Frontside Cafe — Restaurant in Ventura

Simple menu full of wonderful fresh options. The owners are Australian so you will see Aussie breakfast (Called “Brekkie”) and lunch offerings. The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous. Every table has a beautiful custom made vase with flowers. Basket-shaded lamps and a light palette of colors made it look so inviting. Because of Covid restrictions, indoor dining was not available. There are about 8 little tables on a small patio outside if that is your jam but we took our lunch to the beach since it was a 10 minute walk away.

I had my eye on the avocado toast because it was gorgeous but I was so hungry and the Frontside burger caught my eye. I asked the girl who was taking our order which one I should get. She steered me toward the Frontside burger if I was hungry. I am SO glad I got it! THIS BURGER WAS THE BEST BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD! This is saying a lot since I am a particular about what makes a good burger and my heart has always been dedicated to In N’ Out. If I had to describe this burger, I would have to say it was like an elevated Double-double with a homemade pickle, brioche bun and caramelized onions. I also got the “chicken salt” fries and they were fantastic!

My Australian husband was thrilled about his Aussie meat pie that had a nice mild curry flavor. Only now I read that it is chicken and butternut squash but I will say it was light and definitely more chicken, veggie and curry in taste. It has a lovely mixed salad with vinaigrette on the side.

We devoured our food and I couldn’t even have thought of stopping to take a photo of it but I will say if you are interested in trying something different, do not hesitate to choose this...

We were recommended to try this place by a Ventura couple. We are an Australian couple travelling towards Carmel and stayed in Ventura overnight. As we are from Melbourne and looking for a good coffee we initially went to Singing Sun and really liked what they were doing, coffee was great, nice chilled vibe, chatted to some people and they suggested we should try Frontside as we were from Australia. Underwhelming to say the least. From the moment we arrived, the maître de was extremely rude, she made us feel unwelcome because we just wanted drinks to go. I then waited for ten minutes to get served, and that’s ok because they were busy, I get that. I then ordered our drinks and after I stepped back from the counter, not really knowing where I should wait I asked one of the waiters if it was ok to sit at the bar whilst we were waiting for our drinks but we wouldn’t stay long. She said,(that’s fine). After about ten minutes of waiting, the said Maître de, came up to us and informed us that we couldn’t sit at the bar, I told her that we were just waiting for our order and that we were told that it was ok. She said it wasn’t and that we could sit on the little bench beside the water cooler. My point is, there wasn’t any other patrons waiting for a seat nor table, we weren’t taking up any other patrons place, it was unnecessary and over the top. It was very uncomfortable and demeaning.They are trying to run an Australian themed coffee restaurant/bar. You would never get this type of attitude in Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane, so pull your head in and don’t be so judgemental. Travelling...

OWNERSHIP PLEASE READ - To the ladies working at 1pm on Sunday July 5th - work on your customer service skills. This was such a disappointing visit and I could not believe the incompetence. My partner and I visited for the first time and I decided to order the avocado toast with egg add on for $2. Not only did we wait 40 mins for the food to finally arrive, when they dropped it off, the egg was missing from my plate. The server said that the cashier forgot to charge me for the egg so they didn’t add it. She asked if it was okay if they charged the $2 so they could bring out an egg separately. This was their first mistake and honestly I would be embarrassed at my staff doing this for $2. Anyways, I said yes it would be fine. She goes to the back, returns a few minutes later and says “oh actually we need the physical card to charge you, can you give it to us”. Again, embarrassing but we obliged. A few minutes later she comes back with the card and receipt. The receipt shows we were charged $4.38. When the server returns, I said didn’t you say it was $2 not $4? She said oh yeah but it’s $2 per egg. This was never mentioned and the menu clearly states $2 add on. The nail on the coffin was when I looked down and there was literally just ONE EGG on the plate. So not only was the staff extremely incompetent, I feel like they also stole money. I regret not speaking up further and asking...