Freda's Pizza — Restaurant in Camarillo

We recently drove through downtown Camarillo and noticed a big crowd seated outdoors enjoying beer, pizza and each other's company. We checked which places this was near and it turned out to be Freda's Wood-fired Pizza and the adjacent Topa Topa Brewery.

We decided we had to try this experience, which seemed reasonably safe with spacious outdoor picnic table seating. This building, called The Mark, and the adjacent outdoor eating area, is actually shared by 3 tenants currently: Freda's, Topa Topa Brewery and Rori's Artisanal Creamery.

We are a family of 3, including a pizza-loving 4-year-old. We first visited Freda's and ordered a 16" New York Style Spinaci pizza, which has a thin, crispy crust and is baked in a pizza oven Toppings included spinach, mozzarella, provolone, EV olive oil, roasted onions and roasted whole garlic cloves. This was a delicious pizza! I love roasted garlic, but my wife picked most of hers off and gave them to me because she didn't feel they belonged on a pizza. What? is it Christmas already?

We also ordered a 12" brick oven seasonal mushroom and white truffle oil pizza. This type is made in a brick oven, and you can definitely tell because, although the crust is also thin, you quickly pick up that charred, smokiness and flavor, and you can see the beautiful, light charring on the crust. Its toppings included mozzarella, parmesan, a "seasonal" mushroom, oregano and white truffle oil. If I had to guess, i would bet the mushroom is either a Porcini or a Chanterelles. The truffle oil added a great finishing flavor, and we did like this pizza more than the other one we ordered, although they were both delicious. The latter was more oily, but it was not off-putting in the least due to the great flavor.

We then waited outside, both for our pizza order and for a picnic table to become available. On busy days, you need to scan the tables to see which one is closest to paying and leaving. Then walk over and politely ask if they are on their way out. If they are, then hang around the table at a socially acceptable distance (pandemic or not) to keep other table hunters away. If you're too polite, you'll end up eating in your car or back home, which no one wants.

Once we secured our table, i walked into to Topa Topa, which has an outdoor patio where you can order, and I ordered a Casey's Kolsch and a Dos Topas lager.

The service was great, with the server dropping by multiple times to take plates and ask if we needed anything.

We loved our meal at Freda's, and i highly recommend it for your next artisan and delicious...

We finally stopped in to try this place and the food was delicious! I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. We ordered a cheese pizza and a ceasar salad and unfortunately our timing must have been had because it took forever to get our food. And my salad never even came until I finally asked for it so the service definitely leaves a lot to be desired which is why I only gave 4 stars even though the food did not disappoint.

I was shocked by hard large the salad was. My friend ordered a Greek salad and hers was just as big! We were both pleasantly surprised. And the pizza was so good! The flavors were very authentic to me and reminded me of this cute little Italian joint my family and I used to visit and the little Italian lady would come out from the kitchen to chat, but we could never understand a word she said, lol! So I am a huge fan of the pizza too.

All in all, it was great food. The atmosphere is that of a food court so nothing special there. But at least you have the option to sit outside on the patio area. And sometimes they have live music so you can make a night of it, grab some gelato from Rori’s next door and a beer from Topa Topa, all in the same building! The downtown area has become much more walkable these days so it’s worth a stop! Then walk up Ventura Blvd toward the train station and you will run in to lots...

Disappointed by Frieda’s Treatment at The Mark – What Changed?

On 3/23 at 2 PM in Camarillo, we brought food from across the street and sat in the shared patio area at The Mark—something we’ve done many times before. We had a group of over eight people, including kids tired and hungry from sports, and we were planning to buy ice cream for them while the adults grabbed drinks from Topa, just as we always do.

Before we could even sit down, a waiter from Frieda’s abruptly told us that outside food wasn’t allowed and walked away. No discussion. No opportunity to explain that we were also planning to support multiple businesses in the space.

What’s frustrating is that we’ve consistently chosen to dine at Frieda’s in the past—our kids love their pizza. We’ve also confirmed with the other businesses at The Mark that this shared space has never had an issue with outside food before. There were no posted signs, no prior warnings, and no clear reason why this time was different.

So, what gives, Frieda’s? Why were we treated this way without...