Sign on Front Door of Brats Brothers Newbury Park Brings Sadness, Frustration

Update 5/21/14: Recently someone asked "will the newbury park store be opening again?" on the Brats Brothers Facebook page. Brats Brothers' response was "Unfortunately it won't be. We're definitely not happy about this, but the decision is out of our control. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience!"

Brats Brothers opened its Newbury Park location in December 2012 with it unique combination of German fare, atmosphere and entertainment, with beer, gourmet sausages of all types, spaetzle, wiener schnitzel and other fare. This morning the following sign was on the front door.

I'm a positive thinker by nature and when I read this sign my initial inclination is to believe that Brats Brothers Newbury Park is closed "until further notice" or until some future point in time that they decide to re-open. On the other hand, many CVG Facebook followers don't show such surprise and sadness: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! - Whaaaaat?????? - I'm super bummed. - Oh this blows! - I'm shocked!! - No!!!! - Nnnnnooo!!! My favorite place!!!

Brats Brothers opened its first restaurant in Sherman Oaks in 2007. According to its website, the restaurant recently changed ownership and is in process of renewing their liquor license at that location. However, they continue to be open for food service.

No mention about the future of the Newbury Park location, however, on the Brats Brothers website, Facebook page or Twitter account. And there is no answer on the phone. So let's just keep our fingers crossed that we see something positive happen here in the future. Stay tuned.

Camarillo International Supermarket & Restaurant Recently Closed Its Doors

The Camarillo International Supermarket & Restaurant that had been located at 1775 E. Daily Drive in the Camarillo Plaza recently closed its doors. This business originally opened in 2012 in the former Lazertag Extreme facility that closed its doors in March 2012 and subsequently changed ownership and relocated to the Wood Ranch section of Simi Valley.

Sources indicate the bankrupt 74,000 sq ft Camarillo Plaza was sold to undisclosed buyers late last year. So let us see what the next occupant will be. There are several vacant spots in this plaza that is also home to the original Brendan's Pub, Presto Pasta, The Habit, Revolution Surf, Cafe India, Baja Fresh, Dougherty Laser Vision and other businesses.

The Camarillo International Supermarket website is no longer functional, the Facebook page does not exist and the phone number is shut off.

Angel Cafe Pizza & Pasta in Agoura Hills is Closed For Business

CVG Facebook follower Este K informed us of the bad news, that Angel Cafe Pizza & Pasta at the corner of Kanan Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Agoura Hills recently closed its doors at the end of an eight year lease. About four months ago, The Alamo Bar & Grill closed in the same shopping center (and The Latigo Kid is anticipated to move to that location in the next month or so). Best of luck to the former employees of Angel Cafe in quickly finding new jobs. I suspect this prime Agoura Hills spot will not be vacant for long.

Tizzy Yogurt Cafe Recently Opened in Thousand Oaks

UPDATE Dec 2014: Tizzy has announced that it has closed both of its locations - Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks :(

After posting an update about eateries that have opened and closed during the last half of 2013, Danielle M told us about Tizzy Yogurt Cafe at 1404 N. Moorpark Road, Thousand Oaks at what used to be Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt. Tizzy opened in the mid-December time frame.

According to the Tizzy Yogurt Cafe Facebook page, the previous owners left the Golden Spoon franchise* and under the same management, changed the decor, menu and experience to become a cafe that serves shakes, smoothies, homemade waffles, homemade oatmeal and illy expresso and cafe, as well as frozen yogurt.

More information at www.facebook.com/pages/Tizzy-Yogurt-Cafe/616860551710287.

In related news, the Simi Valley Golden Spoon has also been changed over to become a Tizzy Yogurt Cafe. No website or Facebook as of yet but their phone number is 805.579.1133. They open around lunchtime.

* This was the last Golden Spoon location in the Conejo Valley. Newbury Park and Agoura locations closed in January 2013. The other Thousand Oaks location closed in summer 2013.

N'Awlinz Bistro Closes Its Doors in Newbury Park to Focus on New Oxnard Location

December 21, 2013 was N'Awlinz Bistro's last day of operation at its Newbury Park location that originally opened in February 2012. It opened its beautiful new Downtown Oxnard Centennial Plaza location in September. The Newbury Park location will remain available for catering for the time being....so if you do cater a party using N'Awlinz Bistro, be sure to INVITE ME! :)

DISH Restaurant Thousand Oaks Closed Its Doors on November 14th

I was one of the first customers to dine at DISH Restaurant Thousand Oaks on its opening day, September 26, 2012. Today I heard from CVG Facebook follower Julie B that DISH Thousand Oaks closed its doors, as evidenced by the sign on the front door shown above. This was confirmed with a phone call to the original DISH location in La Canada.

This is too bad because it's not every day that we get a non-chain restaurant in the Conejo Valley, like DISH's predecessor in its space in the Janss Marketplace, TGI Fridays. I dined at DISH several times over the last 14 months had generally had a decent experience with their food. Their service seemed to need a little help in my opinion, which generally appears to be shared by other CVG Facebook followers.

OK, let's see what's next for this nice corner space at Janss.

In other news, long-time Agoura Hills bagelry, Bruegger's Bagels on Kanan Road recently closed too.

Ori Sushi Closed Oct 5; Blue Wasabi & Asian Bistro Coming Soon to Thousand Oaks

Ori Sushi at 74 N. Skyline Drive in Thousand Oaks closed its doors on October 5th. Ori Sushi had operated at this slightly off the beaten path location just north of Thousand Oaks Boulevard where Jiffy Lube and Lassen's Health Foods operate since around 2005.

But the positive news is that Blue Wasabi Sushi & Asian Bistro (updated) subsequently opened at this location in 2014. More at bluewasabi-ca.com.

Update: Blue Wasabi subsequently closed and the newest restaurant here that opened in January 2015 is Streets by Bistro Orient.

*Lassen's subsequently moved to The Lakes at Thousand Oaks in March 2015.

El Pollo Loco in Oak Park is Closed and Will Become a Drive-Thru Starbucks

Update 11/2/13: The new Drive-Thru Starbucks in Oak Park is open. And there's already a line...

Original Post 9/28/13:

So long, El Pollo Loco of Oak Park

The El Pollo Loco located at 688 Lindero Canyon Road in Oak Park, adjacent to kid-favorite Bright Child (Bright Child subsequently closed its doors 1/20/14), has been closed to make way for a new drive-through Starbucks location. Following a trend set in Newbury Park early this year, the drive-through Starbucks will open and the nearby Starbucks at 706 Lindero Canyon Road will be closing at that time. According to employees at Starbucks, they anticipate a grand opening date of around October 16th. So get your engines revved up and ready...

The Alamo Agoura Hills Announced it Closed for Business on September 24th

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Follower Lauren R. let us know that the Agoura Hills location of The Alamo Bar & Grill is closed. This was confirmed on The Alamo's Facebook page with the following post on September 24th. But the good news is that the Newbury Park location is still in business and has been since 1976.

To All the Agoura Hills Alamo Guests,

A sincere thank you to all the patrons who passed thru our doors. We are sad to announce The Alamo Agoura Hills is closed for business. It was a true pleasure to be of service. We will miss all our guests. The schools and charities we supported will be missed and we hope you can find other local businesses to support you as well as you have supported the Alamo. Although we were in business almost 8 years it seems longer because of the friends we all made. If you are in the mood for more Alamo or in the area of Newbury Park, please stop in and say hi. It would be a great pleasure to serve you again.

Sincerely,
All Alamo staff, management and ownership.

www.facebook.com/TheAlamoNewburyPark
(805) 498-3115

www.thealamobarandgrill.com