Movie Train Cafe to Open in Fillmore on Friday, May 18th

UPDATE: CLOSED

Offering up "down home southern cooking," the Movie Train Cafe will be opening its doors on Friday, May 18th at 501 Santa Clara Street in Fillmore (previously occupied by the Double A Cafe). Restaurant is decorated with neat looking train movie prop decor!

Reviewing their Facebook page I detect the following examples of their specialties: Buttermilk biscuit with bacon inside topped with bacon gravy and fresh black pepper, garlic shrimp scampi, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, chocolate heart shaped cheesecakes with fresh raspberries and sliced almonds, cinnamon roll pancakes, chicken and dumplings and much more.

Their phone is 805.524.2423. Visit www.facebook.com/Themovietraincafe for more information. Hours are 6am Wed through Sunday.

Qdoba Mexican Grill to Open in Simi Valley on Tuesday, May 29th

Qdoba Mexican Grill is celebrating the grand opening of its first location in Simi Valley, at 2091 Madera Road, Suite A, on Tuesday, May 29, 2012.

To celebrate the new location, the first 100 guests who visit on Tuesday will receive one free entrée. Guests can enjoy Qdoba’s signature flavors, like its Mexican Gumbo™, 3-Cheese Queso or Ancho Chile BBQ burrito, or Qdoba’s Craft 2™ menu, which lets guests mix and match perfect portions of popular items, including a Naked Burrito®, Naked Taco Salad™, Mexican Gumbo™, 3-cheese nachos, two tacos, quesadilla or tortilla soup.

Continuing the grand-opening festivities into the weekend, the first 15 guests to dine at the restaurant on Saturday, June 2 and on Sunday, June 3 will receive burritos for a year (52 free entrees)!

Also, throughout the day on Sunday, Qdoba will be hosting a “Lil’ Foodies” event, where kids under 12 years old will receive one free Kid’s Meal, with purchase of a regular entrée. A balloon twister and face painter will also be at the Simi Valley Qdoba from noon until 3 p.m. that day to visit with the Lil’ Foodies.

This is the 14^th Qdoba location in Southern California, with another location scheduled to open in Temecula in early June. Guests can visit the Qdoba Southern California Facebook page to keep apprised of all of the promotions, events, etc. for the new Simi Valley and other SoCal Qdoba locations.

Qdoba Mexican Grill Simi Valley's phone is 805.955.0350. Hours are 10:30am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 10pm on Sunday.

One Habit Burger is Not Enough for Simi Valley; 2nd Location Opening This Weekend

A second location of The Habit Burger is coming to Simi Valley this weekend at 2091 Madera Road next to Target. The other Habit is located on Tapo Canyon Road, just 5.5 miles away.

The official grand opening is next Wednesday, May 9th. But this Sunday, May 6th from noon to 2pm, the store will be open and all proceeds will benefit the Simi Valley YMCA!

This is the 8th Ventura County location for this fast-growing burger chain that originated in Santa Barbara in 1969. Other nearby locations are in Camarillo, Ventura (2), Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and Oxnard.

I like The Habit for their very consistent quality and taste. And they have decent veggie burgers there too for those so inclined.

Visit www.habitburger.com for more information.

Hooters of Thousand Oaks "Moms Eat Free" Grand Opening Celebration on May 13th

We have received word that the new Hooters of Thousand Oaks will be making its premiere on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13th. And in conjunction with that, they will be offering a Moms Eat Free deal that day. The flyer sent to me today indicates the Moms Eat Free deal is all day and applies to any menu item up to $9.99.

Hooters of Thousand Oaks will be open from 11am to 1am with the kitchen closing at midnight.

We've seen plenty of Kids Eat Free deals around town but this is the first Moms Eat Free special we've encountered! :>

T.G.I. Fridays to Close, DISH Restaurant to Open at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks

On April 1st, a CVG Facebook follower filled us in that TGI Fridays at the Janss Marketplace would be closing soon. Since then, others made mention and TGI Fridays employees confirmed the anticipated closure. We were awaiting "official" word from TGI Fridays but yesterday the Ventura County Star reported that TGI Fridays will indeed be closing and in the September time frame, DISH Restaurant will be taking over that space.

No official word yet as to the actual closing date...but it sounds like it will be really soon. The closure of TGI Fridays' Thousand Oaks location leaves us with 2 Ventura County locations - Simi Valley and Oxnard. Visit www.tgifridays.com for more information.

DISH Restaurant has operated for the last 10 years in La Canada (north of Glendale) and this will be its first new location. From its website at dishbreakfastlunchanddinner.com:

People who love a great breakfast restaurant will appreciate the things we do at DISH, like roasting bone-in hams every morning and offering applewood-smoked bacon and hand-crafted sausages. Our apple oatcakes are made with fresh diced green apples, and our cornmeal jonnycakes are made with real corn.

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.

Sounds like a great place to me! They appear to be fairly priced, nominated as a great breakfast place and well received by food critics. Stay tuned.

Italian Trattoria Toscanova Opened at The Commons at Calabasas Tonight

Toscanova opened tonight at The Commons at Calabasas. This Italian trattoria offers up pasta dishes, seafood and steaks, Spaghetti allo Scoglio and Risotto Ai Funghi. The first Toscanova in Century City opened in January 2009. Visit www.toscanova.com to learn more. Don't look at the menu as it will quickly make you hungry!