Can't go wrong coming here! The attention to detail is keen! I appreciate Colin for explaining the steak cooking process. My steak is always cooked perfectly when he is there! read more

Superb food and lovely ambiance! Can't wait to go back. The menu is very fresh, unique and different from other restaurant offerings. Only downside, the drinks were definitely on the small side for the price. read more

Wouldn't recommend this spot, the service was awful. We had a reservation and they made us wait a very long time until we could sit down. The staff was unapologetic and pretty rude. This place is pure chaos. read more

THE....BEST....Hanger Steak I have EVER EATEN. So good....we ordered a second helping. Never in my life have I done that! Did it on 2 separate occasions! I'm a woman who does not eat a lot in one sitting but it's SO delicious, I just had to order another one. read more

I have had a few good meals here, One was outstanding last summer. So the 3rd visit this evening was horrendous. Our Server was clueless and not interactive at all, blah personality and missing any enthusiasm about menu, food, drinks or us!! She should not be front of house. So Our meal??? Subpar and disappointing! I know this is supposed to be shared courses. I came with a work colleague. So sharing was not going to happen. orders were put in wrong so the whole night one was eating one was just sitting there waiting. Totally disjointed and uncomfortable. We had to wait and wait just to ask a question server never once came and asked how anything was. When ordering, Server should ask how we want our courses would be a start. Liver pate was mostly just a side of pickled vegetables ~ toast was cold, pate was blah. Hangar steak was delicious but a very small portion and just came with A LOT of sauce and needed salt and there was More sauce than steak! Other reviews i read said "foods too salty " so maybe they cut back out of worry?? Then Salt should be on table. Sweet potatoes were just plain weird and flavor combinations wrong. French fries were good but served as a appetizer and not with my steak?? I even made a comment to the very clueless server when she cleared the fry plate "would of been nice to have those with my steak" that came at least 40 minutes later! She said nothing, not even sorry??? I had to ask where my steak was two times. Really a disastrous dining experience. Totally appalled about service and food was just not good. When we walked out, we both said we should of just gone for a burger. Sadly, Not coming back here. read more

Rory's really wants to be the new(ish) cool kid on the block, and in many ways, it is. Does it perhaps try a little too hard and is it a tiny bit impressed with itself? Sure, but that shouldn't stop you from going. The first and vital thing to know is: You really need to sit outside. The tables inside are way too close together, and to be inside too close together during these Covid times? No, you don't want to be there. But outside is lovely. The food is inventive and mostly delicious, as are the cocktails. The service was fun, efficient, and on-point! Loved our server! Now for some food specifics: oysters--fresh and perfect. We got the Cape Cod variety. The citrus/avocado salad was filled with assorted interesting textures but just didn't wow me. The fish and chips special--pretty good, but the chips were sheer perfection. The texture and taste were very much like frites, so yay. The spiced egg nog was heaven. And the chocolate mousse was outstanding. One more word of warning, though. When we showed up on time for our 7:00 pm rez, there was a line out the door of people with reservations Waiting To Check In. It was a Covid party of extreme inefficiency, so they need to figure that out. All in all, a solid reco. The restaurant reminds me of Bells and Pico, both in Los Alamos, so maybe this is the future of Ojai. read more

I was in California for my birthday and I'm a foodie so family wanted to take me to Ojai's new hot spot. It was pretentious, arrogant and the staff and owner were rude. No top shelf alcohol but local alcohol was good. If you must go to say you have been. Go for cocktails and appetizers and get out of Dodge!!!! My brother-in-law ordered the half roasted chicken. It was served after our meals were done and it was uncooked. We told the waitress and she said she'd let the kitchen know... that was it... hope no one gets food poisoning. And we ordered the chocolate tart...don't remember what we paid for that cardboard with a smear of chocolate... I'm telling you... cocktails and appetizer... NOTHING MORE... unless you love to throw away money on BAD FOOD! read more

We live in Los Angeles and needed a break from the summer humidity so we did a last-minute 10-day local trip for a food mecca holiday. We were so excited to save this restaurant for our last night after meeting the owner's parents who raved. We were happy they told us about the place since we didn't see it on a dog-friendly list. The wait staff is beyond amazing at Rory's, I love the changing menu & the oyster selection, and the environment had a great vibe with music and mostly happy/chill patrons. Almost every restaurant in Ojai serves local, organic, and healthy food so I was shocked that Rory's used MSG in their food. The last night of our vacation was wrought with both of us having insane nightmares, minimal sleep, ringing ears, extreme thirst, night sweats, and the usual sluggish malaise & dysphoria of MSG which takes days to dissipate. I did not think that I needed to pack my arsenal of MSG neutralizers in Ojai, especially at a restaurant that advertises a higher caliber experience... shocked! I will not return to a restaurant that alters it's cuisine to cheat and poison customers. They may respond that they don't use MSG, but if my partner who has a rock gut gets the MSG poisoning symptoms, a chef is putting a lot of it in their food. read more

Amazing food, ambiance, service and prices. Try the wood fired cabbage! Yes, cabbage!

I ordered a shrimp cocktail and the shrimp were not cleaned properly. The shells were still on and the sand vein hadn't been removed. They were terribly messy to eat. Our service was fine, but I won't be ordering the shrimp cocktail again. read more

First the positives - the place has a good vibe inside and most of the dishes we had were solid in terms of taste. The problem is the bang for the buck. We ordered baked oysters and we got four of the tiniest oysters I've ever seen ( size of a nickel )for $24. Same with the Uni $26 for what amount of two tiny bites. Several of the servers looked like somebody had just shot their puppy. Food came fairly timely, but they just were not friendly at all. read more

Spectacular dinner at Rory's. Staff, food and beverage all homey and brilliant. We had the herb salad, which confirmed how special farm to table can be. Oysters, carefully curated, fresh and full of flavor. Tagliatelle, hangar steak, persimmon pudding. I wish I were there tonight, eating more off their menu. Kudos to the bar for a perfect old fashioned and big thanks to our lovely guide through the courses, the charming Rivkah. If you are in Ojai, don't miss Rory's for dinner. Promise! read more

Don't let the silly "bad reviews" get into your head before dining here. The food is spectacular, the service is great, and all in all this establishment is a fun dining experience. You just need to be opened minded about trying something new. Imagine how boring it would be if every restaurant was the same! I had the best Mezcal Margarita and I followed it with a delicious glass of white wine. My friend and I ordered a few things and we split everything, so that was perfection . It's a family style restaurant and sharing just made for a lovely experience. read more

Good choice if you want a trendy social experience with cocktails, but don't come if you're hungry. Overpriced small portions for the starter/share items (more like have one bite..) so unless you love to overspend, you might not want to add an entree. I went home and raided the frig after. Packing people into overcrowded table placement, inside and out, is Covid-blind. The food is as good as other good restaurants who also pay attention to quality and sourcing, but not extraordinary in any way. For sure, not a place for "regulars," but Ojai's healthy tourist industry might keep it alive for awhile. read more

Very cute interior, love the visibility of the hearth and kitchen. Everything we've tried there has been delicious. The hearth bread, steak, aqua chile, and chicken have all been flavorful and fresh. I love all of the interesting veggies included in the dishes. Loved the chocolate chip cookie, it kind of fell apart but honestly that didn't matter. Dying to try the sticky pudding so hoping that stays on the menu! I rarely ever drink but their cocktail and natural wine selection enticed me both times. They have a really special skin contact wine that was worth getting every time. Actually had really friendly service both times I went. Excited for them to be open for lunch. Happy to have them in Ojai! read more

The food was great, BUT... dining out is experiential beyond the balancing of flavors, textures and presentation. That said, we've all got our favorite "hole if the wall." It's just that at my fav hole in the wall, I've no expectations of a fine dining experience. So this post is about setting expectations. Again I remind you that most of the food was wonderful. There were 15 people in our party, so a lot of items were ordered. Collectively, we loved the crudo, hanger steak and at the top of the list was the halibut. On the downside the ribeye was so very salty, we'd wondered if it had been brined and... it lacked the tenderness, typical of the cut. The pricing was lower than expected for the quality of the food, but on point considering the balance of the experience. Why the downgrading? Sitting next to the front window with the sun beating thru made folks at the street side of the table uncomfortably warm. From spirits to mixes, the bar is not stocked well, including many basics... instead focusing on their own specialty cocktails... some enjoyed, some left unfinished. Yet, those are more of an inconvenience than deal breakers. What was a blew up our time there was the fact that they bring the entrees out as each is made. That may sound good, but in this case the first dinners came out 20 plus minutes before the last, because similar entrees came out at the same time e.g. fish first, while steaks 20 were over minutes later and other entrees oddly in between. I'd first thought is was because of the size of our party, until I realized it was happening all around us. I can't imagine being there with a date and my meal coming out 10-20 minutes before hers. My food would be getting cold waiting for hers to find its way to the table or if I ate first, she'd seemingly be eating alone when her food finally showed up. Hey... Watch me eat. Why ? It made the experience very awkward. We guessed that either the kitchen was too small for the amount of equipment needed to serve a full house or that the kitchen staff isn't sized up for multiple cooking stations. I could be wrong on both counts, but we could come up with no other reason for bringing out entrees in such a grossly, staggered fashion. We're far from being food snobs or even foodies. I'm as happy with a street taco and beer as I am at a Michelin Star restaurant. So, please understand that the situation had to be pretty disappointing to compel this writing. We won't be going back. I wonder if they deliver... read more

I made a reservation for my Daughter's Birthday. I stated it in the requests and asked for a nice table outside. I have heard great things about this restaurant and we were excited! We were greeted by a the hostess who was not engaging and quite rude. She took us to our table outside and it was a table for 2 with a third chair cramped in. She said if we didn't like it we could move inside. My Daughter and told her we would be moving back in and she was greeted with a a snarky ok. We almost left at this point, but my Daughters were Hungary. We were then greeted by an even ruder waitress . Who was horrible! We ordered our food . It all came at once. I said to the waitress why did you bring our cold appetizer with the hot food. She said because you asked for it family style. I argued with her and asked for the manager. Which took forever. We were given a new waitress who was lovely. But I will never go back again! Food was very good but not worth the hype and small portions for the price. the ambience was nice and inviting. But this should not be in contention for a Michelin rating. All the elements have to be there. I have been in Ojai for years. And the worst experience I have ever had!! Restaurants come and go and the kindness of owners and attention to detail brings people back. This was not the case. What a shame !!. read more

A must stop for anyone visiting Ojai! The food was amazing - we got oysters, steak, soup, and artichokes. The cocktails were sooo good. Hello Satan was the best one in my opinion if you like something with a little heat. Really cute place. Hope to be back. read more

Great tasty food, friendly service and an earthy Ojai vibe make this place my favorite. The fresh fish is delicious. I love the oysters and the fries are insane. I also appreciate that they always have seasonal veggies. My husband loves the steak. Everything is really tasty & gooood. Do not miss a visit to Rory's Place! read more

Eating here is a delight to the palate. My friend was in heaven with their oysters. Everything was well cooked and well seasoned. My favorite was the augachile. read more

One of the best restaurants in Ojai. I'm not clear on why people are complaining about the prices or style of food (settle down you whiny cow). Surely you can look online at the menu and pictures to manage your expectations. The atmosphere here is great, it is always lively and the staff are fantastic. I've been here many times and have tried everything on the menu. The food is excellent. Go here and enjoy! read more

So I decided to go to Rory's for dinner, Truly did not disappoint. I had no reservation and I was a lone wolf. The hostess was gracious and accommodating. I Asked if I could sit at the bar, 5 minutes later I was ordering a fantastic Old Fashion from Camille. Started with the pate, a wonderful dish full of flavor next up was the steak and it was delicious cooked to perfection alongside that was the Fries loved em. Rory seems to have a new fan, I'll be back. read more

There's a lot of great things about this spot but the weird timing of beverage service and food combined with the service being all over the place (but usually tending toward unhelpful) and the tabs being a bit startling have started to take their toll. Sad, but so goes. Another spot for the LA crowds. read more

Incredible restaurant!!! I absolutely love this place. The ambiance is gorgeous and the food is some of the best in Ojai. I can't stop thinking about the herb salad and the chicken. read more

Went here for dinner the other night and had a pretty mediocre experience. Although the decor and ambiance were fun and the menu was interesting, it didn't deliver on either the food or the service. These are the two things one really hopes for when going out to a nice meal and shelling out $50+ a person. We ordered 5 dishes: the little gem salad and the hearth bread were tasty, the corn soup was fine, but the cabbage was overcharred and oily. These all came out quite quickly and beat our drinks, so we were halfway done with the food by the time we received our cocktail/mocktail. After taking our order, the server never came back to check on us, so we had to flag someone to bring us more water. After waiting half an hour, we never received the fifth dish (pasta). We managed to get our waitresses attention (she had still not checked in on us) and she eventually informed us they had never fired it, so we cancelled the order. There was not much of an apology nor an effort to make the mistake up to us. Needless to say, I don't feel the need to return to pay top tier prices for mediocre food and service. read more

Was recommended to us by a friend. I have to say, I wish I had not taken her up on this recommendation. First off, if you are a Ventura/Ojai resident, this is not the place for us. This is a super, super LA place. Super. Two families at a 6 top with 3 kids screaming and crying throughout the whole dinner, and for context, we have two children and I did walk one out when she was disrupting the atmosphere of the restaurant. Not a single kid taken out. So that is the ambience and type of people coming here. Ok, so let's talk about the food and service. Called and asked if they had a table available in 10 minutes as the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed. They said yes. Got to the door, sat within 5 minutes on the patio with the menus. First touch was 10 minutes later with water and asking questions, and we put in two drink orders and asked for a recommendation between two wines as we were getting a bottle. 15 minutes later the guy comes out with his recommendations and we ordered the bottle and food. Well...it had been 40 minutes since arriving and ordering and we still had not received our beer, limeade, or wine. Then all of a sudden, the wine came, but the wrong one. Let them know, and they brought the correct one. We get the right bottle and reminded them about the beer. They had never put the order in. Now 10 minutes later the beer comes out and our last drink, the limeade, came out with dinner. After the beer came the seafood tower. Now I'm no chef, but I've had a lot of seafood from good places before, this was NOT a good seafood place. Shrimp was over cooked, way over cooked. Rubbery. Mussels, good. Oysters, well let's pray I'm not sick tonight. Cloudy juice. They were not fresh. Lastly the crabs, again over cooked, rubbery, and they did not have any notches in them to ease with cracking. Fresh horseradish was a joke, and no flavor and no spice. For the rest of our meal. Everything came out staggered. Nothing at the same time. Chicken was over cooked for the breast and undercooked for the leg section. Corn chowder came out barely warm. Salad was good. And then after almost all of us were done, the last meal came. All in all, ambiance was nice, but again, the food was not worth it. Wine and beer was tasty, I will say. Way over priced, the patrons there were meh, and the food was less then appealing. read more

I have to say food was good but very small portions for pricey menu. We waited quite awhile to be attended to once we were seated

Definitely the best new restaurant in Ojai. Delicious food and wine and a wonderful wait staff. The chicken and French fries are insane. Hearth bread was great. Cheese board was great. Sticky Toffee pudding and Cookie and milk were mind blowing. So happy to have this restaurant here and look forward to many more dinners there. read more

Rory's place is the best restaurant in Ojai, heck in all of Southern California!!! Love love the oysters, herb salad, aguachile, perfect fries, clams, fish, and the best roast chicken ever. Great wine, dessert, and a beautiful restaurant. If I could give six stars I would!! read more

This meal was a 10/10! Our waitress was very knowledgeable, helpful, and honest. The oysters, aguachile, and sea bass crudo were delicious! The aguachile was very spicy, so I can imagine some folks may be taken by surprise by the level of spice. Their raw bar was fantastic! We got the halibut for our entree, and it was perfect. We will be recommending this place to everyone, and we will definitely be back the next time we are in Ojai. read more

Love love love. Every time I've been here, I've had nothing but extra special presonal sercice, the music is great, ambiance is great, service is great and food is fantastic. Do not miss the aguachiles! read more

Great food! Loved the sashimi with garlic crisps on it! Going back again this weekend for more

Came here from San Diego and loved this place. The food was delicious and staff was super friendly. Highly recommend the hanger steak and bread was amazing. read more

We came here on St Patrick's Day. It was very lively and fun. The food was great. We had the beet salad, shrimp cocktail, oysters, tin fish and bread. We also had cocktails that were delicious. The waitress was super friendly and helpful and just a real person. We will be back. read more

Really good food, but everything is ala carte and at a high price point. Be prepared to spend a minimum of $100.00 per person with cocktails. Drinks were weak and pricey, which was disappointing. Server was not great initially and worsened after we mentioned the issue with the drinks. We are locals, born and raised in Ojai. The place has more of an LA vibe than Ojai vibe. We miss the Jester. If you are looking for a really nice upscale more authentically Ojai restaurant with great ambiance, try the Dutchess. This was our 2nd time at Rory's' so we gave them a chance. I won't go again. read more

Honestly, the worst service I have experienced at a restaurant. Hostess and waiter were unwelcoming if not downright hostile. Felt like either they did not want to be there or they did not want us to be there? Either way, ruined the experience. I will say that the food and cocktails were really good, just can't get past the awful service. read more

We have been in Ojai for few days now and this is by far the best place we have tried. We started with 6 super fresh oysters on the half shell and they are some of the best we have ever had. I had the hanger steak and my wife had the winter squash rigolotti pasta.....steak was super tender and the pasta perfect. We finished with a lemon tart and persimmon sticky toffee. No disappointments here. read more

I wrote this review several months ago and instead of posting it I sent it directly to the restaurant. There was no response so here you go: Salt. My family and I went to dinner at Rory's Place last night. I've always loved this location, having dined there for over 35 years now, starting with M K's right through the Vine when the tragic flood brought the whole thing to a Long pause. We were really looking forward to this meal! We were given a table just inside the front door. It was a chilly night and the doors remained open so we kept our coats on. We received our menus and tried to discuss the options but it was very difficult to hear each other over the much too loud disco ( yes, disco! ) music. I looked around for the ball but they must have forgotten that. We ordered some appetizers and a reasonably priced bottle of French wine that was quite good. The ceviche was tasty if a little small. The egg with Mayo was a hard boiled egg ( as opposed to a soft creamy yoke ) and the "Mayo" was straight up ranch dressing with salt. My father ordered a main dish, that came with the appetizers and turned out to be a plate of asparagus with sauce, both cold, with hunks of salt on top. My mother ordered the pasta with lamb. This dish was astonishingly salty! We all tasted it and set it aside. It was inedible. My wife ordered the pot of clams which came about 20 minutes later and was salty and chewy. The clams were over cooked. We were getting the feeling we were going to leave hungry so we snuck in an order of fries. The fries came about ten minutes later along with my steak and were plentiful and warm( not hot ) but with an almost pathological amount of salt on them. The steak was served cold with a topping of chive's and garlic and, yes, large grains of salt. At this point we were all just shaking our heads and laughing ( and tapping our feet to the disco music ) at the absurdity of it all ! Our merriment was quelled a bit when we payed the almost $200 bill, minus the briney pasta dish which our waiter kindly deducted from the bill. I feel I should add that none of us are low sodium types of people. We all use salt liberally at home. Our waiter, by the way, was professional and attentive and personable. Salt. read more

This is an absolute RIP OFF of a restaurant and hard to believe that hard working people would choose to dine here. The music was BLASTING on the patio to the point that we had to call the manager over to turn it down. He made a snide comment that the loud music makes people clear out faster. How arrogant and condescending and unprofessional a manager to employ. Our waitress told him how all the dishes came out in the incorrect order. Instead of apologizing, he admitted it happens and that he would make it up with some desserts. How about you fix the problem if you are readily aware of it? This is a restaurant we have been to a few times before and have not had this happen but apparently it is an ongoing problem that they would rather let go on and on rather than address. ATTENTION: There are many other restaurants in Ojai to dine at where you do not have to shout across the table and beg for serving utensils and clean plates. And, when a manager offers to comp your desserts and you order them, you expect him to comp the desserts that YOU order, not charge you for them and choose to send over four different ones. When we tried to find him to clarify, he was nowhere to be found. We work hard for our money and hate feeling so ripped off. You are living off your reputation and it is going to catch up with you. Take some pride in your restaurant!!! read more

Average food is acceptable especially with a good vibe. Average food and an arrogant waiter no bueno