A pizza spot and a Mediterranean chain eatery have opened in Ventura, while a separate Caribbean restaurant that closed last year in the Ventura is starting over in Camarillo.
Pizza Station at 4231 Telegraph Road in Ventura opened in February, while Cava at 1788 S. Victoria Ave., Suite A in Ventura’s Montalvo Square Shopping Center, also opened earlier in the month.
Caribbean Haven, formerly at 1780 S. Victoria Ave., Suite E, moved to The Kitchen Terminal at 115 Dawson Drive in Camarillo. The restaurant’s former Ventura address will be the new home of Slice House By Tony Gemignani in July.
Cava
Fast-casual restaurant chain Cava, located about three miles away from Pizza Station on Victoria Avenue in Ventura, opened on Feb. 13.
The Mediterranean restaurant features build-your-own or signature bowls, pitas, salads, dips and drinks.
Newer items include a spicy lamb and sweet potato bowl for $15.80 and a Harissa Chicken Power with Harissa Honey Chicken and white sweet potato and hummus for $17.85. Other items include a spicy lamb and avocado bowl for $18.75 or a steak and feta pita for $16.90.
Cava’s new Ventura restaurant will employ 25 to 40 local people, according to a news release.
The restaurant is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit https://cava.com/.
Pizza Station
Pizza Station is located in the former home of Santino’s Pizza Parlor, which permanently closed more than four years ago, said Tammy Cocain, co-owner with her husband Robert Cocain, who she said owns the building.
The menu features a variety of pizzas, pasta and appetizers. The Ventura restaurant opened on Feb. 18, she said.
“The thing with this pizza place is that this has been a pizza place since the 70s,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s taken us four years to remodel it.”
The location features an arcade, sports bar and 13 televisions, she said.
Medium 14-inch pizzas are featured and start at $19.95 for a margarita with cheese, tomato and fresh sweet basil to $21.95 for a Mexican pizza with cheese, Italian sausage, green peppers, onions and jalapenos that is topped with lettuce, tomatoes, olives and salsa.
Pastas, served with meat sauce, marinara or butter and garlic bread, include the $17.95 lasagna, $14.95 manicotti or $11.95 meat ravioli.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Tuesdays.
For more information, visit instagram.com/pizzastation.venturaa or call 805-759-4508.
Caribbean Haven
Caribbean Haven, formerly located at the Montalvo Square Shopping Center, opened on Feb. 20 in Camarillo.
Customers are asked to head to the front door at The Kitchen Terminal off Dawson Drive and ring the bell. The building doesn’t have a Caribbean Haven sign up yet, according to its Facebook account.
The restaurant had been in Ventura for eight years, said Hutton John, owner.
“At the end of the day, business basically tanked,” he said. “My business went south about two years ago.”
In the new location, he has removed about 25% of the menu, such as some less popular vegan items.
Popular items are the $32 braised oxtail stew and a $20 jerk chicken plate, he said. Other items include a $21 jerk tri-tip sandwich, $21 Oxtail Mac n’ Cheese and an $11 rum cake.
The hours are from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday through Monday with transactions completed online. The business is open for delivery and pickup only. It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
As the business gets more popular, John said he plans to extend the hours and days.
For more information, visit: caribbeanhaven.com/ or facebook.com/CaribHaven/.
The space that Caribbean Haven exited will be the new home of Slice House By Tony Gemignani in July, said Vinny Margott, a co-owner of the Ventura County Slice Houses and other locations.
Gemignani is an award-winning chef who owns Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco and he owns and franchises the restaurant Slice House.
“Ventura County is our hometown for our family, and we couldn’t be more excited about opening up one in Ventura,” Margott said in an email.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura’s newest eateries include Cava, Pizza Station
Reporting by Wes Woods II, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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