The Cave — Restaurant in Ventura

Unorganized, incorrect reservations, waste of time, decrease in quality! This used to be one of my favorite places in Ventura. It has changed! The cheese board changed for the worse, I listened to other tables send their food back all night. In the past the staff was amazing and there was never a wait. I used to bring people here for business and wine lovers from all over. It used to have such a family feel. I will never go back after last night. Last night, I was advised by the lady at the check-in counter that she could not help anyone because she needed a hostess. There was no one working in the wine store either, many people were in need of assistance. A hostess came, I provided our name for a table and I witnesses her write our names on the wait list. We were first and advised a table was being cleared for us. We sat on the couch and were later were advised it will be a 30minute wait. During this wait I listened to the manager deal with food being sent back. She argued about it instead of admitting fault. 45 minutes after sitting on the couch, we were informed that they gave our table to someone who arrive after we did. The hostess area told us that they forgot to write our names on the list, even though we saw them physically write our names on the list. I attempted to resolve this with the manager, she said the best they can do is to give us another table. She told us that they didn't write our names on the list and another hostess said we were on a witting list for a hightop only. Another employee provided a table that was available by that time, which was contradicting to what the manager indicated. Then the manager attempted to say she told us the same thing, which was not true. I was ready to leave at this point, but my friends wanted to stay. We ordered a significant amount of food, the quality has decreased. We didn't complain because it wasn't worth the argument. Items were missing on our cheese board, we had to ask a non-server for our bill and we were forced to walk to the front to pay excuse there were no servers. We saw the manager again at the end of the night, there was never an apology or anything for the inconveniences. I'm an attorney and I realize I can be used to a different kind of service. But I used to work in a Wine Bar in Ventura County. I'm really understanding of busy restaurants and how hard it is on the staff. The new manager here is not running things well and it is very unfortunate to see what use to be such a great...

Tried The Cave last night with my wife for the first time after hearing so much about it and seeing pictures of some of the food they put out. It was disappointing to say the least. My wife tried 3 different wines using their self-serve wine dispenser, and 2 of the 3 had turned. It's obvious that they sit in their dispensers unsealed for days on end until they get used up or go bad, and they aren't being checked to see if they've gone bad. Not to mention the entire system is so impersonal, and having to leave the table in the middle of dinner to retrieve your own glass of wine is disruptive to the entire social aspect of a night out and a nuisance to your partner.

We started with the baked goat cheese as an appetizer. The goat cheese itself was good, being topped with basil and tomatoes. The toasted baguette however, was stone cold (more on that later). The entire bite ate very dry. It could have done well with a little pesto instead of just the basil. I decided on The Cave burger for dinner, considering that having their namesake it should be a good bet. The burger was overcooked, the toasted bun was stone cold, and the entire burger overall was incredibly small for a $14 cost. Think a little bit bigger than an In-N-Out burger. The house salad I had accompanying my burger was about the size of the palm of my hand. My wife had the turkey burger, which she described as a frozen Costco turkey patty on a stone cold bun, accompanied by frozen bag french fries.

All in all, I can tell you that this kitchen is lazy. It is clear to me that they toast all their breads as pre-service prep and not to order. So while your bun is in fact toasted, it was likely toasted well over an hour ago. There really is no excuse for this kind of laziness, as the entire kitchen was standing around when we walked in. While the service wasn't terrible, it wasn't great either. There seemed to be a lot of "hanging out" going on.

We left hungry, without even a "thank you" as we walked past the host station on our way out with 4 employees "hanging out". We won't...

Dear The Cave Owner/Management

Thank you for your response. I understand that you were not present during the call, and I appreciate your willingness to look into the matter. However, I must clarify that my review was based on my personal experience during that phone interaction, and I want to ensure that my feedback is accurately understood.

At Buzz Builders, we work with local businesses to help them increase their revenue and attract more customers, and we pride ourselves on being respectful and professional in all of our communications. In this instance, however, I felt that the phone operator’s tone was unnecessarily rude and dismissive. I have reached out to many businesses in the same manner, and while not every business chooses to engage with us, I’ve always appreciated polite and professional responses—even when the answer is "no."

What I do find concerning is that my simple inquiry was met with sarcasm and, ultimately, being hung up on. I take no offense to a business choosing not to work with me, but I do believe that professionalism and courtesy should always be maintained, especially when interacting with potential customers or business partners.

That said, I am more than willing to move forward and hope that this incident can serve as an opportunity for further staff training on handling inquiries, especially those from local businesses seeking to collaborate. I do believe that a polite and constructive approach benefits everyone involved.

I wish you and your team the best in your ongoing efforts with the restaurant, and I hope future interactions with customers and business partners will reflect a tone of respect and...