Open and shut: Farmer Boys restaurant chain plants seed with first Ventura County location

Known for the Bacon Boy burgers, Cobb salads and breakfast-all-day hot cakes it serves in its dining rooms and drive-thrus, Farmer Boys will unveil its first Ventura County restaurant on Jan. 26.

The Newbury Park location is something of a first for franchisee Omar Mawas, too.

"When I'm driving here, I just feel relaxed. You feel it the minute you leave the 405 behind," said Mawas, who lives in Corona and already operates Farmer Boys in Escondido, Fontana, Hollywood and Riverbank.

Founded in 1981, the Riverside-based chain now counts more than 90 fast-casual restaurants in California and Nevada. The Newbury Park site is its only location within the 805 area code – so far.

"Farmer Boys studies areas where it might be a good fit, and Ventura County is one of those places. Hopefully, the store will do well enough for us to start thinking about other locations in the area," Mawas said this week during an interview at the newly constructed restaurant.

Indications are that it will do well, indeed. During the pouring of the restaurant's foundation at an Academy Drive shopping center that includes Lowe's, AutoZone and Jack in the Box, Mawas was approached by a Farmer Boys fan who announced his plan to be its first paying customer. Mawas took down his phone number.

"I've already called to let him know we're almost ready for him," Mawas said with a laugh.

Mawas was a chemical engineering major at Cal State Fullerton when he landed a job as a greeter at the local Denny's. He later set aside his original career plans as he worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming a regional director of operations for the national chain.

Farmer Boys and its farm-to-table branding (suppliers are listed by name and logo on a board displayed near the front door) caught his eye at a time when he was looking to branch out on his own, Mawas said.

"The quality of the food is something you can stand behind. Everything is freshly prepared. We cut up everything for our salads on a daily basis. Nothing sits under a heat lamp."

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Mawas opened his first Farmer Boys in Escondido in 2007. His Hollywood Boulevard restaurant, which debuted a decade later, is the only one of Mawas' five locations to not have a drive-thru, due to lack of space. But it is the first Farmer Boys, period, to experiment with third-party delivery via companies like Postmates, Grubhub and DoorDash, he said.

At 3,300 square feet, the Newbury Park restaurant is about the same size as other Farmer Boys. It offers seating for 99 dine-in customers. Orders are placed at the counter; food is delivered to the table by a waitstaff that can also respond to requests for additional napkins and containers of dressing.

The restaurant currently employs about 50 people in full-, part-time and management positions. T-shirts printed on the back with "Get smashed on avocados," "Juicy burgers, dry humor" and other sayings serve as the staff uniform.

Breakfast items include a daybreak sandwich with two eggs, American cheese and a choice of bacon, sausage or ham on a potato bun ($5.49), a hot cakes platter with two eggs and a choice of bacon or sausage ($7.99), burritos with a choice of bacon, sausage, ham or chili ($8.19) and omelets ($9.99).

Burgers range in price from $4.99 to $7.89, while sandwiches are $7.19 to $8.99. Wraps and salads are $8.59 and $9.59, respectively. Sides include zucchini sticks and "colossal onion rings" (your choice, $4.59). 

Happy hour specials from 2-5 daily include zucchini strips and onion rings ($2), chili cheese fries ($4) and a double big cheeseburger ($5).

Mawas' personal favorite? That would be the Southwest Chicken Salad ($9.59), which comes with Cheddar cheese, black beans, fire-roasted corn and tortilla strips.

"It's a healthy yet filling option," he said.

Starting Jan. 26, Farmer Boys will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays (1057 Academy Drive, https://www.farmerboys.com).

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Elsewhere in NEWBURY PARK, what closed in 2017 as Natural Cafe at 1714 Newbury Road has been claimed as the future home of Hot Oaks. A peek inside the space directly above Bottle & Pint and Spumoni Italian Restaurant this week revealed construction of new counters and what looks like tables for hot pots, each equipped with its own overhead industrial fan. Hot Oaks' opening date is unknown.

In SIMI VALLEY, what started in mid July as a remodeling project with an anticipated by-September completion date (finally) came to an end on Jan. 24, when the owners of Greek House Cafe unveiled the results. The address is the same, but the restaurant has been expanded to feature a larger dining area, with beer and wine service on an outdoor patio.

Launched in Santa Barbara some 30 years ago, the restaurant moved to Simi Valley in 2001. Its hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays (2375 Sycamore Drive, Suite 5, 805-955-9899, https://greekhousecafe.com).

In THOUSAND OAKS, the owners of the city's short-lived BurgerIM restaurant have teamed with the owner of Tavern 101 Grill & Tap House in Agoura Hills to open a new place: 101 BBQ Hut Sandwich Shack.

It launched soft-opening service on Jan. 22 with a menu that includes a pulled pork sandwich on toasted brioche ($8.95), a turkey burger with chipotle aioli, roasted onions and avocado ($10.95) and a Cajun salmon sandwich with caramelized onions ($12.95), along with salads ($9.95 to $12.95) and wraps ($8.95). Also available: sides, desserts and an it-came-from-Texas Shiner bock among the beers on tap.

"This is a concept I've been wanting to do for 15 years," said Marco Gonzalez, chef and owner of Tavern 101. "My other restaurant is full service, in a much larger building. This brings all my barbecue background to a much different setting."

And after friend Alex Ramezani and his wife, Vanessa Ramezani, closed their BurgerIM franchise just five months after its debut, they were ready to start fresh.

"I feel like we owe it to the neighbors who came in and loved interacting with my wife and I," said Alex Ramezani. "This location just needed the kind of food that chef Marco is doing."

101 BBQ Hut is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (1610 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite C, 818-297-2886).

In VENTURA, the third Ventura County location of Blaze Pizza opened this week next to Arby's in a newly constructed building in the Riviera Shopping Center. (The Pasadena-based chain specializing in create-your-own pizzas also has sites in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks.)

To celebrate its debut, the Ventura restaurant offered free pizza from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Jan. 24 for patrons who downloaded the chain's app. Its hours of operation are from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (4724-3 Telephone Road, https://www.blazepizza.com).

After closing in July as Ambrosia by Caffrodite, the combination coffeehouse and organic cafe is staging a partial comeback as it seeks nonprofit status. Now known as Caffrodite Community Collective, the collaborative space is operated by volunteers and board members. They will celebrate its grand opening this weekend with live music and other special features.

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To read a Star story about the project, click on https://bit.ly/38GdHvB.

Caffrodite's hours of operation are from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays through Sundays (1987 E. Main St., Suite B, 805-651-3884, https://www.caffrodite.com).

To the south, BL Dancehall and Saloon in AGOURA HILLS was scheduled to make its soft-opening debut at 6 p.m. Jan. 24. The former home of XL Restaurant, Chapter 8 Steakhouse and Hamburger Hamlet, has been remodeled with a new dance floor and sound system for line dancing and more.

BL Dancehall and Saloon is operated by the owners of Borderline Bar & Grill as a "home away from home" while they continue efforts to rebuild the Thousand Oaks location after it was the site of a mass shooting in November 2018.

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BL Dancehall and Saloon will be open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays for patrons age 21 and older. It will serve food from a limited, "Best of Borderline" menu (29020 Agoura Road, 818-699-6090, https://www.blsaloon.com).

To the north, the San Luis Obispo version of Finney's Crafthouse opened Jan. 22 at 857 Monterey St. The chainlet founded by longtime area resident Greg Finefrock  debuted in Westlake Village in 2016. Locations opened in Santa Barbara and downtown Ventura in 2018 and last year, respectively.  

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Now through the end of the year, $1 from the purchase of an Impossible Burger at any Finney's location will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation (https://www.finneyscrafthouse.com).

I STAND CORRECTED:  Last week's Open and Shut column listed the wrong price for a single scoop of ice cream at Little Calf Creamery and Little Calf Creamery & Cafe in the Conejo Valley. The correct price is $4.50. The online version of the story has been updated. To read it, click on https://bit.ly/30QsO2Y.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com.