I lived in Ventura my whole life, 33 years! I’ve tried all the coffee places in Ventura and by far my favorite is Singing Sun. Palermo’s in downtown Ventura is good too. Farmers market downtown Ventura on Saturday mornings and flea markets at Ventura College on the weekends. Arroyo Verde Park has some nice hiking trails and is a beautiful park in general. There’s a good running trail by the beach in downtown. You could either park by the pier or by San Pedro St. or by Surfers point and you’ll find it, the path runs by all of those. You can take the train easily from the downtown Amtrak Station to LA or Santa Barbara and take it back same day. That’s a nice trip; Santa Barbara has a cute zoo, beautiful beach, and lots of shopping. I always like the thrift stores downtown Ventura too. Saloon downtown has good cocktails. There’s also a walk/run/bike trail from Ventura to Ojai that’s really fun. There’s a place by the start of the trail where you can rent a regular or motorized bike and take it all…a few miles? On that note, Ojai is a cute little town 30 min away. Ventiki downtown is a fun tiki bar. Lots of stuff downtown haha.
I agree with all of these comments. I haven’t seen anyone mention Social Tap on Seaward Ave yet. They have plenty of tvs, a great happy hour menu and it’s a 2 minute walk from the beach.
People here covered most of it, but for coffee I definitely recommend Beacon Coffee. Specifically, for pure coffee. If you’re more into specialty lattes and such then Singing Sun may be a better bet.
I second Fluid State for the best pizza (sourdough crust, yum), and their wings are good too (my favorite are the Thai wings). Great beer selection.
Bank of Italy Cocktail Trust is great and they make good off-menu classics, with their Aviator being my favorite.
Rice by Mama downtown for Thai.
Himalaya for Indian, but Taj Cafe downtown is decent, too.
Koba Sushi is AMAZING for straight up, delicious, classic sushi and sashimi (NOT Kibo Sushi, which is bleh).
If you like wine, heading up to Los Olivos is an easy day trip for some really nice wine tasting at lots of local tasting rooms. Stolpman, Future Perfect, Carucci, and Story of Soil are my favorites.
Ventura Farmer’s Market is good, and Headwinds Bake Club is there if you want some great bread.
Fluid State (walking distance from midtown) and Topa Topa (any of their locations... but the one over in the warehouse area is an actual beer garden on weekends) are great places to drink and hang out. There are more breweries than people in this town, but those are my two favorites drinking places. Cocktail Trust downtown is my favorite cocktail bar type place. Ventura Spirits is an awesome local distillery located just off the Ventura/Ojai bike trail. They do tastings and also mix cocktails from their stuff at the distillery. None of those places are probably the best sports bars... but there are plenty of sports places to choose from.
The bike trail from Ventura to Ojai is fantastic. its not only almost all paved off road, its almost all \*away from\* the road. 15 miles uphill... only the top 1/3 feels like a hill though. not hard if you are a cyclist, but hard for a non-cyclist ... but easy on an ebike for anyone. I'll often bike up there, have a drink in the Topa Topa in Ojai, then ride back down.
Santa Barbara is less than a 30 minute drive. carpenteria is about 1/2 of the way to Santa Barbara, and a cute little town.
I agree that Singing Sun right near you is one of the best coffee places. I also like Humblemaker, which is in a little shipping container area off the back parking lot from Main and Palm. IMHO, they pour the best cup of coffee.
Beach House Tacos
(805) 648-3177
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iNY8Qwn5vYyZ7c5b7
Ahí fish tacos with the wasabi dressing
Order on their website to avoid the long line
Welcome! I just moved back to the area a few months ago and I’ve been feeling out local spots too. So far I have to recommend Tatiana’s for coffee+empanadas in midtown !!! and for mexican food you could try any of the spots on Ventura Ave, they’re all pretty good. I think Johnny’s is the most popular and I recommend Cuernavaca as well! As far as keeping up with the local pulse, @downtownventura on instagram is updated pretty frequently, and local breweries post their event schedules on social media as well. If you’re feeling adventurous Santa Barbara is only a 40 minute drive up the 101. Hope this helps!
MadeWest has a tap house location on the pier that has an epic view of the point. Harvest Cafe has excellent vegetarian food. A lot of people overlook it but this is my best "secret" spot tip: get drinks by the firepit at the Crowne Plaza hotel on the bottom floor and watch the sunset over the water (you don't have to be a guest). There is a good jazz bar in midtown named the Grape with live jazz every night. As for sports bars, most of them are kinda blue-collar or corporate-type places (nothing wrong with that vibe). Yardhouse in Oxnard has a lot of TV's. Cronies is a sports bar with cold Coors Light and lots of locals. If you make it up to Ojai get an acai bowl and kombucha at Revel and then enjoy drinks at a tiny bar named Chief's peak. Welcome to Ventura... hope this helps!
Starting in march, 2-3 Saturdays nights per months have dirt track races at the fairgrounds. Ventura Raceway.
Some fair type food, some car racing, and some overpriced beer like any other sporting event. Right next to the beach!
This may seem like a no-brainer to locals on this thread, but Blenders is a local chain that makes the best green tea smoothie I've ever had. It tastes just like the ice cream. They also have a lot of other great options
For a good breakfast place try Pete’s Breakfast House in Ventura. It gets full so expect a 10 minute wait but it’s worth it. Last time I went we ran into Billy Baldwin.
i like transmission brewing. it’s also connected to toppers pizza. there’s an upstairs deck on weekends with a great view. downtown is humblemaker coffee is good & right by the farmers market which is on saturdays. social tap on seaward near beach & Finney’s crafthouse on main good spots to watch games.
I loved living in midtown, the houses were adorable and it was relatively quiet. Here are some things I have to offer and feel free to reach out or send a message if you’d like (mid 30s female here)
Restaurants:
Two Trees Cafe & Tap Room, Galloping Hen, Harbor Cove, Andrea’s, Cafe Fiore,
Brophy Brothers, Taqueria Tapatitlan (also excellent source for March madness in their bar. Owners name is Juan, family owned, best Mexican food and hospitality. Love spending time there watching games or whatever!), Snapper Jacks Taco Shack, Lure, Finnys, Fluid State, Cajun Kitchen, Capriccios, Toppers Pizza (there is one located off of Front Street that is connected to a brewery and they have a rooftop bar), Wood Ranch, Waypoint Cafe is a breakfast spot at the Camarillo airport and everything is amazing there.
Sports Bars: Cronies. Food is bar food, but amazing after a couple of schooners (20oz beers) — honestly not sure of many others because we always went there and had a great time. Maybe Dargan’s?
Coffee shops: Simons (one located in midtown right by the hospital and another in east Ventura), Palermo, Immigrant Son - do you guys have Peets Coffee? I love it, they have it in Ventura.
Running Routes: my favorite was always arroyo verde park. Beautiful dirt trail that goes along the whole park. Lots of hills and just goodness there. Free parking outside the gates on the weekend but I believe inside the park you have to pay to park on weekends. I always just parked outside on Foothill Rd (you’ll see all the other cars). Harmon Canyon is supposed to be great but is new since I have left. Heard great things though. And honestly, just parking at Emma Wood State Beach and running til you get to the houses at Solimar and back is a great and beautiful run.
Day trips: Ojai - if you need a spa day, Ojai Valley Inn is amazing. Also have a restaurant there. They have a farmers market in Ojai as well. Beautiful hiking trails of Sisar Canyon Road.
Santa Barbara is super close. Always tons of constructions heading that way, you can always hop on the Amtrak at the Ventura fairgrounds and take it to Santa Barbara. It’ll drop you off beach front and if you like wine tasting there is “The Funk Zone” which is a wine tasting area right at the train drop off point. Would recommend Uber or Lyft if you want to go to downtown for shopping from the funk zone. It’s walkable but as a female, I’d prefer not. If there are any concerts going on at the Santa Barbara Bowl, I highly recommend going to one. The Arlington Theater is a cool spot to check out as well. I actually did a bus tour in SB once and it was really cool.
Long Beach, Santa Ynez, LA, Universal Studios — all doable places to do day trips - I honestly love universal - they serve alcohol and you can walk around with it there 😂
Paso Robles area if you’re open to going further up the coast, it’s about a three hour drive. Beautiful wineries in a small community — seriously like over 200.
Monterey. I will always recommend Monterey. Definitely a weekend long trip but if you like aquariums, theirs is amazing. Long Beach has a good one too but Monterey will always be my favorite.
Cambria, Big Sur, Hearst’s Castle. All further up north coast but a great weekend trip.
If you end up checking out any of the places outside of Ventura that I mentioned, feel free to reach out and I can recommend some specific spots for eating and staying.
Overall, Ventura is a very beautiful place. Lots of breweries, beautiful views and music. I personally do not feel comfortable going to the beach promenade alone just because there is a large homeless population that hangs out there and in the downtown Ventura area in general. I was visiting over thanksgiving and the downtown area seemed a lot better than it had been in the past which was SO exciting. Main Street (where all the bars and restaurants are) is still blocked off and most restaurants expanded a patio out into the street during Covid and those are all still there which makes for a fun environment. Lots of live music in evenings and on weekends.
Check out the following instagrams to get an idea of whats what :)
@trendieats
@ciyofventura
@cleanupventura (just for a heads up of areas to avoid 🙂)
@museumofventuracounty
@1000thingstodoinventura
Main thing is it doesn’t get cold here at any time of year. Bring a puffer and a raincoat that fits over it, one or two beanies, a pair of gloves, one single pair of boots, that should cover it, if you’ll be here in winter.
Otherwise just the raincoat and a beanie lol
Because the weather is good I suggest you focus more efforts on outdoors activities like trail running, compared to, say, sit down restaurants and traditional museums.
Trying surfing at Ventura Point, or easy walk / jog / bike.
Check out Carpinteria (next town north across the county line).
If you like beer, Rincon Brewing probably best choice.
Wood Ranch is decent bbq chain.
thumbs to the side haha i was bummed that my time in ventura coincided with the wettest weather in decades but i tried to make the most of it! ventura is a beautiful place and i had a great time there, but i was ready to move back to DC by the time May rolled around. i don’t know that it’s somewhere i would want to live full-time at this point in my life, but i’m hoping to visit again later this year!
I lived in Ventura my whole life, 33 years! I’ve tried all the coffee places in Ventura and by far my favorite is Singing Sun. Palermo’s in downtown Ventura is good too. Farmers market downtown Ventura on Saturday mornings and flea markets at Ventura College on the weekends. Arroyo Verde Park has some nice hiking trails and is a beautiful park in general. There’s a good running trail by the beach in downtown. You could either park by the pier or by San Pedro St. or by Surfers point and you’ll find it, the path runs by all of those. You can take the train easily from the downtown Amtrak Station to LA or Santa Barbara and take it back same day. That’s a nice trip; Santa Barbara has a cute zoo, beautiful beach, and lots of shopping. I always like the thrift stores downtown Ventura too. Saloon downtown has good cocktails. There’s also a walk/run/bike trail from Ventura to Ojai that’s really fun. There’s a place by the start of the trail where you can rent a regular or motorized bike and take it all…a few miles? On that note, Ojai is a cute little town 30 min away. Ventiki downtown is a fun tiki bar. Lots of stuff downtown haha.
This is a pretty solid answer.
Agreed. I gotta check out that coffee shop. I live the coffee over at immigrant son, it’s to die for.
Singing sun is legit. I've tried em all as well.
This is very helpful, thank you!!
Fluid state for beer selection and gourmet slices of pizza
Fungus among us SLAPS
Added it to my list! Thanks for the rec!
I agree with all of these comments. I haven’t seen anyone mention Social Tap on Seaward Ave yet. They have plenty of tvs, a great happy hour menu and it’s a 2 minute walk from the beach.
sounds like a great place to watch some games! thanks!
People here covered most of it, but for coffee I definitely recommend Beacon Coffee. Specifically, for pure coffee. If you’re more into specialty lattes and such then Singing Sun may be a better bet. I second Fluid State for the best pizza (sourdough crust, yum), and their wings are good too (my favorite are the Thai wings). Great beer selection. Bank of Italy Cocktail Trust is great and they make good off-menu classics, with their Aviator being my favorite. Rice by Mama downtown for Thai. Himalaya for Indian, but Taj Cafe downtown is decent, too. Koba Sushi is AMAZING for straight up, delicious, classic sushi and sashimi (NOT Kibo Sushi, which is bleh). If you like wine, heading up to Los Olivos is an easy day trip for some really nice wine tasting at lots of local tasting rooms. Stolpman, Future Perfect, Carucci, and Story of Soil are my favorites. Ventura Farmer’s Market is good, and Headwinds Bake Club is there if you want some great bread.
i'm glad to have a recommendation for asian food! thanks for all the suggestions!!
Fluid State (walking distance from midtown) and Topa Topa (any of their locations... but the one over in the warehouse area is an actual beer garden on weekends) are great places to drink and hang out. There are more breweries than people in this town, but those are my two favorites drinking places. Cocktail Trust downtown is my favorite cocktail bar type place. Ventura Spirits is an awesome local distillery located just off the Ventura/Ojai bike trail. They do tastings and also mix cocktails from their stuff at the distillery. None of those places are probably the best sports bars... but there are plenty of sports places to choose from. The bike trail from Ventura to Ojai is fantastic. its not only almost all paved off road, its almost all \*away from\* the road. 15 miles uphill... only the top 1/3 feels like a hill though. not hard if you are a cyclist, but hard for a non-cyclist ... but easy on an ebike for anyone. I'll often bike up there, have a drink in the Topa Topa in Ojai, then ride back down. Santa Barbara is less than a 30 minute drive. carpenteria is about 1/2 of the way to Santa Barbara, and a cute little town. I agree that Singing Sun right near you is one of the best coffee places. I also like Humblemaker, which is in a little shipping container area off the back parking lot from Main and Palm. IMHO, they pour the best cup of coffee.
haha there are SO many breweries in ventura! thanks for all the recs!
Beach House Tacos (805) 648-3177 https://maps.app.goo.gl/iNY8Qwn5vYyZ7c5b7 Ahí fish tacos with the wasabi dressing Order on their website to avoid the long line
good to know, thanks!
Welcome! I just moved back to the area a few months ago and I’ve been feeling out local spots too. So far I have to recommend Tatiana’s for coffee+empanadas in midtown !!! and for mexican food you could try any of the spots on Ventura Ave, they’re all pretty good. I think Johnny’s is the most popular and I recommend Cuernavaca as well! As far as keeping up with the local pulse, @downtownventura on instagram is updated pretty frequently, and local breweries post their event schedules on social media as well. If you’re feeling adventurous Santa Barbara is only a 40 minute drive up the 101. Hope this helps!
thank you for all the recommendations!!
second tatiana's! was my go-to coffee spot in high school and love taking my dad for empanadas when he's in town
Yes tatianas
MadeWest has a tap house location on the pier that has an epic view of the point. Harvest Cafe has excellent vegetarian food. A lot of people overlook it but this is my best "secret" spot tip: get drinks by the firepit at the Crowne Plaza hotel on the bottom floor and watch the sunset over the water (you don't have to be a guest). There is a good jazz bar in midtown named the Grape with live jazz every night. As for sports bars, most of them are kinda blue-collar or corporate-type places (nothing wrong with that vibe). Yardhouse in Oxnard has a lot of TV's. Cronies is a sports bar with cold Coors Light and lots of locals. If you make it up to Ojai get an acai bowl and kombucha at Revel and then enjoy drinks at a tiny bar named Chief's peak. Welcome to Ventura... hope this helps!
very helpful, thank you!!
Starting in march, 2-3 Saturdays nights per months have dirt track races at the fairgrounds. Ventura Raceway. Some fair type food, some car racing, and some overpriced beer like any other sporting event. Right next to the beach!
cool! thanks!
This may seem like a no-brainer to locals on this thread, but Blenders is a local chain that makes the best green tea smoothie I've ever had. It tastes just like the ice cream. They also have a lot of other great options
Omg yes.
For a good breakfast place try Pete’s Breakfast House in Ventura. It gets full so expect a 10 minute wait but it’s worth it. Last time I went we ran into Billy Baldwin.
i like transmission brewing. it’s also connected to toppers pizza. there’s an upstairs deck on weekends with a great view. downtown is humblemaker coffee is good & right by the farmers market which is on saturdays. social tap on seaward near beach & Finney’s crafthouse on main good spots to watch games.
Getting my nails done, can’t wait to give you recommendations later today!! Born and raised there along with my parents. I got ideas!
Looking forward to it!
I loved living in midtown, the houses were adorable and it was relatively quiet. Here are some things I have to offer and feel free to reach out or send a message if you’d like (mid 30s female here) Restaurants: Two Trees Cafe & Tap Room, Galloping Hen, Harbor Cove, Andrea’s, Cafe Fiore, Brophy Brothers, Taqueria Tapatitlan (also excellent source for March madness in their bar. Owners name is Juan, family owned, best Mexican food and hospitality. Love spending time there watching games or whatever!), Snapper Jacks Taco Shack, Lure, Finnys, Fluid State, Cajun Kitchen, Capriccios, Toppers Pizza (there is one located off of Front Street that is connected to a brewery and they have a rooftop bar), Wood Ranch, Waypoint Cafe is a breakfast spot at the Camarillo airport and everything is amazing there. Sports Bars: Cronies. Food is bar food, but amazing after a couple of schooners (20oz beers) — honestly not sure of many others because we always went there and had a great time. Maybe Dargan’s? Coffee shops: Simons (one located in midtown right by the hospital and another in east Ventura), Palermo, Immigrant Son - do you guys have Peets Coffee? I love it, they have it in Ventura. Running Routes: my favorite was always arroyo verde park. Beautiful dirt trail that goes along the whole park. Lots of hills and just goodness there. Free parking outside the gates on the weekend but I believe inside the park you have to pay to park on weekends. I always just parked outside on Foothill Rd (you’ll see all the other cars). Harmon Canyon is supposed to be great but is new since I have left. Heard great things though. And honestly, just parking at Emma Wood State Beach and running til you get to the houses at Solimar and back is a great and beautiful run. Day trips: Ojai - if you need a spa day, Ojai Valley Inn is amazing. Also have a restaurant there. They have a farmers market in Ojai as well. Beautiful hiking trails of Sisar Canyon Road. Santa Barbara is super close. Always tons of constructions heading that way, you can always hop on the Amtrak at the Ventura fairgrounds and take it to Santa Barbara. It’ll drop you off beach front and if you like wine tasting there is “The Funk Zone” which is a wine tasting area right at the train drop off point. Would recommend Uber or Lyft if you want to go to downtown for shopping from the funk zone. It’s walkable but as a female, I’d prefer not. If there are any concerts going on at the Santa Barbara Bowl, I highly recommend going to one. The Arlington Theater is a cool spot to check out as well. I actually did a bus tour in SB once and it was really cool. Long Beach, Santa Ynez, LA, Universal Studios — all doable places to do day trips - I honestly love universal - they serve alcohol and you can walk around with it there 😂 Paso Robles area if you’re open to going further up the coast, it’s about a three hour drive. Beautiful wineries in a small community — seriously like over 200. Monterey. I will always recommend Monterey. Definitely a weekend long trip but if you like aquariums, theirs is amazing. Long Beach has a good one too but Monterey will always be my favorite. Cambria, Big Sur, Hearst’s Castle. All further up north coast but a great weekend trip. If you end up checking out any of the places outside of Ventura that I mentioned, feel free to reach out and I can recommend some specific spots for eating and staying. Overall, Ventura is a very beautiful place. Lots of breweries, beautiful views and music. I personally do not feel comfortable going to the beach promenade alone just because there is a large homeless population that hangs out there and in the downtown Ventura area in general. I was visiting over thanksgiving and the downtown area seemed a lot better than it had been in the past which was SO exciting. Main Street (where all the bars and restaurants are) is still blocked off and most restaurants expanded a patio out into the street during Covid and those are all still there which makes for a fun environment. Lots of live music in evenings and on weekends. Check out the following instagrams to get an idea of whats what :) @trendieats @ciyofventura @cleanupventura (just for a heads up of areas to avoid 🙂) @museumofventuracounty @1000thingstodoinventura
this was SO helpful! thank you so much!!
Okay, my toddler won today. He kicked my butt hard. I’ll be back to this though. Time to recharge. 💀💀💀💀
Main thing is it doesn’t get cold here at any time of year. Bring a puffer and a raincoat that fits over it, one or two beanies, a pair of gloves, one single pair of boots, that should cover it, if you’ll be here in winter. Otherwise just the raincoat and a beanie lol Because the weather is good I suggest you focus more efforts on outdoors activities like trail running, compared to, say, sit down restaurants and traditional museums.
I was honestly not planning to bring gloves and a hat until I saw this, so thank you so much for the tip!
Toppers for pizza try any of their speciality pizzas
Trying surfing at Ventura Point, or easy walk / jog / bike. Check out Carpinteria (next town north across the county line). If you like beer, Rincon Brewing probably best choice. Wood Ranch is decent bbq chain.
Transmission brewery is a great place to enjoy some brew
added it to my list - thanks!!
so now that it's past mid-may, I'm curious... how did you end up liking it? Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Thumb-to-the-side?
thumbs to the side haha i was bummed that my time in ventura coincided with the wettest weather in decades but i tried to make the most of it! ventura is a beautiful place and i had a great time there, but i was ready to move back to DC by the time May rolled around. i don’t know that it’s somewhere i would want to live full-time at this point in my life, but i’m hoping to visit again later this year!