Savory Cafe & Bakery

Great food. I loved the crab cakes, French toast and fresh squeezed OJ. Omelets, potatoes were good. Kinda pricey.

I always wanted to stop in here and now that I have I deeply regret it. Worst espresso I’ve have inside the state of California and cupcakes that taste like pound cake. Avoid at all possible cost.

This was a very strange dining experience. A friend and I chose to share the «hummus palette» for lunch. The menu described a dish that was very different than what was brought to the table.
The menu description included hummus, tabouleh, stuffed grape leaves, feta cheese, cucumber, olives, sliced tomatoes with pita chips and sliced baguette.
What we received was hummus, couscous, feta cheese, cucumber and tomatoes with slices of bagel that were wet with oil/​grease– nasty and inedible from our point of view. Missing from this plate were the tabouleh, grape leaves, olives, pita chips and sliced baguette. That’s 5 items that were on the menu but NOT on the plate.
If a restaurant has run out of something (or many things), shouldn’t they tell you before they deliver the plate to you?
Our waiter quickly offered to replace our dish and indicated that this is not the only dish being served at Savory that is inconsistent with the menu. Seriously? We were really excited about eating here because the menu looks promising, but we and were left with a terrible first impression. Darn.

Savory, I visited you back in October with my pregnant sister for a fabulous lunch, we really enjoyed our time together! She had been a few times before, but everyone needs to know about you. The fresh open space makes you feel like you’re outside even if you’re sitting inside. It is just delightful. The owner came out and greeted us along with other customers. I think he has another restaurant in Vta.
We were in the mood for a hot turkey sandwich and soup since it was a cold cold day! I got a beer anyway, but the fresh tomato basil soup hit the spot perfectly. My sister advised me that they were known for their soups and she was right! The fries, or frites are amazing! And the turkey sammie was perfectly balanced and not too gooey.
The bakery looked amazing but we just looked! If I lived in Vta, I’d be here often! I would recommend this place to take a visiting mom or family, it represents all the good Ventura has to offer. If you are a local and haven’t stopped in, check them out, truly Savory!

Normal

This place should be shut down by the health department. I know it seems harsh but honestly I can’t recall being in a restaurant that was so dirty. Tables were sticky and seat cushions are beyond gross. The floors and bathrooms made gas stations look like the 4 seasons.
I think our waitress was deff because she had to yell back everything we ordered. Food was below average.
Do not recommend nor would I go back.

Atmosphere was casual. Service was very attentive and friendly.
Great for lunch! We had the Salmon Salad and Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Olive Bread. We had a raspberry mocha coffee drink for dessert. Very Good!!!
To go, we purchased a few bagels and a flagel (flat bagel). Didn’t love the flagel (too firm), but found the bagel and house made cream cheese very good.
This is now one of our favorite restaurants in Ventura.

The baked goods are lovely. I have had about every flavor of scone they make: strawberry, blueberry, mocha, pistachio, pumpkin and so far they have all been excellent! Today I tried the chocolate cake, it is very moist and fudgey with a appropriately sweet white frosting. The frosting had some shape to it — not like the whipped cream frosting on grocery store cakes. The frosting was really yummy.
I’ve also come here for Sunday brunch. All the food is delicious, unique and fresh tasting. I wish the portions were larger! The only other con is that this is a dog friendly restaurant. Great if you are out and about with Fido, not so great if you would rather eat without dogs.
For a place right on the main drag, parking is very convenient — there’s a free pubic lot right across the street.

This place should be awesome and it’s not.
The bagels are good. If they get your order correct. The first time I was there at 10am on a Sunday only to find they had no bagels out. ??? Really? On a Sunday? At 10am?
The second time there were bagels, but the system is all screwy in this joint with part of it being table service and part of it walk up counter. Everything went to plan. Which is good, because it was a simple plan: eat bagels. But it shouldn’t have been as confusing as it was.
Third visit: Ordered the bagels (Plain with Cinnamon Raisin Cream Cheese). The girl was perfectly nice. Everything was going swimmingly until I asked if there was any bottled water. They were out. ??? Okay… things happen. The girl starts getting distracted at this point and I can tell things are going downhill. I get my bagel, pay and get out to my car to look at my order only to discover she got the order wrong. This isn’t that hard. She even said my order back to me after I placed it.
This place is a prime location in heart of Downtown. And being the only New York style bagel joint in Downtown it should be cornering that market. The bagels are good, but the management of this place makes it a disaster. Bummer.

I really wanted to like Savory. In fact, the more I want to like it and can’t, the more upsetting it is.
Savory is placed perfectly in the heart of re-​vamped downtown Ventura. It is in a perfect spot for tourists, farmers’ marketeers, business owners in the area… or just someone who lives close and likes to sit at a table on a cute coffee shop patio and enjoy a little people watching. They serve everyone’s favorite things. Coffee, bagels, a variety of cream cheeses, baked goods, breakfast items, etc.
In my mind, this is the perfect recipe for success. Great location, cozy atmosphere, and yummy food at a reasonable price. So why, why, WHY do they continually suck? It must be management, because I really just don’t see any other excuse.
My experiences here have been the following…
The first time I came here it was 10:00 on a weekend (saturday or sunday, can’t remember) and there were NO BAGELS MADE. The place had been open (supposedly) for at least an hour. Curious…
Naturally, I left. I came to a bagel shop for bagels. There were no bagels. I saw the rub. I departed. Nuff said.
Second visit was somewhat better as they did, indeed, have bagels. The service, however, was extremely lacking. A trend that I have noticed all the way through my third visit.
The third visit was the last straw. My boyfriend and I came in on a particularly slow monday morning at about 8:15 AM. This time there were bagels and no line. How could this possibly go wrong?
We ordered two bagels. One onion with chive cream cheese and one plain with cinnamon raisin cream cheese. And a water. Easy enough? WRONG.
We got one onion with chive, score!
One plain with plain… uh…what?
And «I’m sorry, we are out of water».
Excuse me? You are OUT of water? A staple at any restaurant from the crappiest roach coach to the finest of fine gourmet restaurants.
Third strike. I’m out. I gave savory three undeserved chances. Get real, management. Either hire someone to do a good job or sell the place to someone who wants it.

Best pastries in Ventura. Best they are just the right size and just the right amount of sweetness and savory. I am a big fan of the Bear Claw.

Everything is «good».
Not great, just good — and this is what it really should be about. An easy place to visit, with good seating and good staff, and good food. It doesn’t blow me away, but it really does provide an easy lunch or dinner venue with live music.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the place at all — yes, sometimes the service is slow, but given that restaurants are not totally automated, it’s a fact of life — and rating a restaurant just on it’s service from one occasion is blatantly unfair — I am talking to YOU Vaishal T!!!

I went there with my wife and three other friends on Sunday ⁸⁄₂₈. This was by far the WORST breakfast/​brunch experience I have ever had. It started from the beginning… the young lady seating everyone was EXTREMELY slow and was cleaning tables as well as taking down names for the wait list. After a tolerable 15 – 20 minutes, we were seated and our order taken. We had 4 coffees and I ordered an orange juice. Coffee one by one was brought out over the course of 30 minutes. We were deep in conversation so didn’t mind the delay… except for the fact that my orange juice was brought out last… a good 15 minutes AFTER the last coffee. We had placed our order during this debacle and I wish I could say the incompetence ended here…
My wife ordered a bagel and I ordered toast. Our friends ordered crabcake special or something. We waiting well OVER an hour for our food. My wife got her bagel in 45 minutes and didn’t start eating until we all got our food… which never happened. Finally about 30 – 40 minutes after she received her food, the owner/​chef came to our table with one crutch saying that he was injured and the «back-​up» chef came late.
What the ???
At least someone could have communicated this to us EARLIER! We asked multiple times what was going with the food and were being told «it’s almost done». All I ordered was TOAST!
A pathetic excuse for below average food and the WORST service I have ever seen. The only thing that saved the morning is that we had great company to share the time.
Would recommend NEVER going here.

I will start with the good, which will be brief: the food is delicious and the setting is lovely.
That said, today I experienced the worst service of my life. While the service has never been particularly good, this was unacceptable. I’ll just make a list of the issues today:
–it took an hour to get our food
–they brought a random cup of ketchup immediately; it’d only purpose seemed to taunt us while we waited
–they were out of glasses and when we finally got them one of the glasses had a lipstick mark on the mouth
–they brought my bagel without butter
–they gave our food to the wrong table
While all of that was awful, here’s the kicker: as our food was given to the wrong table one of the meals was consumed by another customer. My friend had to wait an additional ten minutes only to receive a sandwich with burnt bread. When he returned it, the server had the nerve to ask if he’d like the sandwich his had been switched with.
The strangest part is they seemed very well staffed. If they are going to charge what they do they need to be more organized and show more respect to customers.
I won’t be back again.

Savory bakery is probably my favorite Restaurant, I come here often and the food is ALWAYS amazing!
I ordered a cup of tomato soup, pommes frites with garlic sauce and an order of the blue corn arepas. Seriously the best meal!
I’m sure I’ll be back next week!

This restaurant is three stars at Best.
The good: My sandwich was good, I had a meatless sandwich, it was grilled with a little bit of olive oil, it had cheese in it and pesto sauce. It came with fries, which were decent, and the basil dip was also pretty good. Basil dip would have been better for other dipping rather than being replaced for ketchup.
It was a nice day, and we were sitting outside, therefore I won’t complain about service that much. It was nice to have a longer time eating, rather than being rushed. However, when you start to notice that they do not serve you water right away, than you mind the service. I actually got my water after I finished my sandwich, which was a little weird and awkward when I did receive it. I guess better late than never.
The cost is more on the heavy side, for what I ate, and the fresh ingredients that I had, there’s other places a I can go and get a cheaper price. Come down Savory, Main Street Ventura in not to par with State Street Santa Barbara (at least not yet), so let’s rethink our prices a little bit .
Café is in a cool area too, so I’ll give it props for that. There is however plenty of room for improvement.

I went here yesterday for brunch with the ladies. Main Street in Ventura is so cute and still has free parking! It reminds me of Santa Monica’s 3^rd Street Promenade twenty years ago. I know I’m dating myself, but 3^rd Street was so awesome when it had a Woolworth’s and thrift store. Ahh…
We had two waiters waiting on us at first, but somehow never received the water we requested. We also asked for two of the sauces with the fries and were charged $ 0.75 without being told it was an extra cost. Not good, but overlookable offences.
After reading some of the other reviews, I can agree that service was slow, but it suited us fine for a leisurely Sunday brunch. We received lots of refills on the coffee, which we agreed was yummy. I uploaded the pics of our food: huevos rancheros, breakfast sandwich and omelet. I didn’t get a picture, but the complementary bagel chips with cream cheese were a huge hit. They also served us a bite sized carrot cake after our meal, complimentary.
We were told all the baked goods were made in-​house, which made the bagel chips, bread and carrot cake that much yummier.

Have been going here off and on for a year or two. New owner, Andres, and I really like the potential he brings. I know him from the comedy club and tapa’s bar so he’s all about service and good food.
I hope he improves on a already charming, fun place with good food.

It’s a pretty café with outdoor tables, a desert case, but…
Erk, and I hate to say *but* because the service was perfection, and the setting was beautiful, and the bathroom was clean… Also, my friend had the banana french toast, which was simply amazing. Each slice of french toast was infused with the slight flavor of banana and then topped with a scoop of fresh cut ‘nanas. The slices were thick and fluffy; and the pommes frites with garlic and basil dips was pretty grand – a 4 star meal…[5 if if wasn’t so bloody expensive]
.unfortunately, my own meal was 3-​star. I had the wild salmon spinach salad with balsamic dressing. The spinach looked depressed, the salmon was not moist or flaky. rather dry, actually. I make better balsamic dressing at home. My coffee was tart. it tasted like:
1. It was sitting in the carafe for a few hours or
2. Someone put too much coffee in the filter
And for those prices? Vey!
Somewhere between her meal and my meal is a 4 star meal. Barely.
It’s potentially a great place.

This review is for their coffee only, as we thankfully didn’t waste our money eating here.
This was possibly the worst coffee I’ve ever had from a «café», and that includes those in airports, malls, and even Disneyland! I ordered a café au lait and it tasted like watered down instant coffee combined with non-​dairy creamer. In a word, horrendous! My companion ordered a plain coffee, only to report it was weak, lukewarm, and undrinkable. We are not coffee snobs (okay… not too snobby), but this was exceptionally bad.
Add to that the crappy service (we actually had to repeat our order of two drinks to the guy ringing it up THREE TIMES) and you’ve got a 1-​star stay-​away-​from-​this-​disaster-​if-​you-​want-​a-​good-​cup-​of-​coffee joint.