or more employees to give at least 60 days' notice to employees and local officials when they plan to terminate 50 or more employees in a mass layoff.
Other notifications submitted to the Board of Supervisors last month included Zodiac Pool Systems, which is closing its Moorpark facility (125 impacted local jobs) and EDO Communications and Countermeasure Systems, which is closing its plant on Willow Lane in Thousand Oaks, thus impacting 147 jobs.
Let's hope to see a reversal of this trend. In the meantime CLICK HERE for links to over 200 employers in Ventura County and surrounding areas.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
