5th Annual Oxnard Tamale Festival Announces Top Tamales in 2012

The 5th Annual Oxnard Tamale Festival took place on a wet Saturday, December 1, 2012. This year's overall, and now two-time winner is BG's Cafe, 428 South A Street, Oxnard. If you're looking for a great tamale, BG's apparently is where it's at! Visit their website at www.bgscafe.com or call 805.487.0700. They are open 7 days a week.

BG's Cafe has been in business for over 40 years. Originally founded by Bill and Gloria Stuart (hmm, their initials are B and G, I wonder if that's a coincidence) in 1971 and was sold to Jose and Veronica Rodriguez in 2004, who have expanded the menu and added catering services.

Top 3 savory and sweet tamales at the event as determined by a panel of hungry judges:

Savory Tamale:

• First Place; Frias Catering of Oxnard
• Second Place; El Taco De Mexico of Ventura
• Third Place; Panaderia La Mexicana Bakery of Oxnard

Sweet Tamale:

• First Place; BG's Coffee Shop and Deli (aka BG's Cafe) of Downtown Oxnard
• Second Place; Sugarbeets Restaurant & Bar of Downtown Oxnard
• Third Place; Me Gusta Gourmet Tamales of Pacoima

This year's tamale tasting judges included: Hon. Steven Hintz, Ventura County Treasurer/Tax Collector, Catherine Hintz, Wife of Hon. Steven Hintz, Hon. Mark Lunn, Ventura County Clerk/Recorder,, Hon. Fred Bysshe, Ventura County Superior Court, Joe Mulrooney, Treasurer of Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association, John Ragan, ARC of Ventura County, Chef Gerard Turbush, Chef Paul Tavakoli, Nakita DiGuardi, Toni Valdez, Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters Ventura County, Chef Henry Patey of the Oxnard College Culinary Arts Program and Terrel Harrison, Director of Oxnard Police Activities League.

Stay tuned for next year's 6th Annual Oxnard Tamale Festival at www.oxnardtamalefest.com or by following their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oxnardtamalefestival.

Proceeds from the Oxnard Tamale Festival supports local non-profits and recreation projects that benefit local youth. Community grants have supplemented programs for at-risk youth, veterans, prevention of homelessness, cancer research, food pantries, recreation centers and mentally disabled individuals. Past recipients have included Oxnard City Corps, Oxnard Police Activities League, Food Share of Ventura County, ARC of Ventura County, Salvation Army, Boy Scouts Troop #228, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Santa Clara Church, American Cancer Society, and Oxnard College Veterans Club.

Great Harvest Bread Co. - Newbury Park

2/25/19: The owners of Great Harvest have announced they will be closing their doors on Saturday, March 2, 2019.

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

Presto Pasta is My Kids' Favorite Pasta Place

Hands down, Presto Pasta is my 4 and 6 year old boys' FAVORITE place to eat.  Literally they ASK to go there.  This may be hard to believe, with McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell and all the other fast food places offering up toys with their meals, but it's true!  And I'm very happy about it! Why?

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!

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! :>

Looks Like Ranch Hand BBQ is Relocating to Another Newbury Park Location

Since this original post on July 17th I've spoken with several people who say they can't live without their tri tip and ribs. They opened on September 1st. We've been there and my kids love it. Popular place already!

Ranch Hand BBQ currently is located at 3321-B Kimber Drive in Newbury Park. However, there's a brand spanking new Ranch Hand BBQ sign up next door to Tutti Frutti at 1015 Broadbeck Drive. Given these two locations are only 1.5 miles apart, one might presume that Ranch Hand BBQ will soon be moving to this new location.  I believe my wife and kids have eaten at Ranch Hand before and I heard no complaints. And that is all.

Visit http://ranch-hand-bbq.com/ or call 805.375.4252 to learn more about Ranch Hand BBQ.

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.

The New and Improved Waypoint Cafe at the Camarillo Airport

I don't write about a lot of restaurants, namely because the primary focus of Conejo Valley Guide is "events and activities" throughout Ventura County. But from time to time I find the motivation to share a special find, like the Waypoint Cafe in Camarillo.

The Waypoint Cafe was always a great place to eat. Good food adjacent to the Camarillo Airport landing strip. The close proximity to aircraft made this a fun dining choice from time to time. But about a year ago the Waypoint was remodeled and suddenly it has become a destination restaurant!

It had been 4 or 5 years since I was last there, and this place looked nothing like it used to, starting at the entrance that I hardly recognized.

Everything has been upgraded...the floors, booths, chairs, outdoor areas and decor. Very impressive! And the place was completely hopping at 11:45 a.m. on a Thursday. This shot is a bit blurry...but it provides the color scheme at least.

We were seated immediately and service was cheerful and attentive. We were near the window and here's what we were treated to outside.

Soon my iced tea came in this large, metal ice cream shake type glass. Kind of unique. Worked for me. The tea was good.

Then out came our food. my cohort had the french dip with fries that he said were notably good. My veggie burger wasn't the "best" that I've had but I did enjoy it. My sweet potato fries were delicious. And the large pickle slice, which I usually don't eat, was outstanding.

I don't hesitate recommending Waypoint Cafe as a fun local destination restaurant.  I caught a lot of people eating delicious looking breakfasts for lunch too. Open 7 days a week until 4 p.m. at 325 Durley Avenue. Visit www.thewaypointcafe.com or call 805.388.2535.