Musical Dining - Blog Feature

In the October issue of 805 Living Magazine, I wrote a feature about restaurants where music is a theme (or at least where you can see some live musical acts).  In the process of researching that article, I came across a number of good restaurants offering live musical performances.  I want to share those places with you.  So I’ll be listing one restaurant almost every day throughout the month of October on the blog here and talking about what kind of music they offer.

In the print article, I mentioned:

Charline’s Urban Tapas & Wine Bar (546 E. Main St., Ventura, 805-652-2255, www.charlines.com) with its smooth jazz and Southern small plates. Owner Kevin Williams brings in bands from Santa Barbara and L.A. like Bobby Watley & The Organ Trio or Satellite Orchestra. He also created the menu of interesting bites like fried mac & cheese balls, Gouda grits, catfish sliders, and buttermilk pie. “I go against the grain,” he said of his self-described “new-age jazz juke joint” named for his grandmother. The lights are low, the booths are luxe, and the martinis can be spicy. The blues, jazz, soul, and R&B artists play Wednesday through Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Melomaniacs will love the upstairs Entertainment Loft of Zoey’s Cafe (451 E. Main St., Ventura, 805-652-1137, www.zoeyscafe.com) for its nice acoustics and intimate atmosphere. An abbreviated menu of salads, pizzas, and dessert is available along with strong coffee drinks, beer, wine and cocktails. There’s a cover charge that varies with the artists playing. Mostly it falls between $5 and $20. Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. you can catch emerging singer/songwriters—a real treat. For a taste of the talent, visit www.syd-music.com to see Syd in action or  www.myspace.com/brandonharriswalker for a snippet of Brandon Walker’s tunes. Thursday through Saturday nights catch more acoustic acts playing pop, jazz, rock and folk tunes, often of their own making. See Zoey’s special event web calendar to see who’s playing and to link to the artists’ web pages.