Shanghai Beer Garden

Service was pretty bad… the worst part was paying $$ for Chinese food that tasted like Panda Express. The location and ambiance is so nice, I just wish the food was better. Sadly we won’t be coming back.

WOW! So happy that I finally made it into the Shanghai Beer Garden. My entire experience was super pleasant– from our server Christina, who was really hospitable, to the very tasty and satisfying sesame tofu n veggies I had. Oh, and the coconut sake is freakin’ outta this world! I can’t wait to come back! :)

We dine at this place last night. Slow, bad service. Food was edible. We won’t be going back. First and last time.

Atmosphere to die for. The food is authentic as the owners cook your food now. Crab ragoons are amazing as are the street noodles. This place is a must go in downtown Ventura.

Love this Place! Chicken Fried Rice was juicy and delicious and Chicken Chow Mein was juicy and delicious. Great customer service fast and friendly and very attentive. They have nice outdoor patio outside. Great place to grab a bite to eat.

While looking for a place to host a small business party, I stumbled upon Shanghai Beer Garden and booked it – mostly because it is close to our office in downtown Ventura, CA. Also, I had such a great experience working out the details with the owner, Anna, who is a superb communicator and is kind and supportive to boot. It was easy to make a menu selection of appetizers, as they have a fine variety. When I asked for a quote, I was pleasantly surprised – our party for 25 people including enough food for all to «dine» on hot appetizers and salad and to have one beverage each was far less than what we paid for a dinner for six people at a fancy restaurant just across the street. In other words, the price was so reasonable, I felt that I had been foolish to host parties elsewhere.
On the evening of the party, I walked in and found that the patio/​party space is beautiful – spacious, pleasant, and accommodating. Anna had put fresh flowers on our tables to designate which ones were ours. She had thoughtfully placed a welcoming table in front with our drink tickets on it. Then, when our guests arrived, everyone was delighted – and gushing – about what a great space it was, how fantastic the food was, the variety of the beverages (coconut sake – to die for! And the lychee ale is delicious!), and the fabulous, attentive service. I felt guilty accepting the compliments from my guests – for I had done almost nothing but make the arrangements. Anna and her wonderful staff did everything else. And I got all the credit!
Another thing to note – and this is hard to find – Shanghai Beer Garden welcomes dogs, where they can stay on the patio – they even have a dog menu and will bring out a bowl of water for your canine friend. The patio is also perfect for letting your restless human little ones run around.
Definitely give Anna a call or send her an email to book your party. As long as the weather holds up, the outdoor patio space is exceptional. I wish I had photos to share. Also, I recommend the walnut goji salad, the homemade egg rolls, the sweet potato fries, and the Shanghai Nuggets. Right now, I am plotting when I can have another party there – it was a total success and so easy!

My husband and I have never had such an awful dining experience. It took nearly an hour for us to receive our food which 1) came out on filthy dishes 2) was not what we ordered. This appeared to be a trend with the other tables around us.
Our bartender/​waiter was apologetic. She deserves to be working at a much better restaurant.

The problem with Unilocal for me is in someways it has made me a snob unwilling to settle for anything less than «4 stars.» Fortunately, I’m aware of this phenomenon and fight against it. There are so many, in my opinion, grossly underrated places that for whatever reason have 3 star reviews with 5 star food and service. The key is to look at the most recent Unilocal reviews and check for things like change in ownership or chefs. I ignored that rule when I visited Shanghai Beer Garden and paid the price. Whatever this place once was, it is no longer. My understanding is that the ownership has NOT changed but the chef has. The beer was ehh, service slow, and the fried chicken kale salad bad enough to hit the «check please» button. This has to be a rough transition period for them, that hopefully takes a turn for the better, but in the meantime, don’t be the guinea pig. Unilocal smart and check back later.
Try it or Diet Final Word
Beautiful place to hold a private event but for dinner I’d say, diet for now.

Great ambiance, delicious food and excellent service. Great BEER and drinks too. karaōke, (for children and adults) pets are welcome.
The staff is amazing helpful and kind.

Change of ownership.
Menu lacking. Terrible food.
Friendly BUT REQUIRES MAJOR TRAINING.
Unclean.
Hopefully improves with time.

Great food. Friendly staff. Wonderful atmosphere. The new menu is awesome and the music nights they’re having now make it fun and exciting.

The patio is very pleasing to the eye, especially since we had our choice of tables on a Wednesday evening just after the 4 to 6 live music finished. The patio is sheltered from pesky Ventura cool winds that chill you in the evening. We chose a table under a heater, and I was quite comfortable as I enjoyed the spicy tofu as rightly recommended by Unilocalers.
My husband preferred the bichon frise beer over the Foo Dog, and I preferred my Le Paws Pino over a sauvignon. We picked up on the theme and got a laugh over the three dog menu items, and then texted our friend who had been seeking a dog friendly place. There was one dog on the patio during our leisurely evening reading, enjoying their excellent calimari and beverages.
The highlight was the Unilocal free egg roll. All food was hot, nicely prepared, and the egg roll was crispy and flavorful.
The server was very knowledgeable and excited about the upcoming beer that they brew onsite. We will have to go back during happy hour 4 to 6 and try the new beer and their dinner menu.

Dinner $$, and karaōke.
A wonderful experience.
Coming back and bringing friends.
They served me the perfect pilsner.

Very sad… turned into American food. Old menu is gone.

The best thing about Shanghai Beer Garden was its surprisingly authentic (for Ventura County) Chinese food. But it looks like Ventura wasn’t ready for it because the Chinese food is gone as of June 2015. There are a couple of «Asian fusion» appetizers but they’re not particularly interesting or good and certainly not authentic. The current menu is mostly standard American beer bar food, focused on things like sandwiches and burgers. I’m not sure why they’ve gone this route, as there is no shortage of better places to get a burger and a beer within a few blocks: Barrelhouse 101, Anacapa Brewing, Dargan’s, Winchester’s, Saloon BBQ, The Tavern, Bombay, you get the idea.
The patio is nice and has a lot of seating. The prices are fair. Beers are decent but not worth a trip on their own.

A few months ago I would have given this place five stars. In fact my husband did.
I’m not sure what was «broke» about their previous menu but I’ve seen at least three versions since they’ve opened. Their menu used to be full of options that I would pour over trying to decide which meal I wanted. This new one I had to scour for something worth eating. This last one was a huge let down. Where can you get decent vegan Chinese in Ventura? That’s fresh and delicious? Apparent nowhere anymore.
For some reason I decided to try their garden burger — give it a whirl, try something new. Don’t do it! Ciabatta my ass. Clearly this is sliced bread. They also forgot the oily tofu «patties» on my sandwich. Which they brought to my table later. And can I ask what am I supposed to do with the soy sauce? Dip my sandwich in it?
New staff. Service was great, no complaints there. Not his fault the cook doesn’t know the new menu. Not sure if new owners. The live music was way too loud for my liking on a Wednesday at 6:30pm, but they toned it down eventually.
Disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe my experience.

This was such a surprise to find such a dog friendly brewery with Chinese food! We were looking for a place our pups can hang with and they even have a fur friendly menu. It was clever they had barley treats and brown rice bowls for puppies.
The patio is beautiful and the wood fire pizza was good too. I liked the eclectic vibe. Definitely a place to try out.

What a hidden gem! Why isn’t this place packed all the time? We had a wonderful dinner last Saturday night and listening to great music topped it off and made it an A+ experience.
Check in here and get free crab Rangoon which was wonderful. I had to Singapore noodles with tofu and they were delicious and my husband had the honey walnut shrimp with brown rice. Also tried the avocado honey ale beer.
The patio is an amazing place to sit, absolutely beautiful!

Tried this place on a lim last night because I was craving Chinese food-​of course found this place on Unilocal so said why not. I would have to say there are a few pros and cons about this place.
First and foremost, the interior of the establishment is simply beautiful and well designed (5 Stars). The colors are awesome and the big brews are an excellent touch since its concept is a brewery. The outside patio is really nice and comfy-​for the future, I would recommend Live music on the weekends to livin’ it up and draw crowds to utilize the space OR even open it up in the weekends by removing the outside tables and make it a 21 and up hang out spot with live music. DT VTA is lacking a place like that, besides H20 – so if I was the owner I would take advantage of that idea.
Now our dining experience. First things first, when we got our water, my fiancé found a pretty long hair in it. That was just the beginning. I then noticed my folded napkin that had my utensils in it-​was very dirty and looked used (although I hope it wasn’t-pls refer to my picture). Our Server, «B» was nice to provide food recommendations.
As an appetizer, we ordered the «mouth-​watering chicken.» I will NEVER order this again-​the dish is boiled chicken smothered in chili oil sauce sprinkled with spices served at room temperature/​cold. The texture literally felt as if the chicken was raw/​not cooked, VERY VERY slithery. It didn’t really have too much flavor, plus pieces of the chicken had bones in it and I don’t like surprises in my food. I highly don’t recommend this dish.
Next, for our main courses, we ordered General Chicken and Walnut Shrimp-​presentation (5 Stars). I thought it was weird that there’s an up charge if you want to add «protein» to your sauce. Meaning for Kung Pao ($ 12) if you want it cooked with chicken there’s an additional fee ($ 3) bringing the dish cost to $ 15. Don’t expect to pay the «mom and pop price» for a simple Chinese dish. This place’s concept is Chinese food with an Asian upscale flare mixed with the brewery concept.
The General chicken was okay. The texture of the chicken reminded me of the appetizer we ordered just with batter around it, blahhh. BUT, there was some saving grace with the Walnut Shrimp– that was tasty but I’ve had better. It was nice that «B» comped us ONE rice, just a heads up-​but a small rice bowl will cost you an extra $ 1.
After seeing that I didn’t like the appetizer dish, we weren’t charged that at end which was nice. Overall with 2 dishes and 2 drinks from the bar the total was still close to $ 60 bucks. I think you are paying more for the «upscale» environment here, then the overall quality of the food… Which I think matters more.
Will we be back? Probably not for food, but maaaaaybe for a drink or 2.
HUGE PLUS: They delivery if you live 3 miles w/​in and buy over $ 25, and they have Dog Dishes– they are a dog friendly restaurant.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the Groupon and the stellar impression my coworker left with me, I probably would never have found this cute hidden gem.
I took my main squeeze to try this place out for dinner around 5pm on a Sunday. Not packed at all and service was nice. I like the idea that it’s pet friendly where our furry friends can be chillin with you on the patio side and can order off their special menu. Definitely eat at the patio side because it’s really lovely.
My date ordered the spicy cripsy tofu and I ordered the pineapple black pepper beef with sides of white rice. I think the spicy crispy tofu reminded me of cream cheese wontons: cripsy on the outside and warm gooeyness on the inside lol The spice level was perfect too. The pineapple beef was awesome in presentation and the beef was tender. Both entrees were very flavorful.
Prices are a bit high but I can see it being worth it because their food has soo much flavor and it has an authentic Chinese pizazz lol. Would definitely come back again!