Rory's Place

Rory’s Place Review: There’s No Better Spot to Start and End the Day in Ojai Than This Local Gem | Eater LA

"With a long, buzzing dining room, a large front banquette that frames the room, and an equally lively back patio, this popular Ojai restaurant feels like the right place to end the night, even if just for a drink and a snack, so making a reservation ahead is smart for the full experience. An enticing raw bar, smartly curated wines, and cocktails like the surprisingly light salt-and-pepper martini built on a Culch vodka, orange wine, and salt-water infusion pair well with dishes to share such as roasted chicken. Standout plates include the passionfruit aguachile with plump shrimp pieces, Fresno chiles, and puffy shrimp chips that’s an ideal starter when passionfruit is in season, broiled oysters that bring the house down with fermented chile butter and are the recommended choice over raw bivalves, and more formidable, rustic-feeling dishes like Georgian bean stew, where fermented chile paste appears again, and wild mushroom polenta. A side of fries or Japanese sweet potato with miso butter and lime fits easily onto any table, and the setting works equally well for a romantic date night that doesn’t feel too fancy, girl dinners in the front banquette, or solo meals at the bar with a book in hand." - Nicole Fellah