Open and shut: Shake Shack nears Ventura County debut with menu exclusives

Lisa McKinnon | Ventura

Show Caption Hide Caption Here's a guide to The Star's culinary coverage Lisa McKinnon is The Star's culinary expert. Here's a guide to her reporting.

The most important thing to know about the first Shake Shack in Ventura County is that it will open at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Thousand Oaks, where the first 50 people in line will each receive a free dessert called Pie Oh My.

The other is that supermodel turned social media star turned cookbook author Chrissy Teigen gives the chain's fries a thumbs up.

"Shake Shack crinkle cut fries even postmates well. That is a talent," Teigen wrote in an Oct. 14 tweet that also referenced the delivery service Postmates.

Shake Shack crinkle cut fries even postmates well. That is a talent. https://t.co/tbpciWHElT — christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) October 14, 2018

Described as a modern-day version of a roadside burger stand, Shake Shack debuted as a kiosk in New York City's Madison Square Park in 2004. It now has more than 180 restaurants in 26 states and 70 international cities.

In Ventura County, Shake Shack is opening at what closed in June as Public School 805 at The Promenade at Westlake. The 3,482-square-foot space will continue to offer seating indoors and on a sheltered patio.

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Changes to the decor include the creation of an entrance that guides patrons to the order counter. The dining room features new tabletops created from reclaimed bowling lanes by CounterEv. Chairs designed by Uhuru and booths from Staach also were made from sustainable materials and/or lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, according to media materials.

Yes, but what about the food?

Aside from those Teigen-approved fries, the menu offers Angus beef burgers, chicken sandwiches and griddled flat-top dogs, plus frozen custards known as concretes.

The Thousand Oaks location will serve the Roadside Double, a Los Angeles-area Shake Shack exclusive that features a double Swiss cheeseburger topped with Dijon mustard and onions simmered in bacon and beer.

Brews from Angel City, Bootlegger's, Barley Forge and Lagunitas will be available along with the restaurant's exclusive ShackMeister Ale from Brooklyn Brewery. The wine list includes the trademarked Shack Red and Shack White from Gotham Project.

The restaurant will also serve a trio of site-specific concretes. They are S'more Please (chocolate custard, Mast Bros. chocolate chunks, graham cracker, marshmallow fluff), Snap, Crackle Crete (vanilla custard with crispy crunchies and marshmallow fluff) and the aforementioned Pie Oh My — vanilla custard with a slice of seaonal pie from Cake Monkey Bakery, which just opened a location in Westlake Village.

After those first 50 patrons get their free servings, 5 percent of sales of Pie Oh My concretes "throughout the life of the shack" will be donated to Baby2Baby, a nonprofit that provides diapers, clothing and other necessities to low-income children.

Perhaps that's the most important thing to know.

(120 Promenade Way, Suite A, https://www.shakeshack.com).

Elsewhere in Thousand Oaks, SoLé Soups is coming to what used to be a wireless-service store at 1772-B Avenida de los Arboles in the Oakbrook Plaza.

Founded in 2012, the family-owned business has an existing Agoura Hills storefront, aka the Soup Studio, from which it sells grab-and-go containers of seasonal soups, chilis and chowders Mondays through Saturdays (28708 Roadside Drive). Its products are also available at the Calabasas Farmers Market on Saturdays. Located between Gelson's and CVS, the Thousand Oaks site is expected to open before the end of the year (https://solesoups.com).

In downtown Ventura, what closed in August as Rookees Sports Bar Lounge and Grill reopened last weekend under a new name with new owners.

As Oak & Main, the restaurant and bar still features an open space ringed by large-screen, wall-mounted TVs spaced every eight feet or so. But new owners Bashar Albawab, Roger LaLonde and Samer Seryani have taken care to include the words "music lounge" on the temporary banner now hanging over the business' entrance.

Live music is featured on weekends. (A free show featuring Morganfield Burnett & Da Blues will start at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 20; a live-comedy performance is planned Nov. 9.) A table built to look like a drum appears in the lounge. In the main room, booths have been removed to make way for tables and chairs.

The revamped food menu includes fried pickle chips with harissa aioli ($7), an assortment of pizzas ($11-$15), cashew kale salad with goat cheese and maple vinaigrette ($8), a vegetarian black-bean burger with chipotle mayo ($11), fish and chips ($13) and the Oak & Main burger made with a sirloin-brisket patty and white cheddar ($13; add bacon, avocado or a fried egg for $2 each).

Cocktails include a raspberry lemon drop ($10), a spicy margarita ($11) and a sparkling negroni made with Campari, sparkling wine, sweet vermouth and fresh orange juice ($12). Wines by the glass ($8-$12) and bottled beers ($5-$6) are available in addition to local selections from MadeWest and Ventura Coast brewing on tap.

Hours are from 4-10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays. Updates are posted to the business' Facebook page (419 E. Main St., Suite C, 805-648-6862).

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Star Lounge in downtown Ventura is temporarily closed for remodeling as it gets a new (new) look. 🍺🍸🍹⚒ @DowntownVentura pic.twitter.com/pVlhI6zLMD — Lisa McKinnon (@805foodie) October 16, 2018

Self-described on its Facebook page as a "dive bar," Star Lounge at 343 E. Main St. is temporarily closed in preparation for "getting a new look," according to a sign taped next to a telltale green "building permit notification card" issued by the city.

The bar's windows and glass doors are covered. Calls are answered by a recording that states the business has not set up voicemail. The Star Lounge Facebook page was last updated on Oct. 14 with a notice about which band was scheduled to play there that day.

The previously announced opening date for Tap'd Craft Beer and Fine Food at 546 E. Main St. has been postponed by at least a week, said owner and CEO Robert Washington. When it opens, Tap'd will be the first site in Ventura County to offer 43 beers and other beverages — think cider, wine and kombucha — on self-serve taps via the iPour It system (https://tapdventura.com).

In midtown Ventura, the closure in September of Palermo Italian Restaurant at 1751 E. Main St. will be followed by the anticipated December debut of Native Pizza Co., said Ryan Peck, general manager.

In addition to Peck, a Thousand Oaks resident with family in Ventura, the team for the new restaurant includes Jeremy Ireland of Agoura and Scott Tremonti, who last fall turned his wood-fired pizza food truck The Urban Oven into a bricks-and-mortar restaurant of the same name in downtown Los Angeles.

In midtown Ventura: Demolition at the former Palermo Italian Restaurant has revealed long-hidden sign for Herrera’s Mexican Inn. Anyone remember this place? pic.twitter.com/zvvx30ivYX — Lisa McKinnon (@805foodie) October 16, 2018

Remodeling of the Ventura space — which in recent years has also been occupied by The Local Cafe and Cooke's Smokehouse — this week revealed a long-hidden sign for Herrera's Mexican Inn. Attempts to contact members of the Herrera family about the restaurant were not immediately successful. The building dates to 1955, according to a LoopNet listing.

The Native Pizza partnership also purchased the neighboring building at 1767 E. Main St., previously occupied by a childcare center. The cordoned-off area between the buildings will be turned into parking, Peck said. A dirt lot behind the restaurant will be planted with trees and covered with pea gravel to serve as a fenced courtyard for dining.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com. To have the VCS Eats newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, visit http://bit.ly/VCS_Eats and type in your email address.