Pete's Breakfast House, Ventura

Afternoon-No one in the lot

Pete’s Breakfast House

2055 E. Main

Ventura, CA 93001

Pete’s Breakfast House is a long time Ventura breakfast café, and I’ve never met anyone who has said anything bad about it. In fact, most people will tell you a favorite story, or list a favorite breakfast item. It’s also been featured on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

If you aren’t familiar with Pete’s, everything I’ve ever had since I first went there 15 years ago is good. The food is served quickly, the servers are friendly, there’s free coffee for those waiting for a table, and on the weekend expect to wait. The restaurant occupies two store-fronts, and seating is limited. Most tables seat no more than 4, so my family of 5 rarely eats there together, but if one of us is missing, it’s great. Prices can be a touch higher than most, but certainly worth it.

This morning, I had a waffle sundae, a waffle topped generously with frozen yogurt, granola, strawberries, bananas and chocolate syrup, and some coffee. My son had the same, and the tab came to $21 without tip.

So now my story. Pete’s is why I bought my current house 15 years ago, and one of the main reasons I live in Midtown Ventura.

When I first moved to the area, I lived in Oxnard. It was in the middle of El Nino, and it rained so hard that school was cancelled-the only time in my career that I’d been at a school that had a weather related day off. Some teachers had still managed to slosh their way in, and I suggested breakfast to a small group, including a coach that I though was so good looking that I had a hard time looking at her, much less talking to her. She suggested Pete’s.

I followed in my car and parked on Main Street. While walking toward the restaurant through the rain, I found a $20 bill! Score! A day off and $20! Could the day get any better?

It turns out that it could. Though the electricity was off, Pete’s was still serving breakfast and inside I got to sit next to the good-looking coach. Of course, I couldn’t look at her and eat at the same time, but no matter.

The following weekend, my fiancé and I were going to breakfast, and I suggested Pete’s, We drove there from Oxnard, and I missed it on my first pass, necessitating the need to circle the block. We found an estate sale at a small house, and decided to take a look. The renter had just passed away, and the owners, who lived in Arkansas, were looking to sell. We were actually about to buy a condo in Oxnard, but the house was only a little bit more, and in a place where we actually would want to live. We got out of the condo, and bought the house where, with some modifications, we still live.

So Pete’s got me to where I live today. And they still serve a good breakfast.

Visiting Downey, Exotical and Bionicos Natural

            In 1977, when I was 14, I thought my family had arrived. We moved from Bell, which was definitely on a downward spiral, to Downey.

            At the time, Downey was the home of white, middle class, suburbia, a marked difference from Bell, and the idea of going to Downey High School excited me to no end. I liked living in Downey and what it meant.

            Still, when my parents divorced and moved away in about 1985, I didn’t go back into Downey very much. Most of my friends had moved away, and without my parents there I had no place to stay. I almost got a job teaching at Downey High in 1995, but had already accepted one in San Gabriel before Downey came through. And again, Downey is a suburb, not really a destination, a place passed on the freeway.

            Tonight, though, I was back in Downey for the Oxnard/Downey football game. I arrived early to look around the city and see how it had changed. Now Downey is crowded, lots of cars, lots of stores, a growing suburb of Los Angeles. The ethnicity has changed as well, with only a handful of white people around. I remember white flight beginning as my brown family moved in, and now it seems fully in effect. The size of Downey High’s enrollment has almost tripled since I was attended, to 4400 students, a huge school population.

            It was interesting to see what was still around, too. A random hair salon would trigger a memory, as did Golf ‘n’ Stuff or the liquor store that was around the corner from my old house.

            I actually went into Exotical, which I remember as kind of a tacky Hawaiian store. It had Hawaiian shirts and bamboo furniture and took up several store-fronts back in the 70’s, but now had shrunk and carried mostly Hawaiian clothing, shirts, dresses, skirts, and hula dancing supplies.

            Looking at the rack, I found not one but several “Go Barefoot” brand Primo Beer Hawaiian shirts that looked exactly like I remember them in the 70’s! They were brand new and only $49! Generally, that would be more than I would be willing to spend, but I’ve been eyeballing the Primo shirts when they come up on eBay, and used ones are going for that price.

            The kid at the counter, (a Warren High graduate, but still nice enough) who had greeted me with a hearty “Aloha,” when I walked in, came over and asked how I was doing, and I told him that I remembered the shop when I lived in Downey 30 years ago, and I thought the Primo shirts were out of print.

            He said that they were, and his grandfather, who had owned the shop, would buy dead stock when it was available and so they had several new old stock shirts. We chatted about the shop and how Downey had changed and how excited I was to get the shirt. With a little nudge from the kid I went with the brightest color they had, a chartreuse over the blue, (which I still might buy at some future date), and left the store a happy camper, with the sound of "mahalo" ringing in my ears.

            If you’re in Downey and need a Primo Beer shirt-or some other Hawaiian shirt that isn’t one you’d find at Macy’s, swing by.

             Across the street from Exotical is Bionicos Natural, a Mexican juice bar. I wasn't going to get anything, but when I paused to take the above picture across the street from Exotical, I noticed they were open. It was very hot in Downey, and the idea of a fresh smoothie suddenly was very appealing.  I had the coconut-pineapple smoothie that was just fresh coconut, fresh pineapple (not canned), ice and cream, I think. The woman who was running the place didn’t seem to speak much English, and my Spanish is hit and miss. She said cream, but it could have been yogurt. It was $3.50 and delicious, cold and fresh on a very warm night.

             A nostalgic night in Downey; too bad Oxnard lost.

Santa Cruz Market, Sticky Finger Bakery, Stephen's Market and Grill, Ventura

Three new places have opened up in August around my house, and I’ve been in all three already, but haven’t had enough to call for a full fledge review. These are just first impressions of people trying hard to get their businesses off the ground, and I intend on visiting them all again soon.

Those who have lived in Ventura for years remember Jues Market, on the corner of Main and Santa Cruz. Walking distance from my house, it did play a small part in my deciding to move to the Midtown area of Ventura. Dorothy was always at the register, and her family had owned the market for decades. They had a great meat counter, fresh vegetables, a decent wine selection, a selection of food staples, and some Asian food supplies befitting the family culture.

When the family retired, they sold the store, which then went through a few owners, losing something of the store flavor, until finally, the store turned into an overgrown liquor store. The neighborhood people who would by fresh meat or veggies, or people like me who would send the kids to the store to pick up some missing item for that night’s dinner stopped coming in. The name changed to Green Market, thankfully divorcing itself from the Jues legacy. The store’s food was overpriced, and would often go bad on the shelves, and finally it shut down.

Changes started to happen in the store a few months back, and walking by I could see the improvements going on inside. New refrigerators, shelving and a meat counter all came back, and the interior, which was dreary even in the Jues days, was spruced up. The parking lot was redone, the exterior painted, and like the rest of the neighborhood, I looked forward to the opening.

Now, Santa Cruz Market, the store looks great. Like Jues many years ago, it has a meat counter and fresh vegetables. They have a sandwich counter, which uses Boar’s Head Meat, and it looks like they’ll be doing several more things with prepared food. Now, the Asian food-stuff is gone, with some Middle-Eastern staples coming in. Everyone is friendly and again I stop in for fresh vegetables or other odds and ends that I don’t feel like running to Vons for. On two occasions I’ve bought hamburger from the meat counter to barbecue, and both times it was excellent.

Sticky Fingers Baking Company opened across Main Street from Santa Cruz Market, and I want to like it, but on my first impression it was only okay. The owner has been doing baked goods for some time, and has being looking for a storefront in the Midtown area. The space is cute and smells good, but my girls and I tried a cupcake, a scone and some cookies, and found them somewhat uninspiring. I wouldn’t spit them out, but at this point I wouldn’t go back on the strength of their taste.

I had some coffee as well, and though it was good, it wasn’t great or even worth the wait. The owner brews one cup at a time, so it came well after I was into my scone. A dry scone without coffee or tea certainly loses some of its flavor.

Sticky Fingers is close by, and I’ll try them again to update this report. At the moment though, there wasn’t anything that makes me want to race back in.

Stephen’s Market and Grill seems a bit confused still. It occupies the huge space that was once Chuy’s at 2632 Main, and they haven’t really warmed up the space. It’s open with a handful of tables, and gave me the feeling that I was eating in the middle of a basketball court. They have some Greek market items in the front of the space, cheeses, olives and such, which I’ll try at some point in the future.

They have dinner items which were in the $15-20 a plate range, which looked and smelled delicious. But I’d say that I wouldn’t spend that much to eat in that space.

When my son and I went, we just wanted something to snack on before playing pool at Stix, so we split the Greek Burger combo. It was surprisingly good! A large burger, a good size salad and a healthy portion of fries, all tasty and fresh made for a good late night snack. Not quite enough for a full meal for two, it certainly was a good size for one person.

Again, I plan on visiting all these places again and I’ll give a more detail report.