••• Vic’s Wine Bar has opened at The Post, taking over the Little King Coffee space Friday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Here’s the opening wine menu, which will change frequently; the food menu will expand over time.
••• Jonesy’s Fried Chicken in Goleta is closing on August 30.
••• Crushcakes rolled back the recent changes at its Goleta location and is once again serving breakfast and lunch.
••• Apparently, The Knock (as the Blackbird space at the Hotel Californian is now known) has been themed around Alfred Hitchcock. 805Foodie got a press release and an invitation to an opening party.
••• I hadn’t been to El Encanto in a while, so my husband and I took a friend there for lunch. We ate outside, as one prefers to do in that extraordinary setting; the atmosphere was lovely, and the food was fine. The property changed hands over a year ago, but it still feels like it’s in a holding pattern. The only changes I noticed were that the dining room furniture got updated (although the room has an unfinished air about it), and landscapers were in the process of planting a lot of privet. Service was as spotty as it has been for years.
••• The Carl’s Jr. on Calle Real in Goleta has closed; as previously reported, Sweetgreen is taking its place. —Restaurant Guy
••• Ojai restaurants tend to close soon after opening in an alarming fashion. The latest to go: Reframe Bistro.
••• The word on the street is that the former Rite Aid at 801 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria will become a Mexican market.
••• Back in December, when I visited Buena Bodega in Ventura, I made a note to return when Luke’s sandwich shop opened next door. It took a while, but I finally got there and was glad I did. (We need more ambitious sandwich shops!) I ordered the Natsu Katsu sandwich, with chicken thigh meat, black sesame coleslaw, chicken-skin chicharrones, and pickled daikon on housemade milk bread. On the side: “umami miso” potato chips. Excellent stuff—a return trip is in order. And not to pick on Luke’s, because this sort of thing happens everywhere, but the “please bus your table” sign rankled a bit, given that it sits right next to where I was presented with options to tip. P.S. Afterward, I picked up a four-pack of an Australian soft drink called Mischief Brew—tonic water with lemon myrtle, rosemary, and bitter orange—at Buena Bodega and wished I had bought more.
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The Luke’s sandwich, while, looking delicious, has a name that is misleading. It’s not a “katsu” sandwich by any means. It’s diced chicken, glazed with tare. It would be more appropriate to call it a “teriyaki” sandwich since tare has the same base ingredients as teriyaki sauce. It looks good but I would return it for a refund if I were craving a “katsu” sandwich and was served glazed chicken salad instead of a breaded, fried cutlet of pork or chicken.
“please bus your table” rankled you? Unbelievable
I don’t mind being asked to bus a table. The problem comes when I’m also being asked to tip at least 15%. For what? Taking my order and calling out my name when it’s ready? This strikes me as an either-or situation: If you prod me to tip, then you shouldn’t also be prodding me to bus my own table.
Erik, agree 100 % on tipping someone else to do the bussing you yourself provided. And often I don’t notice the “Bus your own table” sign until after I’ve already paid and tipped. Just another example of the out of control tipping culture that started with the Pandemic and those ubiquitous electronic tip prompts.
I live in Europe and it stresses me out every time I come back to the US and have to deal with those ubiquitous electronic tip prompts!? I always feel guilty if I don’t leave the suggested amount but it’s annoying to have to tip everywhere you go here.
This is roughly what I use:
Table service – 20%
Order at a counter, but they bring it to you, refill drinks, and bus your table – 15%
Same as above but I get my own drinks – 10%
Order and pick up food at a counter, and bus own table – 0% or $1-2 if I’m a regular
This is a great rule of thumb!
In two places where I am a regular, they zero out the tip option before I get the screen. I still tip, but there’s no reason to tip 15 or 20% if you’re bussing the table. It’s hard out there for most of the people who are responsible for our daily interactions. Tipping 10% for a counter person isn’t going to hurt me.
I’m told local restaurants usually pool tips across FOH and kitchen, so I always tip at least 10% (even on takeout) for the cooks. If there are only few employees at the counter, then more of the tip goes to the kitchen.
15% or more if I’m dining in, and 20% or more for table service.
I do dislike tipping up front though. I miss having discretion based on the actual service.
Ted, I’m not sure who told you…sadly tip pooling doesn’t generally tip out the back of the house. “Back-of-House Staff: Kitchen staff like cooks, chefs, and dishwashers are generally excluded from tip pools under California’s strict standards ” I once worked where the kitchen was tipped out. Once. All other places no tips for BOH. Your reasoning, “If there are only few employees at the counter, then more of the tip goes to the kitchen” is a bit off. It doesn’t work that way in the industry.
Nooooo…Jonesy was fantastic.
Wasn’t that restaurant always themed around Alfred Hitchcock? I ate at the Blackbird years ago after it opened and it that was the theme. It’s recycled.
I had dinner at El Encanto a few months ago. The food was not memorable, nor was the service. To make things even worse, both of us had food poisoning and were sick all night (we shared everything). I wrote to them, but I never heard a word back. I miss the old El Encanto. I will not be going back again.