Applebee's is Returning to Camarillo

Applebees is open as of Monday, June 20th. Plenty of cars in the parking lot!

Original post 5/31/11: Same place as before in the Camarillo Town Center Shopping Center at 291 West Ventura Boulevard, Applebee's is staging a Camarillo comeback. As some of you may recall, all 4 Ventura County Applebee's locations closed in January 2009. While I didn't get a photo of the sign on my way to Souplantation, I can say that they had "We're Hiring" signs up and people on hand to conduct interviews. This was confirmed by the following posting to Ventura County craigslist:

Discover Applebee's Grand Opening Hiring Event!
-Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar in Camarillo is currently seeking experienced individuals to work in a fun fast-paced work environment for the following positions: Host, Server, Bartender, Carside Togo specialist, Food Expediter, Line Cook, Dishwasher/General Utility.
-Qualified Servers and Line Cooks should have at least one year of experience in a similar position in a casual dining restaurant.
-Professional appearance and attire required.
-For more information, visit our website: appleamerican.com
-Apply in person between the hours of 9am-5pm Monday-Friday at

Applebee's Camarillo
291 W. Ventura Blvd.
Camarillo, CA 93010

Market Broiler Opened at Simi Valley Town Center Today, May 24, 2011

Thanks to a CVG Facebook visitor I've learned that Market Broiler opened TODAY, May 24, 2011. This one wasn't on my radar for some reason, even though I was at the Simi Valley Town Center just a few weeks ago! It is located in what used to be Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant. Their phone is 805.210.7640. Odd that the Simi Valley TC website did not even have them on their website tonight, but Market Broiler is indeed open and ready for business.

Some background on Market Broiler from www.marketbroiler.com is below. This is the only location in the Ventura and Los Angeles County area at this point. Other Market Broilers are currently located in Riverside, Ontario, Huntington Beach, Orange and Fremont. Fresh fish always sounds good to me!

Market Broiler rose from the tradition of California seafood landmarks dating back to the 1950's. It's a casual, comfortable, moderately-priced, full-service, restaurant where fresh fish and seafood are prepared over mesquite charcoal flames.

Key to its presentation is the fresh fish market, where all fish being served is on display. In addition to 18 fresh fish offered daily, entrees of fresh chicken or aged beef as well as salads and pasta are offered.

The food is flavorful and portions are generous. The homestyle theme is borne out by the fact that the chowders, sauces, and dressings are made from scratch in each restaurant. Our popular sourdough bread is served warm at your table as a part of the meal.

La Salsa Out, Loteria Grill Soon To Be In at The Promenade at Westlake

Noticed the other night that La Salsa is no longer at The Promenade at Westlake and that Loteria Grill is slated to open soon.  Loteria Grill has locations at The Los Angeles Farmers Market, Hollywood and Studio City. They serve Mexican cuisine and look pretty good to me! La Salsa fans, not to worry. They still are open at The Oaks mall.

In-N-Out Burger May Be Coming to Agoura Hills!

FOLLOW-UP: City planners indicated that In-N-Out withdrew their application and it never went to the Planning Commission. That's not what a hamburger's all about, but so be it.

If all goes well on at the City of Agoura Hills Planning Commission hearing this Thursday night, May 19th, a new In-N-Out Burger may be coming to 28898 Canwood Street!

The new In-N-Out is proposed for a 2.73 acre parcel with 1,000 feet of frontage along Canwood and the 101 Freeway. The proposed project would include removal of 3 of the 4 existing billboards on the site and construction of a one-story, 3,654 square-foot restaurant building with a drive-through lane, trash enclosure, and outdoor dining patio. The site would have 100 parking spaces, including 5 handicapped spots.

Mock up from the Initial Study and Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration report.

There is a 104 page Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration report on this project available on the City of Agoura Hills website at www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us.  Basically the report goes through all the types of potential environmental impacts of the project and concludes that any "negative" impacts can be mitigated in various ways. For example, scenic resources:

The project site is located north of the U.S. 101 Freeway and south of Canwood Street within the City of Agoura Hills. The Agoura Hills General Plan (2010) identifies several scenic resources in the City and identifies road segments that offer views of the scenic resources.

The following scenic resources are identified in the General Plan:

• Ladyface Mountain – located south of the U.S. 101 Freeway, between Kanan Road and the western City limits on the southern border of Agoura Hills;

• Strawberry Hill – located north of Canwood Street and south of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, just east of Forest Cove Park;

• Morrison Ranch Hills, the Morrison Ranch Hills – located north of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, generally between Reyes Adobe Road and Kanan Road;

• Palo Comado Hills – located in the northeastern corner of the City

• Simi Hills – the hills that border the City on the north

The report indicated there would be no significant impact of the project on the above.

Stay tuned! On a related note, I discovered that the In-N-Out Burger Real Estate and Development Department 13502 Hamburger Lane in Baldwin Park. What a great street name!

FOX Sports Grill in Westlake Village Becomes The Edge

FOX Sports Grill has become The Edge. I believe this change took place last Thursday, April 28th. More of a restaurant feel I've been told, along with some changes in the menu. Same management. If you have a FOX Sports Grill gift card, it is still good at The Edge. Located at 30970 Russell Ranch Road, Westlake Village. Click HERE for their Facebook page. Or call 818.338.7080.

Red Robin and Buddha's Belly Coming to The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks this Summer

We stopped by The Oaks mall tonight for a frozen yogurt at Menchies (click here for over 80 FroYo joints throughout Ventura County). Noticed 2 new restaurants will be opening at the mall this summer!

A Red Robin is under construction next to Lazy Dog Cafe and across from the Muvico Theatres. Known for their gourmet burgers, this will be the 2nd Red Robin location in Ventura County; the other one is at the Simi Valley Town Center. There's another location in Calabasas across the street from The Commons at Calabasas.

Inside the mall across from The Cheesecake Factory, where Sisley used to be located, Buddha's Belly Restaurant is slated to open this summer. "Buddha’s Belly offers a full-service Asian-Fusion dining experience featuring the flavors of Japan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Korea. We cook with fresh, natural meats and poultry and source organic, locally-grown produce whenever possible." (Swiped from their Facebook page.)

Update September 2012: Buddha's Belly Thousand Oaks has closed its doors.

Additionally, The Oaks has announced that a Red Lobster and Olive Garden will be opening locations there too later this year! No sign of construction at this point. Stay tuned...

Janss Marketplace New Tenants Include Qdoba Mexican Grill, Karma Indian Cuisine and Conejo Valley Art Museum

Janss Marketplace Welcomes Three New Tenants: Center is 90% Leased

NewMark Merrill announces that Janss Marketplace, located at Moorpark Road and Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks, added three tenants to achieve 90% occupancy. The center’s three newest tenants are Qdoba Mexican Grill, the Conejo Valley Art Museum and Karma Indian Cuisine.

Qdoba Mexican Grill signed a 10-year lease for the approximately 2,238 square feet located near the beautiful interactive fountain and next to Burlington Coat Factory. To open at TBD date.

Karma Indian Cuisine, which opened in March, signed a 7-year lease for approximately 2,324 square foot space. The new restaurant, located near Toys R Us and Rite Aid, offers authentic Indian fare. The restaurant features a lunch buffet and dinner specials with a wide selection of Indian cuisine.

The Conejo Valley Art Museum will soon open in the former Wine Styles space, located in the food courtyard across form Gold’s Gym. The museum will feature changing exhibits, gift shop and a reference library. To be open sometime in May.

During the recent openings, Invitation Spot moved to a new location next to Cold Stone Creamery and across from Toys R Us. Invitation Spot offers a variety of boxed and personalized “to order” invitations for event, wedding, parties and much more.

Janss Marketplace is part of a portfolio of over 60 shopping centers that the company owns or manages. NewMark Merrill Companies has the unique ability to draw from over 25 years of experience to provide a higher level of property management, development and asset management services for its clients. NewMark Merrill Companies has ranked among the top 20 Largest Property Management Firms and Top 10 Largest Commercial Real Estate Developers from 2007-2011 by the LA Business Journal. In addition to Woodland Hills, regional offices are located in Orange County, Ventura County, San Francisco, San Diego County, Colorado and Illinois. The company currently owns and/or operates over 60 shopping centers in three different states representing over 8 million square feet and over $1 billion in value. The Company owns LandMark Retail Group, a preferred developer for CVS Pharmacy which is developing new stores throughout California.

The Tipsy Goat Irish Pub and Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

The Tipsy Goat is located at 159 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, in the old Enrique's Mexican Restaurant (for you old timers) and adjacent to Outback Steakhouse. With its unique name, The Tipsy Goat brought a lot of curiosity in the months leading up to opening its doors on March 14, 2011, just in time for Saint Patrick's Day.

I made it over to The Tipsy Goat for the first time on Thursday, March 31st during happy hour and was pleased with what I experienced.

First off, there is plenty of parking available behind the restaurant, so just drive to the back via the driveway to the left.

If you walk in through the back, as I did, you'll first see a room with two pool tables (bring $1 per game) and several TVs.

Then as you walk towards the front you'll see a shuffleboard on the left, then the next room has a dartboard and several tables, leading to the large outdoor patio of the restaurant.

The most popular areas when I was there was the outdoor area and the bar, which has probably 10 to 12 smaller tables with barstools. Then there's one more room full of comfy leather couches.

Mind you, as a busy dad, I don't consider myself a bar expert anymore, but this place was fun and low key. The servers were laid back and we enjoyed the cold beer and tried several appetizers - the pulled pork sliders and the chicken wings. They were bargain priced before 7pm (only $5) and hit the spot.

Loved the sliders, which came with cross-cut fries. I'm not a big wing guy but I liked these because they were large wings, plenty of meat, not overly messy (I got enough messes to clean up at home :>). Otherwise, the menu seems to have a decent array of tasty sounding items, including Irish themed goodies like Shephard's Pie and corned beef and cabbage.

So we enjoyed hanging out, played a few games of darts, one game of pool, ate, and had a good time. I also noticed it was family friendly, with several kids and families. We left around 8:30 p.m. and the crowd was changing by then as us geezers realized it was bedtime.

Visit www.tipsygoat.com or call 805.494.9996 for more information.