This place is one of the best restaurants in the 805! We went tonight for my Wife's birthday and…read morethe food and service were phenomenal!! Every single dish seemed to be well thought out and very tasty! Jon the manager was super thoughtful and friendly and even gave us a free pastry to take home. Simply amazing!!

The Dutchess is massive, with two rooms of seating and a quaint back patio. They're open from…read morebreakfast to dinner and as their website says: "This kitchen comes to life at 4am and doesn't shut down until 11:30pm." They do a soft close from 2-5 where they don't serve the food menu but offer drinks, coffee and pastries. We stopped in on the 4th of July and were seated right away. They also have a coffee and pastry counter if you want to grab something to-go. You do not want to miss out on the pastries, and the display sure catches your eye. Along with our main we split a morning bun which was flaky and just the right amount of sweet. As we were walking out I noticed some sandwiches that looked extra tasty as well. We kept it simple and split the Dutchess Breakfast Plate since we had quite a bit of eating planned for the day, but it was more than enough to satiate us alongside the pastry. It comes with these massive, crispy and spiced potatoes, big slabs of Niman Ranch bacon, tomato chutney, thick-cut sourdough toast and two eggs. At $22 this isn't cheap, but the quality is there and I would order this again just for those potatoes. The Burmese Fried Chicken Sando seemed to be the most popular dish and I was jealous as I saw it hitting other tables. I'll just have to come back!

The food here is exceptional and the service is superb. Attentive without hovering and everyone…read morewho works here is so welcoming and friendly - always with smiles on their faces. The ambience is clean and quaint with assorted pictures of local favorite Johnny Cash on the walls. I honestly question the 2 disatisfied reviews regarding customer service or the food being bland but, as you'll see from the overwhelming majority of reviews, this simply isn't the case :) Prices are beyond reasonable (especially for this area). My personal favorite are the Lemon Ricotta pancakes - so delicious!

I had a ride to take some hschool kids up to "the camp". I do this every year and I've seen this…read morecafe place but as time would have it I didn't stop for a neal. Today was different...and on the way home I stopped. Now it was later in the morning but I had breakfast on my mind. Once inside I saw the counter and there I sat. Coffee arrived a moment later and I was reading the menu. Simple and to the point, the carne asada omelet that sounds good, no potatoes fresh fruit please. It wasn't long and my breakfast arrived. Nothing fancy here Omelet and a bowl of fruit. The Omelet looked small at first but once I realized the amount of carne asada and I was sold. This bad boy was full of it asada that is and the best mix of different fruit I've seen in a long time My choice of bread was a biscuit with a dab of gravy. Gravy tasted like dry mix with a little help from the cook, good but not to memorable on parker house roll size and was "with" so..no complaint. I gobbled the breakfast and swore I'd stop in on my run to pick up the kids. We'll see. Needless to say this is a no nonsense cafe. This is a no fluff diner, the interior is quite stark, blank but I wasn't here for frills or the romance. The delicious carne asada Omelet made my stop worthwhile and certainly worthy of four star Later Foodguy-Martin

If you're looking for comfort food with a side of nostalgia, Bonnie Lu's Country Café is basically…read morea time machine disguised as a diner. Walking in feels like somebody hit play on a 1978 jukebox and never stopped in the best way possible. Between the down home atmosphere, the classic comfort food, and the steady soundtrack of 70s and 80s hits, I half expected to see my aunt serving meatloaf while debating disco vs. Fleetwood Mac. The service top notch! The vibe is pure small-town Americana. No fake trendy farmhouse aesthetic. No $22 avocado toast. Just good people, solid food, endless coffee refills, and music that makes you want to stay for "one more cup." If you grew up anywhere near a family diner, this place feels familiar the second you walk through the door.

This is not your typical classic diner! The food is all made from scratch. Our waitress said…read moreshe's been working at Bonnir Lu's for 10 years and still eats there. I ordered the Elvis Pancake breakfast and asked for their homemade strawberry jam! And the sausages were soooo good! My friend ordered Harmony's turkey sandwich with potatoe salad and they bake the turkey!!! And by the way our waitress was Harmony :-) Can't wait to come back and try some of the other items on menu.

The Farmer and the Cook -- Fresh Finds Off the Main Road…read more I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect walking in for the first time, but The Farmer and the Cook won me over pretty quickly. It's bright, clean, and has this easy organic warmth to it... the kind of place that feels like it was put together by people who actually care. Right off the main road, easy to find, and the family vibes are real. It's the kind of spot you want to linger in. If you're navigating dietary restrictions, this place is a quiet goldmine. Strong gluten free options, a genuinely vegan friendly menu, and plenty of vegetarian choices too... so everyone at the table actually gets to eat something they're excited about. That's rarer than it should be. The food? Solid. I went with the raw tacos, sopes, and huarache; all filling, all fairly priced for the area. The raw tacos especially surprised me... fresh, flavorful, and not in a "I wish this was a real taco" kind of way. These hold their own. Service was quick and most of the staff had a warm, genuine energy about them. The one small snag; the cashier seemed to be having a rough one. A little gruff, made me feel like my first visit was mildly inconvenient for them. It happens, we all have bad days, but first impressions do stick a little. Overall though, I'm absolutely coming back. There's more on that menu calling my name and an atmosphere that makes it easy to slow down for a bit. Whether you're vegan, gluten free, or just looking for something fresh and honest... this one's worth the stop.

A really difficult review to write. On the one hand, decent food, and decent environment…read more On the other hand, very dramatic and poorly managed "community" space. I was poisoned there with food that I am allergic to by a spiteful employee. Management not only never apologized, they never did anything. The results were lab tested. I went over and above to give them a chance to be civil and professional, and they came up a complete blank. So sad

Came here once awhile back as a quick stop since I was passing by it. I do remember liking it…read more I was finally able to go back and sit to enjoy their food comfortably. I had seen someone post about their matcha affogato so I had to go with my husband to try it. It is off of one of Ojai's Main Street so it can get loud if you are planning to stay and sit. No private parking but there's plenty of street parking around the area. There's limited seating outside. It was a bit confusing to us but it does seem like its first come for seating. Inside is pretty small to order. It is really cute how it's like a mini market with wine and other items. We for sure went wanting to try their matcha affogato which we got. We also got some of their pastries and a simple plate which was perfect for me. Everything was really good. We absolutely loved the matcha affogato. We are really glad we went. Overall, cute place. We go up to Ojai to walk so this will stay on our list to stop at when we go up.

this place is a scam. i fell victim to the tiktok propaganda because of the matcha affogato. let me…read moretell you why its a scam. 1. one matcha affogato was $14, plus tips we paid $16. that is crazy. 2. it took over 25 min for some ice cream with matcha poured over it. the waiter did say it was gonna take a while but still 25 minutes for soft serve... 3. remember how it's $16, yea you don't get a full soft serve. the inside is hollow. absolute scam. 4. because the inside is hollow, the affogato melts in 30 seconds. right when the waiter brought it out, it was melting. also the matcha is not even on the ice cream. most of it dropped out onto the plate as you can see in the picture. did they expect me to lick the plate to get the matcha? also someone got the same thing and their ice cream was completely folded over. even i felt bad looking at it. this place clearly has no quality check and you just have to be lucky to get a good serving. if you want to waste $14-$16 for 2 pics yea maybe but overall the way it was completely hollow is terrible.

Came here on a Friday morning at 10 am and was sat immediately. Accompanied by two kids and a dog,…read morethey were very accommodating and welcomed us to sit on the shaded patio. Kids under 12 eat free on mon-fri which is an amazing deal especially these days! Proportions are generous and the staff is friendly and welcoming. Definitely recommend for a nice hometown brunch with the family :)

The food was good overall, but fairly standard and not particularly memorable…read more What disappointed us most was the service. We chose to sit outside and I specifically went inside to ask a server if that was okay. She brought us menus, but after that it seemed like we were forgotten. I looked inside several times and made eye contact with staff, but no one came to take our order. Eventually, another employee came over and took our order. A little later, the original server came outside and asked if anyone had taken our order yet. We told her that another staff member already had. It was a confusing situation, especially since there were several servers working at the time. The prices also felt a bit high for what was served. The omelets, in particular, seemed overpriced compared to similar breakfast spots. There were also a few issues with the food. My toast arrived with a normal piece of toasted bread on top, but underneath was a burnt slice, which felt odd and careless. The croissant was very good, the eggs were fine, but the hash browns were undercooked and still somewhat raw in the middle. Overall, the experience was okay, but between the service issues, inconsistent food quality, and higher-than-average prices, it didn't quite meet our expectations.

Little overpriced but makes up for it in a wonderful atmosphere and kind, attentive staff. I have…read morehad nothing but good experiences here both as a solo diner chatting with the staff, and with my family (it's a relief to go somewhere where it doesn't feel like kids are unwelcome). The food is quintessentially california, with a mashup of unexpected flavors and cuisines.

I actually really loved my lunch experience at Highly Likely, with the exception of a few flies…read morethat were around inside the building which I really dislike when eating inside. But aside from that, the food was delicious. I ordered their good turkey sando and it did not disappoint - the flavors were so tasty for a turkey sandwich and the pickles they came with were amazing! Also I got a chocolate chip cookie and it was not only enormous but so rich and chocolatey and salty but in the best way. I really liked it here and would love to come back!

The best coffee in OJAI! The atmosphere is relaxing and menu is great…read more I highly recommend the Mayan Mocha

I came to Ojai for a quick trip to pick up some hay and decided to see if there were any local…read morecoffee shops. This coffee shop is modern and clean. There is seating out front and out back. I was greeted when I walked. Ordering and my drink preparation was also quick. I ordered a hot dirty chai and it was perfect in chai flavor. Why am I giving them 4 stars?! Well, as I went to pick up my coffee from my cup holder the gentle squeeze of my hand to grasp the cup had the lid pop off and spill at least 1/3 out all over my car. I was so frustrated and upset. At $6.50 for a medium coffee, I lost about $2 worth all over my car. My entire drive home, I would have to recap (push down) on the lid each time because the lid continued to pop up every time I picked it up. I sure hope CC reads this and does something about their cup lids. They just aren't a good fit.