Added 1/31/11: For the month of FEBRUARY 2011, Mediterraneo at the Westlake Village Inn is offering FREE BREAKFAST for kids 12 from the Kids Menu with purchase of adult breakfast. This looks quite scrumptious if you ask me. Check it out! Call 818.889.9105 for details!

Added 1/16/11: We noticed the Carl's Jr in Newbury Park is offering FREE Cool Kids Combos all day on Sunday with the purchase of a regular combo. There are nearly a dozen Carl's in Ventura County so call your local one to determine whether or not they are carrying this deal. The Moorpark and Westlake Village locations did not have the deal when I called. www.carlsjr.com/locations

Added 12/29/10: Thanks to CVG visitor Wendy! SUTTER'S MILL STEAKS & SEAFOOD at 3885 Cochran Street, Suite A in Simi Valley offers Kids Eat Free ALL THE TIME for kids 8 and under. Dinners include salad, side and soft drink! Only $4.95 for ages 9 to 12. Visit www.sutters4dining.com or call 805.520.4797.

New 9/16/10: NATE 'N AL DELI at The Lakes in Thousand Oaks has a TUESDAY/THURSDAY Kids Eat

Ameci's Pizza and Pasta is at 1560 Newbury Road, #3, Newbury Park (805.499.8300), 30651 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, Agoura (818.889.7722), 1724 Avenida de los Arboles, Thousand Oaks (805.493.2914), Westlake Village (DELIVERY ONLY) (818.889.7778), 302 W. Los Angeles St., Moorpark (805.529.3399) and 2780 Tapo Canyon Blvd., Simi Valley (805.581.9770) www.amecipizzaandpasta.com  (Check the Ameci's website for coupons!) Fifteen years or so ago when I was on a tight budget I would cut coupons and buy the largest Ameci pizza and eat it for days. A nice, thin, simple pizza. And cheap! Good place to go on a budget. Mostly delivery and take out.

Cafe Topanga is at 171 North Reino Road, Newbury Park (805.498.2166) Decent food at this place. They deliver. I've only had their pizzas a few times and they were pretty good. Anyone have comments?

California Pizza Kitchen is at 2200 East Thousand Oaks Blvd.,Thousand Oaks (at The Lakes) (805.777.1778), 100 Promenade Way, Westlake Village (CPK "ASAP" fast service CPK with limited menu), (805.374.2727) and 1555 Simi Town Center Way, #790, Simi Valley (Simi Valley Town Center) (805.522.0030) www.cpk.com Tasty pizza with a large selection. Can't go wrong. Beautiful, clean chain of restaurants. I like the pasta dishes there more than the pizza.  Recently visited the Thousand Oaks location with the kids and they both ordered the Mac and Cheese kids' meal.  Large adult-sized portion came in a large bowl and I thought it was tasty.  But they only ate 4 or 5 bites of it.  Problem is that kids envision Kraft Mac n Cheese everywhere they go and usually at decent places like CPK they serve regular Fusilli pasta with cheesy sauce.  Like I say, I liked it but they didn't.  Live and learn.  Next time it'll be back to pizza.

Chuck E. Cheese's is at 130 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks (805.497.2522) and 4714 Telephone Road, Ventura (805.644.9777) www.chuckecheese.com (Prior location in Simi Valley has been closed.) I'm embarrassed to admit that I actually enjoy taking the little ones to this place. Where else can you enjoy yourselves with the kids (well, maybe 100 of them running around at the same time), drink beer, enjoy decent chicken ciabatta sandwiches, watch the kids enjoy their PIZZA (which by the way has the consistency of chewy cardboard, but that's o.k....they love it and I consume their crusts), and play some fun games.

Costco is at 5700 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village (818.597.3900), 2001 East Ventura Blvd., Oxnard (805.983.4200) and 2660 Park Center Drive, Simi Valley (805.578.3301). (And allegedly one of these days we will see a Newbury Park Costco near the 101 and Wendy). www.costco.com I love Costco pizza.  Huge slices of pizza for small sums of money.  My top choice for bargain pizza that is well stocke

Umami Burger in Thousand Oaks

Heaven to some is a Tommy's Burger!Five Guys Burger

In-N-Out Burger

Last summer she raved about the pizza in New York. Today she raved about the authentic New York style pizza at Greco's. She was so excited about the taste and authenticity of this pizza that she emailed me this picture. That is quite a large pizza. I just hope she doesn't eat the entire thing on her own! The kids and their friends are apparently helping out.

This is a 28 inch Greco's pizza, allegedly (and I believe it) larger than 3 large pizzas!

I was unable to find a website for Greco's but they can be reached at 805.777.7271.

I've been there twice already and instantly became a fan. For about $10, I leave with a mouthwatering taste of savory, filling beef rice noodles, or phỏ (which is apparently pronounced "fuh" after some heated debate...hey, I'm not Vietnamese).

Old timers may notice some remnants of The Crab House at this newly renovated restaurant; namely, the wood walls and bar. But Basil & Mint is dramatically lighter and brighter than its predecessors, with lime green touches, new flooring and a clean, open and airy feel to it.

On my first visit I enjoyed the Hủ Tiếu Dặc Biêt Của Basil and Mint House Special Noodle Soup, a traditional noodle soup from South Vietnam with ground chicken, roasted pork and shrimp served with rice or egg noodles and garnished with onions, scallions and cilantro. They provide a plate of basil and mint (literally) along with other flavorings for the soup. It was served quickly, piping hot and delicious.

My enjoyable Hủ Tiếu Dặc Biêt Của (don't ask me to pronounce that) Basil and Mint House Special Noodle Soup

In addition to the noodle soup dishes, Basil & Mint offers rice dishes, bun dishes, noodle dishes, vegetarian specialties (quite a lot of them) and more. There are inexpensive kids meals including a chicken bowl, beef bowl, fried shrimp and wonton soup, each in the $4 to $4.25 range. The price is right.

My friend ordered a grilled chicken and rice dish (Gà Nướng or better known as #27 on the menu) and before I had a chance to ask him about his food, it was down his hatch. I'm quite sure he enjoyed  it. We also tried the spring rolls appetizer; very fresh and delish.

Another time I came along and dined at the bar, watching sports in the background. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised not only by my tasty, satisfying, piping hot food, but the prompt, attentive service. And I got a chance to meet the owner, who is back in "the game" after a hiatus. He's got a winner on his hands in my opinion.

Phở Bò / Beef Rice Noodle Soup (Fragrant beef broth with scallion, onions, and cilantro. Served with rice noodles and your choice of beef (meatballs, round eye steak, both of which were my choices, beef tendon, beef flank, beef tripe, well done brisket and beef brisket). I love this stuff!Basil & Mint Vietnamese Cafe is open starting at 11 a.m., 7 days a week. Located at 350 N. Lantana St, Suite 7, Camarillo, at the corner of Daily and Lantana (in close proximity to Cronies, Wood Ranch BBQ, Bobbi's Mexican Food, Sheila's Place Wine Bar and Peking Inn). Visit www.phobasilmint.com or call 805.482.9993.

This is the 10th Lemonade location, so they must be doing something right! I stepped inside the completely redesigned restaurant and was impressed by the visually appealing new stainless steel, white, gold and yellow toned theme. I arrived during the noon lunch hour and it quickly was buzzing and bustling. Kind of noisy in fact, but it was kind of fun. They retained the outdoor patio area and many took advantage of it.

I'm a pretty lean guy (and in fact I ran a full marathon yesterday) and I noticed the chairs seemed somewhat narrow, even for my skinny rear. Curious to hear others' observations about that.

Lemonade bills itself as fast-casual cafeteria style cafe serving up a diverse range of fresh, high-quality and innovative foods. Now that I've eaten there and seen what they have to offer, I agree with this description. The food was very fresh tasting and quite interesting. I tried the caprese sandwich and several of their "Marketplace" items, including diced sweet potato with pistachios and a "Char siu" chicken dish with pineapple, cashews and other interesting, healthy ingredients.

Your first visit to Lemonade may be somewhat confusing as they have such a diverse array of choices. It truly is cafeteria style, where you can choose from at least a dozen Marketplace items, all of which looked really good, "Land & Sea" items like salmon, chicken and seared ahi tuna, tossed salads, sandwiches, fresh soups served with grilled rustic grain bread and really tempting array of desserts, including cupcakes (only $1 for a mini cupcake!), brownies/bars, cookies and macaroons.

Basically you order, pay, take a number and they bring your food to you. For some reason that didn't happen with me...I sat there at a table with my iced tea and a number and they called it out for me to retrieve. But 30 minutes later my friend received his chicken sandwich order at his table. That was the only "glitch" of my first experience.

I get a good feeling about this place. I like it. I think you will too. The pricing is not "cheap" but for the quality I think it is fair. To me this is a great place for a group of 4 to share a variety of items, particularly the Marketplace choices.

Visit lemonadela.com for more information or call 805.778.9100 for more information. I noticed the sign on the door indicates their hours are 11 a.m. to 9:05 p.m. The Promenade at Westlake is located at the southeast corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Boulevards.

Great Harvest Bread Co. in Newbury Park is a great place to go for fresh baked, delicious bread in the Conejo Valley.

The bread here is outstanding.  Always fresh.  You get there in the morning and there is a large selection of all sorts of breads, from their signature Honey Whole Wheat to the fancier breads that those, like me, with sweet tooths enjoy...we're talking pumpkin breads, banana breads, chocolate chip breads and the like.   There is a detailed menu of breads prepared daily at www.conejobread.com.

The people here are just incredibly nice and also very supportive of the local community.  I see them serving free bread samples at events all over town.  The owners are Jim and Lupe Costello.  They both left careers at large companies to open this awesome addition to our town.  They are extremely friendly.  Walk in and soon you will be offered fresh bread samples.

Great Harvest is extremely clean and you can see them baking the breads.  Everything is made from scratch.  No preservatives are used.  They even make their own whole wheat flour daily.  The bread stays fresh for up to 7 to 10 days, but you won't have to worry about that because in my household as  the bread is usually devoured within a day or two!

Independent bakeries are a dying breed as the large grocery stores and Costco's of the world have commoditized fresh baked goods.  You may pay a small premium for the moist, warm, mouth-watering breads at Great Harvest but it is well worth it.

Great Harvest also serves up sandwiches during lunchtime hours. I had just a basic chicken salad sandwich on whole grain bread and it was delicious.  Bread really "makes" the sandwich and since the bread here is so good, the entire sandwich is excellent, even down to the last few bites of bread.

Great Harvest Bread Co. is located at 2092-H Newbury Road, Newbury Park (Vons/Longs shopping center to the left of Vons) (805.376.0111) www.conejobread.com

1. Not just the kids love the food there!  I do too!  I love the simplicity of the menu...pick a pasta, pick a sauce, pick an "add-in" and pick a size.  And we've never gone wrong with the food at Presto Pasta!
2. The quality of the food at Presto Pasta is very consistent.  I usually order tortellini with tomato meat sauce and by golly, it tastes good every single time I eat it!  For another $3 or so I get a combo meal with a salad and drink.  Of course we're not talking fancy here, so don't expect a gourmet fancy meal. But this is the place to come for a quality, budget meal out.
3. The kids usually order rigatoni with butter and parmesan and again, the quality is always solid and they enjoy it.  The combo kids meal costs less than $5 and comes with pasta, bread, drink and a cookie!
4. Presto Pasta is always clean, the staff always smiles and service is quick.  We order, sit down and I attempt to entertain the restless troops, and thankfully within 5 minutes we usually have our food.  Suddenly it gets really quiet at the table (trust me, this is a very rare event)!

I can feed my family a healthy, enjoyable meal from Presto Pasta for only $20 to $25.  Gotta love that!

Angel Hair Pomodoro. Not fancy but hits the spot. Chunks o' garlic abound, so be careful!

Visit the Presto Pasta website at www.prestopasta.com. Ventura County locations are at 1025 Broadbeck Road, Newbury Park (805.498.7737), 5722 Telephone Road, Ventura (805.658.2898) and 1701 Daily Drive, Camarillo (805.445.7737).  Camarillo location also has drive-thru!

One of the great things about the CVG Facebook page is that it's kind of like the Conejo Valley water cooler...people enjoy sharing the scoop on local goings on. Yesterday was a great example, when Scott B, an avid local restaurant watcher, let us know that DISH Restaurant at Janss Marketplace was opening its doors the next day, September 26, 2012.

After a solid hour long run this morning, I worked up a decent appetite and headed off to DISH, fully expecting massive crowds. To my surprise, it was practically empty, which for me was excellent because I wanted to get to work. Found out that I was customer #2 at the Thousand Oaks DISH. Almost nabbed that #1 spot! They opened at 7 a.m.

So my immediate observation as I walked in was, WOW, this has a really nice, open air type of feel it. Light and bright, spacious feeling, much different than the feel of prior occupant TGI Fridays. There was also sort of a nostalgic feel to the place. It wasn't the decor or anything (though there were some subtle retro things going on, like the salt and pepper shakers). I think it was the music. You'll find out!

The hostess sat me at one of the booths next to the expansive, nice looking bar. The seat cushion was comfortable and immediately I noticed there's a toaster on the table. Now I've seen things like mini-jukeboxes on table before (e.g. Johnny Rockets) but never a toaster. Later I found out they have toasters at the booths, not the tables (makes sense, as the booths have a wall the toasters sit next to).

Nice looking bar area. I sat in a booth next to the bar.

There were a number of employees learning the ropes and they all were really nice and attentive. The breakfast menu was quite expansive, with with an entire page of egg dishes (they pride themselves on serving only cage free eggs, in spite of higher cost), hot cakes (pancakes, cornmeal jonnycakes and oatcakes, omelettes and scrambles and brunch classics like french toast, belgian waffles and oatmeal.

While I could have tried the really good sounding Fresh Real Banana Pancakes, Brie Cheese & Applewood Smoked Bacon Omelette or other specialties, I opted to keep it simple today and ordered two scrambled eggs, potatoes, toast and chicken apple sausage ($9.95). Everything was quite good. And it was actually kind of fun toasting my own wheat bread (the bread served was really fresh and toasted nicely in my own little tableside toaster). The coffee was really good too. Wish I could have stayed a bit longer to enjoy a 3rd cup of it!

My first DISH meal of eggs, potatoes and chicken sausage. Next time I'll try something more exotic!

My tableside toaster. First time I've ever made my own toast at the table. I liked it!

I have a pretty good gut feel for places and this place to me seems to be a winner! There's no doubt in my mind that it will be a popular breakfast eatery. The key question will be, how will they fare for lunch and dinner. Their menu features salads, sandwiches, burgers and entrees and a kids menu that has a decent selection in the $4 to $7 range (averaging about $5). I'll think they'll do just fine.

From the DISH website: "We serve simple family-style food, yet we concentrate on quality. So something as simple as a BLT sandwich can be a pleasant surprise when it’s made with applewood-smoked bacon, carefully toasted whole wheat bread and French fries cut from fresh Kennebec potatoes. Our lunch menu offers a great selection of American classics, with over ten luncheon salads, gourmet sandwiches, awesome burgers, fresh seafood, pastas, chicken and steak. And most entrees are under $10.00, so we offer value along with creativity and variety."

So bottom line for me is...SO FAR, SO GOOD! I took a chance and stopped by DISH on its first day and was pleased. Nice people, casual, low key, yet sophisticated ambience, beautiful bar, great food and service. Welcome to Thousand Oaks, DISH!

Visit www.dishbld.com to learn more about DISH. Located at Janss Marketplace at 165 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks.

DISH opened today but still no DISH sign on the outside wall!