Beach House Tacos, Ventura CA

So in July I go to this new dentist in Ojai, I tell him I'm a taco fiend and he says... "Go to the Beach House. It's amazing."

I didn't make it in July but as I am back here in November for a spot of dogsitting, off I went.

Pretty easy to find. Right on Harbor Dr. on the Pier. The pier is tiny. Nothin' but 2 restaurants (owned by the same people) one of which is the Beach House.

It's a cute shack with a sail covered patio. They have all kinds of beer and cocktails they make with various liquor substitutes. The Bloody Marys actually looked good. The place seems to be run by a couple of 'kids' in their 20's. Maybe this isn't the best idea... Most of the complaints on Yelp are about the service and the wait.

Granted, everything is fresh. Normally I will wait and wait for fresh, but there is something about the way they operate in there that seems to need improvement.

The tacos! I had a very tasty Ahi Tuna Taco. It was seared in a nicely browned flour tortilla. It had cucumbers, cabbage and some nice Asian notes with the dressing. I chose the mild salsa but I really prefer the medium one. It looks orange and is very smooth and savory with a little heat. The 'hot' salsa is the standard fare red you can get on a taco truck loaded with chili seeds. The taco was $4.25

I also felt like a salad so I got one with grilled shrimp. I think the salad came to around $9 with the shrimp added. The feta and pumpkin seeds were a nice touch. They gave me what was supposed to be a 'green' dressing but really it was just guacamole. An actual salad dressing (oil, vinegar, etc.) would have been a better call.

As I was leaving I noticed they had a crispy taco. They call in the 'Crunchy' and it's $2. I had to try one OF COURSE. It said right on the menu that it was ground beef with raisins. I guess they were going for a Cuban Picadillo feel. It was actually tasty, the shell was perfect, not too much yellow cheese and the ever present iceberg lettuce was there in abundance.

However, instead of being cut in fine shreds, this lettuce had more of a chopped feel. Shredded iceberg makes a better presentation but you have to cut it the right way.

Ultimately, I don't really want raisins in my crispy taco!

The wait! So... at around 1pm on a Sat. I was the only gal in line. I waited about 15-20 min. for my first order. An hour later, there were 12 people in line and I waited about 35 min to order and receive my lone crispy taco.

Not soooo bad. The crowd kind of ebbs and flows throughout the day, but it can jam up pretty fast. And this was all on a windy somewhat rainy afternoon. The line is probably 2x as long in the summer months.
All that being said, do I recommend it? Yeah. I do. Just be patient and definitely plan on drinking beer or one of their other drinks because that will ease the wait. They do give you your drink order right away along with your numbered food ticket.

If you order chips and salsa or chips and guac you get that right away too. They have pastor and both grilled and battered fish and shrimp tacos. People seem to love those.

I'm sure on a warm day in the Spring or Summer it's a delight, and that Ahi Taco really was pretty darn good.

Beach House Tacos on Yelp