There are a bunch of reasons to spend a weekend in Ojai, and many of them have nothing to do with yoga retreats, babymoons, or “Oh, can I still use this gift card I got three years ago for the Ojai Valley Inn?” This small town just east of Ventura is only an hour and a half from LA (with no traffic) and is home to hikes, cute rental cottages, and plenty of places to eat produce grown down the street. Having said that, this isn’t a Napa Valley-like destination with too many fancy restaurants to count. Ojai is more laid-back, with spots better suited for daytime eating and drinking that won’t leave you recovering for days. These are our 15 favorite places in town.
THE SPOTS
Pinyon is a sourdough bakery, wine shop, and pizza emporium that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Sure, they use local produce and naturally-leavened dough in all their products, but they also have a green neon sign shaped like a frog and sell shirts that say “Pepperoni Star Stuff” on the back. During the day, you’ll find bagels, hoagies, and a couple of square slices on their old-school menu board. At night, they serve puffy-crusted, wood-fired pies topped with things like giardiniera, rainbow chard, ricotta, and confit garlic. If you’re lucky, you might even catch one of Pinyon’s special pop-up dinners—they’ve already done collaborations with LA spots like Little Fish and Greekmans. Keep an eye on their Instagram for the latest updates and fun weekly wine reviews.
If you live in LA, you probably stand in enough lines for tacos, but you should sacrifice a little of your vacation time to stand in this one anyway. Just off the main street, this tiny shop serves a small menu of tacos, burritos, and quesadillas that you can take with you to the park just down the street. Get here early—they close at 3pm, but they’ll shut down before that if they run out of ingredients. Cash only.
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The Dutchess took over the former space of longstanding Ojai spot Azu—which sadly shut down in the summer of 2021. And you can think of this all-day spot from the Rustic Canyon team as a real-life amalgamation of every well-styled photo of 'a boho cabin in Ojai' on the internet. It’s full of antique wallpaper, sturdy wooden furniture, and more quirky things you'd expect to find at a Sunday morning swap meet, like a coat hook shaped like a duck, for instance. Starting at 7am, they serve breakfast, lunch, and pastries, ranging from croque madames to samosa hand pies. If you stop in for dinner, expect a menu of Burmese-Californian dishes you won’t find anywhere else in town. The tea leaf salad didn't blow us away on first-visit, but keep this spot in mind if you’re looking for a fun night out in Ojai.
Ojai Rotie is a fantastic place to eat outside in downtown Ojai. If you walk up to the massive front patio, most people will probably be eating the Lebanese rotisserie chicken platters. You should do the same, but also know that Ojai Rotie makes some great sides to go along with your meat. Focus on the tabbouleh salad and the rotisserie potatoes, which are like whole fingerling French fries. And if you’re not interested in tearing apart a roast chicken at dinner, the sandwiches are great, too, especially the grilled eggplant with cabrillo cheese. Grab a glass of wine from the bar, soak in the views of the mountains, and brainstorm ways to convince your boss to let you work part-time from Ojai.
Most restaurants that look like hunting lodges have some giveaway that they’re not actually hunting lodges like a veggie burger, or the fact that they’re located in the middle of a large metropolitan area. But Ojai Deer Lodge is the real deal. It’s up the hill in Meiners Oaks, just outside of Ojai proper, and is the most fun place in Ojai to drink a bit too much after a hike. There’s a fantastic beer selection, solid cocktails, and live music most nights. The food is good enough to serve its purpose - get the tri-tip nachos—but the best time to come is on the weekends when there’s a smoker out front, and they’re serving pulled pork, ribs, and tri-tip sandwiches.
If you’re into craft beer, you might already know about Topa Topa Brewing Company. Started in Ventura, the popular brewery now has four locations along the central coast. The taproom in Ojai is a great spot for gathering everyone you like in one place—especially when you just want drinks and a light bite. There are over 15 drafts on tap at the bar, plus a takeout restaurant called Little Sama that serves modern Indonesian food from a small window inside. When it’s warm out, grab a seat on the patio out front and take in the views of the Topa Topa Mountains towering over Ojai Avenue.
Run by two sisters, Rory’s Place opened up in February 2022, bringing an exciting new option to the edge of the town’s main strip. There are crudos, gem salads, and wood-fired vegetables, but many of the familiar dishes get new, successful, and fun twists here—the roast chicken is topped with blackberries and the broiled oysters come with fermented chili butter, for example. There’s also a happening back patio, a solid natural wine list, and a shoppable pantry with fancy staples up front. If you’re looking for a lively, new-feeling Ojai dinner spot with very good food, Rory’s is definitely where you want to be.
There are a couple of coffee options in Ojai, but Beacon is by far the best. It’s in a big open space with whitewashed walls, plenty of big tables, and a very local crowd. They serve a few daily pastries at the counter, plus a bigger menu that’s better than regular coffee shop stuff—there’s a jicama salad, a masa flatbread, and if you’re lucky, a fantastic milk bread french toast at brunch. It’s the kind of place you’ll stop into on your first day, and then return every morning after that.
The Nest is our favorite spot for a sort-of healthy lunch in Ojai. It’s an order-at-the-counter setup on the main strip, with lots of outdoor seating and a menu that ranges from fish and chips and Chinese bao to Brussels sprout tacos. Those tacos are particularly good, but you’re really here to settle in on the patio and figure out how many years of work it’s going to take until you can afford to buy a house in Ojai.
Even if you’re not staying at Ojai Valley Inn, you can still visit the 220-acre resort by checking out its collection of restaurants. Our favorite of the bunch is Jimmy’s Pub—a surprisingly casual all-day spot that overlooks a massive golf course. There’s a long bar inside, but we recommend grabbing an outdoor table to take advantage of the scenic grounds and prime people-watching. Bring a friend and snack on things like crispy buffalo shrimp, creamy avocado hummus, and wood-fired pizza topped with fennel sausage. You’ll get the five-star service you’d expect from a country club without the membership fee.
Just west of town in Meiners Oaks is this health food store and cafe that is about as Ojai as it gets. The menu has a chai of the day and raw tacos, and we’ve seen people clearing chakras and inviting the mother spirit into their energy at the table next to us. But aside from all of that, the vegetarian Mexican food is great, and there’s also a market attached where you can buy chia seeds in bulk and loaves of bread made down the street.
This wine bar just off Ojai Ave. feels less like a bar and more like that friend’s house you end up at every weekend. The whole place is extremely relaxed—there’s a small inside bar where you can order a glass of prosecco and a cheese and charcuterie plate before grabbing one of the patio tables outside. Come here for a pre-dinner drink/hang - just be aware that they’re closed Monday-Tuesday, and only open until 8pm.
The food at Boccali’s is fine, in a classic Italian red sauce kind of way, but you’re here to sit at a table on the back lawn, drink the wine you bought earlier that day, and then buy string lights on Amazon to replicate the whole setup once you get home. There are, however, two exceptional dishes: the excellent, only-served-in-the-summer tomato salad, and the enormous strawberry shortcake for dessert (swap the ice cream in for whipped cream).
Papa Lennon’s sounds like the pizza place by your high school, and like most small-town pizza shops, there are some hits and misses on the menu. The pizzas are generally pretty solid—especially the Thai Chicken, which comes with carrots and peanut sauce—but the non-pizza items are the real highlights. They have a great beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts, and the chicken parm sandwich is heavy, very flavorful, and exactly what you want after a day pretending you’re a person who hikes.
Air Pizza is about ten minutes outside Ojai’s downtown village in an unassuming strip mall next to a drug store. But the New York-style sourdough pizza at this casual slice shop is well worth the trip. Whether you order a whole pie or a slice on a paper plate, the thick edges are crispy while the middle stays soft. Keep it simple and get the classic pepperoni, and if you’re feeling adventurous, order another slide of their mushroom-loaded Mira Monte. They also offer gluten-free options, vegan cheese, and salads for anyone who needs dietary alternatives.
