Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken Coming to the Conejo Valley Plaza in Thousand Oaks July 29, 2022

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Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken is opening at the Conejo Valley Plaza, 1408 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks, in the spring of 2022.

Rise opened its first location in Durham, North Carolina in 2012 and has expanded to 16 locations. This location will be the first location to open west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. (This location was formerly home to Jack’s Donuts.)

A description of Rise’s food from their website:

Rise serves Southern Biscuits, Righteous Chicken Sandwiches and Donuts, waitstaff-free and with a swift service line. Our fluffy, buttermilk and Cheddar biscuits are made from scratch and filled with savory ingredients ranging from crispy bacon and country sausage to fried green tomatoes and our famous Righteous Chicken. What makes our chicken Righteous? It’s tenderized, brined in buttermilk, fried to golden-brown perfection and then served on a biscuit, bun or as strips with your choice of toppings and sauces. No meal is complete without an order of Cheddar Tots, our signature cheesy, Idaho potato treats. Top off your Rise adventure with Counter Culture Coffee and one of our signature donuts, like the Maple Bacon or Cheerwine.

Learn more at risebiscuitschicken.com. Updates at www.facebook.com/RiseThousandOaks.

M on High Restaurant in Moorpark Opened in Late October

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M on High Restaurant opened at 255 E. High Street in Moorpark (formerly Secret Garden) in late October, serving contemporary American cuisine. Entrees on their menu at monhigh.com include Mary’s Free Range Chicken Half, “M” Burger, Street Corn Agnolotti, Thai Pumpkin Curry, Tomahawk Pork Chop, Chipotle & Beer Braised Short Rib, Double R Ranch Ribeye, Roma Baked Salmon and Chilean Sea Bass. 805.991.4100

El Sancho Loco Taqueria to Open Westlake Village Location in 2022

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El Sancho Loco Taqueria in Newbury Park announced just before Thanksgiving that it will be opening a 2nd location in Westlake Village. There’s a photo of the new location on their Facebook page at THIS LINK that is clearly 3845A Thousand Oaks Boulevard in the North Ranch Shopping Center, which was most recently KreAsian Kitchen.

Clean Juice Superfood Cafe is Coming Soon to Agoura Hills (Now Open)

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UPDATE: Opened in April 2022.

Clean Juice Superfood Cafe is coming soon to the Twin Oaks Shopping Center in Agoura Hills at 5811 Kanan Road. They will offer smoothies, sandwiches, salads, toasts, acai bowls, wraps and more.

Visit www.cleanjuice.com for more information and www.facebook.com/cleanjuiceagourahills for updates.

Mimi's Cafe Building in Thousand Oaks Torn Down Today to Make Room for Amy's Drive-Thru

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Remnants of Mimi’s Cafe Thousand Oaks. (Photo Credit: Eric K. via Instagram)

Mimi’s Cafe on Moorpark Road at Brazil Street in Thousand Oaks said its final goodbyes today, as it was demolished to make room for the construction of Amy’s Drive-Thru.

This location and the Ventura location were closed back in February of this year.

The Thousand Oaks location had operated since at least 1998, giving it a lifespan of at least 23 years. That’s not a bad run for a restaurant operating in this day and age.

Mimi’s was co-founded by Arthur J. Simms, who flew spy missions for the U.S. Air Force out of London and into occupied France. Arthur was with Allied troops liberating a small French town near Versailles. The town celebrated and he me a beautiful French girl named Mimi. They fell in love, but the war pulled them apart.

Thirty years later, Arthur and his son Tom decided to develop a new restaurant, and the named it for Mimi. The Simms and two partners opened the first Mimi’s Cafe in Anaheim in 1978.

Today Mimi’s operates 48 locations in 12 states and the closest ones to Ventura County are in Chatsworth and Valencia.

Mimi’s had intentions to go public in 2004 but instead opted to be acquired for $103 million in cash and assumption of $79 million in debt by Bob Evans Farms Inc. At that time, there were 81 locations in 10 states, including 47 in California.

Le Duff America Inc., a Dallas-based subsidiary of French based Groupe Le Duff, purchased the Mimi’s chain from Bob Evans Farms in early 2013 for $50 million. It would appear that Bob Evans did not make a great investment. Mimi’s had grown to 145 locations in 24 states at the time. Perhaps they grew too fast.

In mid-2019, Le Duff decided to re-brand Mimi’s Cafe as Mimi’s Bistro & Bakery. The chain had shrunk back down to 77 locations by then. And today, as mentioned above, they are down to 48 locations.

The Le Duff America website mentions the purchase of Mimi’s Cafe in 2013 but otherwise, there is no mention of Mimi’s even in the listing of their brands. The trend does not appear to a friend to Mimi’s Bistro & Bakery but let’s hope for the best.

Mimi’s the night of the day it closed.

Mai Thai Kitchen is Coming Soon to Newbury Park (NOW OPEN)

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UPDATE: Mai Thai Kitchen opened in May 2022. maithaikitchennewburypark.com

Mai Thai Kitchen is "coming soon" to the space formerly occupied by Tasty Shanghai Chinese Restaurant at 2397 Michael Drive in Newbury Park (near Stella's and Judy's Donuts). After they open, I’d like to order a Mai Thai Mai Tai in my tie. Now that would something.

Stay tuned. No other info at this point.

Rose's Garden Bar in Calabasas Now Open

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UPDATE: Rose’s Garden Bar opened in November 2022. Their menu includes salads, pizzas made with homemade dough (gluten-free is available), pastas, entrees such as Pan Roasted Salmon, Truffle Wagyu Burger and Braised Beef Short Rib, desserts and more. They also have a dog menu. www.rosesgardenbar.com

Rose's Garden Bar is opening in January 2022 (according to a post on their Instagram page) at The Summit at Calabasas, 26787 Agoura Road (at Lost Hills Road).

Updates at rosesgardenbar.com

King and Queen Cantina Coming Soon to The Collection at RiverPark (NOW OPEN) (Closed in 2025)

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UPDATE: Now open as of December 8, 2022. And, wallah, closed in Fall 2025.

King and Queen Cantina is coming soon to The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard at the corner of Town Center Drive and Seaglass Way (across from REI).

King and Queen Cantina is a “modern Mexican cuisine eatery with a special twist” according to its Facebook page description, with locations in San Diego, Ensenada, Santa Monica and coming soon to West Hollywood, La Paz and New York (as well as this location).

Learn more at kingandqueencantina.com.