Local Buzz covers new businesses, restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
Local Buzz covers new restaurants, closures, local politics, goings on around town and other buzzworthy items in the Conejo Valley and Greater Ventura County. Have a lead? Contact us. Click here for an archive of Local Buzz postings.
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UPDATE: Arby’s Thousand Oaks indicates it is permanently closed. Building is currently for lease.
There is a commercial project application pending with the City of Thousand Oaks for the owners of Arby's to demolish and reconstruct the Thousand Oaks location at 1140 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. No info on timing.
One might anticipate the new location will have a drive-thru. Stay tuned.
Rhineland Deli has reopened at its new home in the Oak Leaf Square, 1817 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, near Winner's Pizza. Time to eat!
In case you missed it, Decker Kitchen moved to a new, much larger location in the Paseo Market Place at 3731 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks in February. It was previously located in the County Line Shopping Center in Westlake Village (since opening in 2018).
Decker is a popular "farm to table" eatery serving a variety of entrees, pizzas and salads. Its new space was previously occupied by Petra Mediterranean Cuisine (2015 to 2019) and before that, Fiamme Restaurant.
UPDATE: They have since closed.
Habanero Mexican Grill at the Oakbrook Center in Thousand Oaks (Avenida de los Arboles and Erbes Road) has reopened as Habanero Tacos & Fries.
There is a new menu at www.habanerotacos.com that features tacos, quesadillas, burritos, tortas, nachos, fries, ramen noodles and more.
The original Habanero Mexican Grill opened at the Walmart center in Newbury Park in February 2017 and is still open. This 2nd location opened in March 2018.
Rhineland Deli will soon be relocating a block away to the Oak Leaf Square, 1817 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, near Winner's Pizza. I'm told they will be transitioning out of their current location in about a week and will target a mid-February reopening date at the new location. So you may want to stop by soon to get your fix of delicious German-style sandwiches before they temporarily close.
I’m also told, but have not confirmed, that they will be under new ownership.
They have a Facebook that’s not particularly active at www.facebook.com/RhinelandDeli.
The new drive-thru Starbucks at 925 South Westlake Boulevard is now open. Cisco's was the previous occupant of this address, before closing in February 2018. Also new here are the NU Med Spa and First Bank.
In a trend we’ve been seeing since 2013, this drive-thru Starbucks opened and a nearby Starbucks that was not a drive-thru closed. In this case, the long-time store between Sharky’s and Yogurtland at the southwest corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Boulevards closed.
The Starbucks at The Village at Newbury Park relocated across the parking lot to a new drive-thru location in January 2013.
The drive-thru Starbucks at the corner of Thousand Oaks Blvd and Rancho Road opened in March 2013. This was a new Starbucks, not a “replacement” Starbucks.
The drive-thru Starbucks at Janss Marketplace (where Hooters formerly resided) opened in January 2021, replacing the long-time Starbucks a block away.
The drive-thru Starbucks at the southwest corner of Thousand Oaks Blvd and Auto Mall drive opened in February 2018.
It’s always fun and a bit predictable what the response will be when we post update about a new Starbucks opening. About 50% of the comments are anti-Starbucks and the other half are either half are happy about it or ambivalent. One thing’s for sure, Starbucks never seems lacking for customers.
UPDATE: After long last, Patron Westlake Village opened in May 2022.
Patron Mexican Bar & Grill looks to be opening a new location at 3709 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd, which is the address of Al Mulino Italian Restaurant. I confirmed with Patron that they do plan to open this new location by sometime later this year.
Al Mulino originally opened in July 2015. Patron has locations in Newbury Park and Camarillo.
Today, the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page hosted its 36th day in a row of daily gift card drawings at local eateries. We’ve been raising funds from local residents and businesses and using these funds to purchase gift cards and gift certificates. In turn, we’ve been giving free publicity in the form of a drawing each day, rewarding one lucky participant the gift card. It’s been a lot of fun and we plan to continue these drawings as long as we continue to receive donations.
Donations can be made via credit card at bit.ly/CVGFund or via PayPal at paypal.me/ConejoValleyGuide.
(We’ve covered quite a number of eateries so far, including Country Harvest, Grabbagreen, Little Calf Creamery, Prawn and Basil, Parma Pizza, P&L Burger, El Sancho Loco, Hatch Cafe, Coaches Ice Cream, Tifa Chocolate & Gelato, Made in Italy, Pedals & Pints, Toppers Pizza, The Latigo Kid, Vegan Thyme, Thousand Oaks Fish & Chips, Five 07 Coffee Bar, Mouthful Eatery, Los Agaves, Side Street Cafe, Twisted Oak Tavern, Joi Cafe, Cafe Sapientia, Jack’s Donuts, Tabu Shabu, Holdren’s Steak House, Chocolatine, Q Sushi, Newberry Candy, Snapper Jacks, Novo Cafe, D’Amore’s Pizza, Pacific Fresh Grill, Bandits BBQ, Carrara Pastries, Historia Bakery, Boney Mountain Pizza Co., Los Dos Amigos and Urbane Cafe.)
Tom Holt opened the first Urbane Cafe in 2003 in Ventura and this popular fast casual eatery has since grown to 19 locations. Urbane Cafe Thousand Oaks opened in April 2015. There are also local locations in Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Simi Valley and Oxnard. Their menu includes freshly made, sandwiches, salads, bowls and soups. Their freshly-baked focaccia bread is a standout! Learn more at urbanecafe.com.
Here the Urbane Cafe menu items that received the most attention from CVG fans:
Cranberry Brie Sandwich received quite a bit of love!
Lots of support for the Farmers Market Salad
Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich sounded good to many
Meat lovers would like to sink their teeth into the Chimchurri Steak Sandwich
Pesto and Sundried Tomato sandwich is loved by many
The Santa Maria BBQ Sandwich has a lot of supporters
The So Cal Sandwich is quite popular
The Californian Sandwich - very popular with our vegetarian friends
Other items receiving mentions include Cilantro Chicken Salad, Cilantro Torta, UC Banh Mi, Turkey Club Sandwich, the Ahi Salad (a favorite of mine, along with the Cranberry Brie), Bella Portobello Sandwich, Protein Salad, Fiesta Bowl and others.
Jessica remarked “GET THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Your life will never be the same.” Others echoed her sentiment. Keep that in mind as you perhaps go on a run to pre-burn some calories!
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
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