Cork & Batter Roadhouse — Restaurant in Simi Valley

PLEASE SAVE THIS RESTAURANT!!!

Cork and Batter is Place that I really want to stay around! So ownership and management please read! This place has the potential to be so much better! The concept of the Texas BBQ is awesome, but the execution was not so awesome.

The atmosphere is extremely nice, the restaurant is sleek, clean, and very cool. The music was not overly loud where you can still hear the conversations at your table without having to feel the need to yell.

Service was excellent, our server Nathan gave some great recommendations, stayed on top of our table and made sure everything was good! We appreciate how nice all the employees were and how excited they were about this restaurant. Thank you!

This is for ownership and management to help the kitchen and execution of food.

I have had Texas and Kansas City BBQ and I think the biggest problem here is the flavor of the meat and how it was cooked. In our group we started with the cowboy candied bacon which was absolutely amazing! So that was a 5/5!

For dinner our group had a Pulled Pork Sandwich, Messy Crispy Chicken Sandwich, and a 3 meat platter of Brisket, Pulled Pork, and Baby Back Ribs. For Sides It was BBQ and Regular fries along with Mac-n-Cheese.

The french fries were great and the Mac was just not that creamy mac you get at Texas Style BBQ restaurants. Fries 5/5, mac 3/5.

The pulled pork sandwich was lacking flavor and extremely dry (2/5). The crispy chicken was delicious and a great value for the price (massive sandwich easily 4.5/5). For the 3 meat platter the pork was the same story just dry and no flavor (2/5). The ribs even though our server recommended them, we personally just did not like the flavor and how they were cooked. They lacked the flavor the menu said they had and were just not that fall off the bone you hope for with some Texas BBQ. But was cooked to a competition style and personally they just did not hit (1/5). Lastly the brisket, was cooked to the perfect tenderness to where it melts in your mouth and has great texture. But again the the flavor was just not there in the meat beyond parts of the crust, which shows an uneven seasoning across the brisket (3.5/5).

Because the food was just not great across the board and that is what you come to a restaurant for, I give C and B a 3/5 stars. I have high hopes for this place as they continue to make improvements! They have only been open for 3 months! So it may take some time to nail everything down.

So in summary flavor, salt, and pepper are my biggest things they need to work on, along with making sure the meat is juicy and tender!

They have options on the menu so we understand that other items that we did not have might be excellent! But, in my experience I would expect the same thing with other items.

I will be coming back to this place and hope they can make the adjustments next time I am back in the Simi valley area! Please go experience this restaurant and give them feedback as needed to help it out! This is a must have type of restaurant...

Long story short: Upscale casual dining spit with great entrees, good service, great atmosphere. While they may still be figuring out some of the side items, the entrees and the barbecue were absolutely delicious, and we’ll definitely be back for more, especially their pecan pie!

Long version: Our entrees were delicious. The hanger steak and tri tip sandwich both came smothered in caramelized onion goodness, and the meat came with nice sear/crisp on the outside and edges, both at a good pink medium rare as we ordered. The chicken sandwich was also delicious, a fried chicken cutlet in a pretzel bun with caramelized onion aioli, coleslaw, and pickles. The chicken could have been crispier, but I did not mind it at all, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the tri tip salad. If you come here, you’ll love the entrees. And if you love caramelized onions, you’ll love this place. They have caddies with four barbecue sauces in them. One was a mustard bbq sauce and one was unlabeled. We didn’t try those. But the apricot barbecue sauce and the Dr. something barbecue sauce, we put on absolutely everything. Those two were great. The non-entree items are where we found some misses. We couldn’t eat the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. The cookies were admittedly delicious, but hard as rocks. The waiter kindly informed us that the cornbread is still a work in progress. The cornbread had good taste but was mushy as mashed potatoes. However, supposedly it was too dry before, so as soon as they find that sweet spot recipe, we have no doubt that that cornbread will come out great. Absolutely recommend the pecan pie with ice cream. It lasted all of 15 seconds on our table before we absolutely demolished it. We darn near licked the plate afterwards; that pecan pie has definitely not seen the last of our family, and we will be back for plenty more. In all, we loved our time here, vacuumed up all our entrees, loved the kind and polite service from all of the employees we spoke with, and enjoyed the atmosphere. They may still be working on certain smaller things as a newly opened restaurant, but even so, we really enjoyed our experience. Though they’re still ironing minor things out, we still loved it as it is now and will be back for more. (Sidenote - Their menu is also online and they seem to have some gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options. All food items with nuts in them were clearly labeled for allergies. These food restrictions do not apply to us, but we appreciated the thought put into the menu for those that do. We came with our elderly auntie and her walker and were pleased to see they had ramps and accessible parking in front for those that...

• UPDATED REVIEW *

I was recently in with my son again. We come often!

Manny, their General Manager, greeted me and my son as soon as he had a moment. He remembers us from previous visits, that is SO COOL. That is one of the many reasons I come back, their service from top to bottom is impeccable. He took some time to hang and converse with us which is super cool, the vibe is like having a long-time friend who always excitingly comes up to you to check-in when the see you out. Nice!

They have a happy hour now and it is a good one! Our bartender, Mike, was very friendly, attentive, and made ALL our drinks perfectly! There was another bartender after him, a taller gentlemen, who was just as good!

The food is always on point as far as quality, price, ingredients, and service time. The vibe, the service, the location, EVERYTHING, is perfect!

The only "gripe" which is not a big deal, is they now only have one pool table. They used to have two. Again, no big deal, it is free to play and their is plenty of space aside for having to move a few bar stools which may be in issue if it is very busy.

All in all, this spot deserves all the praise. Go visit, enjoy, and update here with your experience as I am sure it will match mine.

• Previous review *

First time in, on a whim! Great decision based on my son's research! At 8 PM, we were accommodated 15 mins early by our hostess. We asked a few questions about other locations and she politely educated us about the Inglewood location. Our server, Nathan, was helpful, welcoming, and checked up on us very often. Nice! Thank you for the St. Patrick's Day necklace, so unexpected and cool, that made my night!

We checked out and left our dine-in table to go shoot a few (many) racks of billiards, which were FREE, BTW! Awesome locals, shout out to Jerry! Then, we got to meet the manager, Manny, after seeing his amazing hospitality around the roadhouse. He was extremely welcoming and easy to talk to. The two closing bartenders were attentive and helpful.

Then, we met Trent. He was closing up the roadhouse and he was extremely pleasant and warm. Ironically, that's my son's name, too! He took the time to take a closing photo of me and my son. He had conversation with us all night.

All in all, we felt very welcomed! Service, food quality, price point and atmosphere were totally on point. We will be back for Trent and Manny. Thank you for an amazing random...