Rookees is a sports bar and grill down on Main St. in Ventura. It’s an excellent spot to catch the game, get some food, and most importantly, drink like you did right before your doctor told you your liver is the size of an adult raccoon. They have plenty of beers on tap and we even managed to try a few of the dishes.
Rookees – Main St Ventura
I drank with this dude. He owns property in Silverstrand
Rookees is like your modern day sports bar. Just like the Espn Zone there are tons of TVs and they are all huge. You can watch a game from almost anywhere in the place. They have booth seating, tables and plenty of room at the bar. They even have a few themed nights. We happened to be there on Surf night, which meant the help dressed a bit more tropical. All the TVs were linked into surf video and they had a nightly drawing, giving away surf boards and various other beach gear. Since they were not giving away a whale carcass or a hat made from sea lion, I did not participate.
We ordered the appetizer sampler, chicken enchiladas, and the mini hamburgers. It’s way too dark in the place to really get a good picture of the food so you’re just gonna have to go see for yourself. Dark places can be good for bringing ugly dates, so if you’re dating someone you don’t want other people to see you with, I’d take them to Rookees. Get a corner booth. Your friends will never see you there. You can just sit back in the dark and watch them get more attractive with every round.
The appetizer sampler has chicken strips, wings, mini ribs, fries, and apparently pot stickers, even though the menu says onion rings. The chef must have known we’d hate the onion rings ’cause when we let them know they had given us the wrong one, they sent over the rings and they were awful. They had this weird citrus taste to them as if the onions had been soaked in lemon. It did not work at all. The rest of the appetizers are good, the ribs being the better of the lot. Next time I’d just straight up order the ribs as my appetizer.
The mini burgers were thick juicy and came with this great spicy dipping sauce. The sauce made the burgers, for sure. Itwas a bit hard to get a clean dip and if you’re in a group you’re all going to be in each others business if you share this dish, but it’s worth it.
The chicken enchiladas were actually outdone by the rice that comes with them. They use an excellent rice that is flavored just enough. It’s long grain rice and is really delicious. The chicken enchiladas suffered from the same thing the onion rings did. They were citrused out. Either the chickens are back there doing lemonade shots or one of the cooks has scurvy.
I would definitely add Rookies to my places to watch sports. Its atmosphere is perfect for sporting events and so is its beer. The service is friendly and knowledgeable. Get your friends, your grandma, and your deadbeat cousin (if he buys the first round) and head to Rookees. Plus, Anacapa Brewery is right across the street. So hit them both and really get your drink on. It’ll be a night of great beer and you’ll only have to walk about 100 feet between places.
EatMeCalifornia 