Native Cafe & Gathering Grounds

12/20/07

Wonderful Holiday Party Location

by donasauras at Citysearch

I was given the task this year of organizing my Law Firms Christmas Party. Without hesitation, I immediately thought of Renee at the Native Cafe. I have eaten at the Native Cafe several times over the past couple of years and have had parties there. From the food to the service and to the attention to detail Renee and her Staff made my office party a huge success. The lawyers, employees and respective spouses wer all in agreement that the food, great wine selection and resturant was spectacular. I highly recommend the Native Cafe and plan on returning in the near future. It's a comfort to know that these types of places exist in my neighborhood. The Native Cafe does not charge for the private wine room which is beautifully decorated. Other local resturants charge a room fee, which can sometimes total more than the cost of food. Therefore, I give a 5 starrating and a definate thumbs up!

Donna Narvaez, Woodland Hills

09/30/07

Wonderful venue for a rehearsal dinner.

by tbagnuolo at Citysearch

I recently hosted a rehearsal dinner for my son and his fiance at Native Cafe. What a pleasant experience. What a cozy and comfortable private room we enjoyed. The attention to detail and the friendly service were much appreciated. The portions of food were quite generous and all the guests seemed to enjoy the ambiance and wine. The service was friendly and efficient. We filled their banquet room with 58 guests (max. is 60) and the set-up was lovely. I was invited to review the setup the night before so I would be comfortable with the room and how and where my quests would be seated. Individual menus were provided with several entree choices for my quests. I always felt that my budget was respected and my permission solicited to serve, clear, open wine, etc. throughout the evening. I was in control of my event and for that am most grateful. It was a memorable evening, with many compliments from guests. Not formal, but friendly and casual just as we had envisioned. Renee and Ron, the owners were personally attentive to our needs. We provided CDs of personally selected music - but the activity in the room (talking and chatting by the guests) drowned out whatever was playing. I would recommend the Native Cafe for events and would love to have one in smaller numbers in their front wine room. That room holds 30 or fewer guests, would be quieter and a little more intimate. It's difficult to get too intimate with nearly 60 quests but we had a lovely time and memorable time.

• Pros: This is a great value for a group event in a special environment
• Cons: Food for 60 took a little long to bring out but we were having such a good time it was not a problem

08/19/07

Fabulous food - friendly service

by crzycook422 at Citysearch

I ate here for the first time and loved it. The decor is nice and cozy. We sat in one of their big booths and stayed for hours they were so comfy. I had the sea bass, it was incredible, by far the best I had ever had. Friends had flank steak, lamb chops and maple salmom...all cooked perfectly. We were celebrating a birthday and asked for a wine recommendation, we ended up trying a bottle of J. Davies, which was yummy...highly recommend. The service was friendly but not intrusive. We even saw a certain 'comedy central' star while we were there, a nice surprise for us since we are fans (no, we did not go fan crazy). I give a thumbs up for this place and will definitely return.

• Pros: Food - Service - Ambiance
• Cons: None.

08/11/07

A mixed experience

by mrsbarsky at Citysearch

We started with their appetizer called "the perfect date," and boy was it delicious! It's a date stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in bacon, and broiled. I highly recommend it. Our waitress was charming and attentive.... for the first half of the evening. But by the time we were halfway through dinner we saw less and less of her until we found ourselves wondering where she was. When I got up to use the restroom at the end of dinner I found her. She was sitting at the bar chatting. Her neglect and their high prices for wine by the glass ($14 for a small glass of Kendall Jackson chardonnay), and the not-so-good cheesecake, make me rate the experience as only average.

07/22/07

Not so great!

by carmelak at Citysearch

It's not our first tine at this restaurant and we come back because the food usually is good and the atmosphere is nice.

Tonight the food was a disappointment I had the Mahi Mahi with scallops, the fish was O.K. the scallops were bitter, when I told the server that they are bitter he told me that scallops are always bitter????

My husband's dinner was a little better, but not great and it does not justify the price.

Very disappointing!

04/01/07

Great place, not your typical bistro!

by filmbuff36 at Citysearch

I recently ate here with a large group of 12 friends for a birthday get together. This place has great ambiance, excellent service and friendly staff! We all had a good time and the food was incredible with lots of choices...the best I've had in a long time! Service was attentive without rushing us...I will admit we took our time but our server did not seem to mind at all. We had some great cocktails and they have a decent wine menu too. The name is deceptive, it is not a cafe at all...more like a bistro you would find in San Fransisco.

• Pros: Food and Service EXCELLENT!
• Cons: none

01/03/07

A must try if you love good food!

by nycguy43 at Citysearch

I came here based on the reviews and was impressed with this restaurant. There were four of us dining and it was hard to decide what to order. I've eaten at many great NY restaurants and this gem of a restaurant should be proud! I ordered their lamb chops which were tender and juicy with an incredible pomagranite glaze. Not your typical mint or dijion sauce. My date had the Maple Balsamic Salmon which was so good she was scraping her plate to get every bit of the sauce. My friends got the Filet Mignon which had a nice Cranberry Balsamic Sauce (a special in December only) that was extraordinary. His wife tried the Bison NY steak with Cherry Port Sauce, it was very good. It was a bit sweeter then regular beef but they say it is much leaner and healthier so she tried it and was surprised that she liked it so much. My date loved her Native Signature Salad and we our appetizer of Shrimp Atop Straw Potatoes was loved by all of us. The service was friendly and cocktails were good. The wine selection is pretty good. They did not have music scheduled for December so I am looking forward to coming back when they start their music up again in January. Generally, I am not easily impressed but this restaurant does a nice job of pleasing it customers.

• Pros: An enthusiastic thumbs up!
• Cons: Can't think of anything.

09/08/06

Go for the food

by kkurcisk at Citysearch

This is a really positive change in Calabasas dining choices - the owners are friendly and the food is both interesting and well prepared. We love Native Cafe as a lunch spot. For dinner, it's a bit disappointing for several reasons. First of all, the service is several notches below the food. It's probably difficult to find really professional servers in the Valley, but this restaurant would benefit from really top-notch service. The wine list is not very diverse, although not bad for a new place. The wine service is disappointing; it would make a difference to us if we were offered better stemware for a really fine bottle of wine. Finally, the acoustics in the main dining room are harsh, which makes it more difficult to relax over dinner.

Overall, probably the best dinner you can get in Calabasas, but falls short of places like Cafe 14 and Leila's (both in Agoura) for atmosphere, service, and wine choices.

• Pros: Great food, friendly approachable owners, attentive service
• Cons: Loud, disappointing stemware

08/28/06

Incredible Menu Selection...Great ambience!!

by tomcart at Citysearch

A friend of mine kept recommending this place as his favorite restaurant in the valley so I finally made plans to dine there with some friends this past weekend! This little jewel is incredible. I talked with the owner a bit when he came by to check on how our dinner was and found out that this is a relatively new restaurant just coming up on its one year anniversay. I was amazed at how extensive the menu was and every dish we had was absolutely mouth-watering. We ordered the Sea Bass with Lobster Sauce, Lamb Chops with Pomegranite Sauce, Bison with Cherry Port Sauce and Maple Balsamic Salmon....we couldn't agree which dish we liked best. We split their Native Signature salad which my wife says is hands down the best salad she has ever eaten. There was live music in the lounge which added to the evening. We had a great server who was engaging and fun. We will be back again and again and highly recommend this new gem of a restaurant!

• Pros: Great food and ambience.
• Cons: can't think of any!

08/12/06

Not all its made out to be

by cjones10 at Citysearch

Came here based on the glowing recommendation on this site. Found it to be average at best. Had the seabass. Definitely have had better elsewhere. Yes, it was relaxing and quiet because no one else was there. Service was ok. Won't reccomend it.