Bright Spark Brewing — Restaurant in Ventura

I'm going to update the review below after I return. The manager very kindly replied to my review. I'll update my review after I go back to Bright Spark.

Original review: Our family of four went out to dinner on a Sunday night in March 2024 at Bright Spark Brewing. We spent $100 for two sandwiches, one personal size pizza, one order of fish and chips, a Coke and a beer (including tip). It was a mixed bag. The Hazy IPA was good, and my wife and our boys thought their food was good. I ordered the fish and chips, which were listed as coming with a "house made pineapple cole slaw." Sounds delicious, right? There was no pineapple, or any pineapple at all, in the slaw. I expect that a server will come around after delivering food to ask how everything was. That person never came by. I took the slaw up to the service counter, and the guy in the kitchen was pretty grumpy about me bringing up the no pineapple. He told me there was no pineapple in the kitchen, but that the slaw had pineapple juice in it. That was not true. He offered me some pineapple juice, and when I accepted, he got even grumpier and went hunting for a can. He eventually found it, but it was obvious by his quest that there was no pineapple juice in the kitchen when they made my slaw. I don't think a restaurant should list an item, and allow people to order it, which they are not currently serving. Finally, although there was a foosball table, the bartender told my son that 'some kids stole the balls a while ago,' and he was 'out of luck.' Huh? Uh, Amazon sells those. Get some new balls, Bright Spark. Will we go back? I'm open to it. We'll see what response I get to this review. It's tough to spend a hundred bucks and not get what you ordered, then get poor service...

If the greasiest grease bomb pizza is your jam, skip this review. But my best friend, toddler and I ordered take out pizza because of the amazing reviews. It was a splurge ($15 for a personal pizza isn’t cheap), but it’s hard to ruin pizza and the gourmet toppings are appealing.

We received two hot honey pizzas and one cheese. First off: there’s no crust. In any of them. It’s just 100% cheese right up to the edges. The thinnest of thin dough crusts existed, purely as a vessel to hold the cheese underneath, and it was so soggy from the grease that it sagged down like wet lettuce. And the grease… I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There was so much pooled grease that it filled the pepperoni, which floated on top of the lake of oil like little grease cups. And they do not mess around with the heat! All the jalapeño slices had seeds attached. The honey on the side has pepper flakes in it. As if the traditional pizza heartburn was is any doubt, the jalapeños existed to push it over the edge.

This may be what folks love (and maybe the beers on tap are the perfect in-house compliment), but as takeout pizza for family goes it was a surprising disappointment. None of us could eat more than a few bites, including my toddler who said her cheese pizza was “yucky.”

I’m grateful to all our Ventura small businesses for keeping our town vibrant - keep doing your thing! For my little family, this restaurant (or the pizza, at...

I cannot speak more highly about Bright Spark. Its a must go every-time we drive through Ventura. I am not sure if I should mention how delicious their food recipes are first or highlight their incredible beers.

Lets start Beers :) First off, everyone of them is a masterclass in brewing and super drinkable. They also have a beer for everyone, who likes beer that is -- they got an amazing Pilsner style beer called The Sauce which is light, tasty and worthwhile and even more awesome is their hoppy-pilsner, Greener Pastures. These are in cans, so I aways grab some to take home and share.

But personally, my favorite at the moment because I love a Big Dark Roasty stouts is their Anniversary Ale. At 11% this sipper is a perfectly balanced imperial stout offering an incredible mouthful of flavors without being sweet, which is often the down side to ambitious stouts like this. The rest of the beers are amazing too -- their west Coat IPA, their golden stout among others..

Ok, forget the beers -- this place has food options I wish I had here in Santa Cruz. Like their fried chicken sandwich and smash burger. Which one do I get ? Wait, they have delicious not-too big pizzas options. So difficult to choose. My wife loves coming here because she is very picky about salads and this place rocks the veggies.

And this place was designed for families, so bring the team.

Love this...