Freda's Fine Food & Drink — Restaurant in Moorpark

Lunch date with my friend and we decided to go out on a limb and try something different. She lives in Simi and I live in Thousand Oaks so we thought somewhere in Moorpark would work for us to meet. I searched restaurants in Moorpark and this one came up. The outside looked darling and the reviews were ok. I thought...."why not?!"

We met on a Friday at 12:30 for lunch. It was easy to find and the building it is in is absolutely beautiful on the outside and has so much character. They even have a cute outdoor eating patio and plenty of parking in back.

We decided to get a table inside because it was a bit too cold for us to eat outside. The inside was cute but definitely didn't have as much character as the outside. We were sat almost immediately. It wasn't crowded at all so we felt like we chose a great time to go. We were given the menus and were asked if we wanted a drink. My friend was thinking of getting a glass of wine but when she asked the waitress she said that they didn't have a liquor license. We both decided on water.

The menu consisted of sandwiches, salads, pizza, a few appetizers and 5 entree choices (salmon, chicken, ribeye, short ribs and steak frites). Since it was cold we both declined on ordering our usual salad order and opted for a sandwich thinking that it's hard to make a bad sandwich. We were disappointed when we discovered it was easy for them to make a sub par sandwich.

My friend ordered the $18 meatball sandwich with came with fries. The bread was large, soft and tasted fresh. The meatballs were scarce (she said they needed more to fill the roll and that it was mostly bread) and the taste was "just ok". I ordered the $17 steak and cheese sandwich. I specifically asked the waitress if the meat was lean and if it was sliced thinly. She said yes that it was. I decided to proceed with that order that also included fries. The bread/roll was good but the meat not so much. It was very fatty and not very tender. It also had grilled onions and Irish cheddar cheese which was good. The fillings on mine did seem to fill the roll with the majority of it being meat which would have been perfect if the meat was good. It was served with au jus which was tasty and was supposed to have been served with creamy horseradish which it was not. I forgot about the horseradish after we had left. The fries were crispy, hot and tasty and there were plenty.

Perhaps we ordered the wrong dishes and should have tried something else? However, with the prices the way they are, no liquor license, not much ambience inside and the quality and taste of the food I most likely will not be back, unfortunately. I wanted so much to say I found a new, favorite lunch spot that wasn't a chain...I really did....and I'm disappointed to say I haven't. I'll continue...

Very disappointed! Tonight (5/16/25) we arrived at Freda’s at 5:45 PM. Even though there were several open tables inside and outside, were told the wait would be 20 min. for 2 people. We were never offered one of the empty tables outside. After waiting for 20 min., I walked over to M on High next door. They said they could seat us in 5 to 10 minutes. We assumed we would be seated soon at Freda’s and decided to wait. After another 10 min. wait (30 min. total) for a party of 2 and still seeing 3 empty tables inside, the hostess tells us “we are really getting busy and the only place you can sit is at the bar”. I was furious that she had wasted 30 minutes of my time while she was disorganized going back and forth for God know what and there were still open tables. There were parties that had reservations that were seated before us which I understand. But the fact we were told it would be a 20 min. wait for 2 people and we waited 30 before the Hostess turned us away with open tables in the restaurant is astonishing! We are residents of Moorpark and have had dinner at Freda’s on several occasions. But to be turned away because they are busy, with open tables in plain site is the most lame excuse I have heard!!!!

So, we walked over to M on High. They sat us immediately and the food and service was amazing! They even had a large catered event going on and they were a lot more busier than Freda’s!! Maybe Freda’s needs to be better organized and train there staff on how to address customers. M on High is our new local place. We will NOT be going back...

We were excited to try Freda's as we'd heard some good things but what we had, was far from a good experience. Ordered the steak and cheese sandwich. Meat was over cooked and dry and lacking flavor. Menu stated it's supposed to come with au jus but the server told me after I had gotten my food that they were out of au jus. Without the au jus to dip the sandwich, it was just a bun filled with dry meat and cheese...hardly edible. Wife ordered the chicken scallopini. It was supposed to come with shitake mushrooms but was substituted with another type of mushroom. The noodles were not angel hair as stated on the menu and were not cooked to order as they looked and tasted like they had been sitting out a while. The manager appeared to be more concerned with closing for the evening than checking on customers in the restaurant. I understand there may be some growing pains in opening a new restaurant but seriously, they've got a ways to go if they are going to continue charging the prices...