Full of Beans/Jake's Wayback Burgers

Jake's Wayback Burgers

4960 Telephone Rd
Ste 102
Ventura, CA 93003

Full of Beans

11534 N Ventura Ave • Ojai, CA 93023
(805) 640-8500

I like a good burger, and my kids prefer burgers to tacos, so if I want a taco it is the only option that I can offer. If I throw a burger place out there, that's what the kids will choose.

Jake's Wayback Burgers recently set up an outpost by Kohls, and my daughter and I went by to check it out. It wasn't bad. That's really all I have to say when you get down to it. They make burgers and put a variety of toppings on them with no extra charge, and generally anyplace that will throw grilled onions and mushrooms on a burger for no extra charge is a place that I'll go back to often. But somehow, Jake's did this and underwhelmed me. The french fries weren't anything special, and my daughter's cheeseburger was uninspiring. 

Basically, In-N-Out's burgers are just as good-maybe better-and less than half the price. If I want a basic burger, In-N-Out works. A bit fancier, and two locations of  The Habit (based in Santa Barbara) are here in town, one by the beach and the other over by Winco. Another step up and I would suggest Five Guys in Oxnard. But I don't think that I'll be heading to Jake's Wayback Burgers again soon. I did notice, though, that they have hot dogs on the menu, and sometimes I crave a good hot dog.

I hear good things about Bombay Bar & Grill, so might have to get there soon for a local gourmet burger. Don't worry, I'll write about it here.

But on to the second part of the post. After lunch at Jake's, I had to drive to Ojai, and on the road decided to stop at one of my favorite coffee houses, Full of Beans. The interesting thing about Full of Beans, and this may sound odd, is that I don't really think their coffee is anything special. Like several places in Ventura and Santa Barbara, they brew Santa Barbara Roast Coffee, and I find that SB Roast doesn't really have a distinctive flavor. All of their roasts taste similar to me, and don't seem to have a particularly full body.

I really like this place, though.

Full of Beans started in a small shop by Dukes on Seaward. When FoB was still there, I went in once with my daughters and bought them ice cream. The owner said that the ice cream looked good, and after giving rather generous scoops to my girls, served himself one and sat down to join us. I was a fan ever since.

The Ojai location is larger, with a big back patio space that sometimes features live music. They also have local pastries, ice cream and some lunch items. While I was trying to decide what size coffee to order, the tattooed girl at the counter said to go ahead and try anything that I thought looked good, that if I didn't like it they'd make me something else.

I ordered a large coffee, and the girl asked if I'd like that in a mug or to go cup. I opted for a mug, and she promptly went to warm up a mug that I could bathe in. While she was doing that, the other woman walked from the back, saw me standing and waiting, and asked if there was something she could do for me. I liked the attention. I took my jumbo mug of average coffee ($1.95 and $.50 for refills) and left the colorful indoor space to walk out to the back patio.

The whole place is exceptionally clean, including the outside patio space. Since that space is shaded by a large tree, and the cafe is located on a dusty highway, I was amazed at how clean it was. I spent the last three days preparing my outdoor patio for a barbecue, and it still wasn't as clean as that space. No fallen leaves, no bird poop on anything, and I felt totally comfortable sitting in any one of the outdoor benches and chairs.

I struck up a conversation with the musician as he was packing up, enquiring about the home made guitar that he was putting away. We chatted before I sat down with my book (Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell , not bad). It's a great place to enjoy a bit of time. Free wifi, too.