71 Palm

I had a bad dinner, smelly fish, and gave owner-​chef Didier a second chance a year later. Because I am a gourmet and grew up in Paris, I could speak to him in fluent French and asked him what I should order. Again, the food was half as good as elsewhere and double the price! I’m thrilled he finally closed.

Some friends and I had dinner here the other night for the first time. We had heard that this place would be closing down in a few days. The décor seemed to fit the French theme of the restaurant nicely… although a bit dated.
Unfortunately, the food did not live up to its hype. I ordered the escargot as a starter and the rack of lamb for an entrée. The escargot was a bit overcooked and under seasoned. The lamb, although cooked beautifully, was quickly shadowed by the very undercooked beans and overcooked haricot verts it shared plate space with.
The staff were all very nice and attentive, but I doubt I would have gone there again if it were not closing soon.

Absolutely delicious food. The wait staff were very professional and tentative. It is a pricey place, but you get what you pay for. This will be our next date night or celebration dinner place. We also stayed past closing (time totally got away from us) but we were never rushed out the door or felt pressured to leave. Very happy with my first experience and I will definitely recommend to my friends. It’s a restaurant that I had never heard of before, but it’s worth the journey off of main st.

Meh. Don’t think we’ll be back.
High prices for mediocre food.
$ 4 for a watery ice tea, $ 23 for a very small plate of beef bourgunion that had very little flavor. $ 12 for a puny little salad and $ 8 for a side of sweet potatoe fries. But the water was free! I guess maybe my expectations were too high.

TLDR: One of the worst restaurants I’ve ever been to — right up there with the restaurant with the cockroach infestation.
My wife and I were served by the owner. When my wife could not readily find the drinks on the menu, she asked what they had to offer. The owner told us he had coke, apple juice, and Orangina. He did NOT tell us that the prices for the drinks were as follows: $ 3.75 for the Coke, $ 4 for the apple juice, and $ 6 for the Orangina. We ordered four drinks — wine, coke, Orangina, and apple juice — assuming that the prices would be reasonable. It is common knowledge that drinks have huge profit margins on them. However, when we saw our bill, my wife and I felt nickel and dimed.
Moreover, my daughter spilled her apple juice. We cleaned it up easily, and the owner’s daughter casually asked us if we’d like another one. We said yes, assuming that the offer was for a free apple juice. Nope — another $ 4 charge. That means my family spent over $ 20 in drinks.
Since I’m gluten-​free, I asked the owner to put my Portabella burger on a bed of greens. Since the meal came with a salad already, I asked if he could switch it with a soup. Again, I assumed that the switch would be free. He said he would switch it out. When I got the bill, I saw that he had charged me $ 5 for the soup.
I posted a picture of my receipt so you can review t yourself.
As for the food, it’s mediocre at best. The salad, soup, and burger tasted bland. Not only was the portobello mushroom flavorless, but it was also very tough (either that or the knife he gave me was very dull). My wife did say that the Kobe burger was OK, but way overpriced for what she got. As for décor, we sat outside in plastic yard furniture that swayed whenever I had to saw through the portobello.
Now based on everything I’ve written so far, I would’ve given the restaurant two or three stars max. I do note that I made assumptions based on my prior experiences at other restaurants, and that I could have requested prices on things. However, I am giving the restaurant one star for the following reason. Feeling tremendously overcharged, I gave the owner a 10% tip. The owner had the audacity to stand over my shoulder, point at the tip, and ask me, «What is that?» The owner was visibly upset and remained leaning over my shoulder waiting for me to answer (I felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially since my three-​year-​old daughter was sitting right next to me). Baffled and a bit intimidated by his statement, I told him that was his tip. He told me it was only 10% and «customarily people tip 15%.» I told him that I tipped him 10%. The owner huffed and walked away. After he left, I got up, grabbed my daughter, and left the restaurant immediately. The owners actions crossed almost every social and ethical line I know and I will never eat there ever again

After seeing all the great review, we decided to give it try. Upon arriving, place looks great, small and cosy. We had reservations so there was no wait.
I’m big on steak, so once I seen they offer COBE steak, my date and I both ordered our own. I like my steak well, so staff offered to butterfly the steak (to keep moisture) sure why not since that’s what most restaurants do. I know I asked for well done but the steak came out burnt and crispy. Is this a joke? His steak was cooked to order, however, flavor was still plain and not up to Cobe steak par at all. Clearly it was not a Cobe steak, not even comparable to a filet.
We had to keep looking for our waiter as well (note it wasn’t a busy night). After paying for our food and the over priced FAKE cobe steaks, never am I coming back.

This place is a hidden jem in the middle of downtown Ventura. The National Historic Landmark building is a large Arts and Crafts /​California style house reminiscent of Pasadena’s grand mansions.
Great for a romantic evening or a family meal. The food is great. The staff is very attentive. Nice bar area and porch/​veranda. They serve classic cocktails like French 75 and have a nice selection of wine and bottled beer. They had a French beer but I opted for the Belgian Chouffe which is a tastey pale ale. (I think).
And they have a private parking lot in the back!!!

Excellent and authentic French food! Great wine too. We’ve been coming here for years and it’s consistently delicious.

I am thoroughly pleased with this establishment. Everyone is professional and polite. The manager is vigilant and attentive. My server Gina was perfect, I bet everyone has a crush on her. The food was amazing. We were all very pleased. I can’t wait until the next special occasion I can use an excuse to eat here.

I have traveled to Ventura on business several times and thought I had been to all the usual downtown spots. But I was so happy to find 71 Palm on this trip, and I am sure to make a return visit next time.
Farm to table style French-​American comfort food. Wide menu variety for dinner: seafood, steak, pork, pasta and chicken. Appetizers offered something for everyone. Desert was home made fresh too!
I went with a party of 12 coworkers. Luckily for the staff of 71 Palm they put us in a private room upstairs, because we have been known to be quite loud :) The room was perfect for us and there is a RR upstairs too.
Because of our party size we had team service and both waiters/​resses were on point. They kept things moving while still allowing us time to socialize through drinks, appetizers and ordering. We met the owner/​chef upon arrival and he seemed genuinely happy to have us.
I personally had the pork tenderloin special, several others had the seafood special. Others ordered off the regular dinner menu: Salmon, kobe steak burger, chicken, etc. Most all of us had salads. Here I chose another daily special: heirloom tomatoes, cheese and arugula. My salad was good, tomatoes were in perfect season. My tenderloin was in fact tender, served with green beans and a roasted apple, which I liked quite a bit.
We shared several appetizers for the table too including a nice cheese board. To cap it off of course, dessert! My choice was home made gelato: salted caramel and pistachio. Tasty! I saw chocolate cake, apple turnovers and bread pudding around the table.
The wine drinkers in our party seemed to enjoy the list and bottle the chose, full bar and some craft beer offerings too.
All in all, 71 Palm has all you would expect in a restaurant of this type and they delivered on those expectations in each area.

We went back for a third and probably final time. The food was pretty good, as per usual, but not up to the standards of a metro fine dining restaurant. But, here’s the kicker, they just flipping nickel and dime you to death. In our case, it was $ 258 for my wife and I to have dinner, including one mid priced bottle of wine. M
Next time I want to spend $ 250 on dinner, we’ll go to a place that is spectacular, not just pretty good.
NO MAS 71 Palms for us!

Another fabulous lunch with one of the specials, a sword fish with vegetables, a very lovely glass of Sancerre and the bread pudding for dessert! Happiness.

I was recently accused of being a paid advertisement for this restaurant by a (not very active) Unilocaler, who said it was obvious my photos were paid commercial advertisements. Quite a compliment for my food photos, (which I added three more tonight), with the owner getting a chuckle out of the whole thing, and no, he didn’t even offer to pay for our delicious bottle of wine! I don’t think it is just my photos, it must also be the beautiful presentation they do here, just the way meals should be presented.
We truly enjoy every meal we have eaten here. We brought our friends here tonight, a place we had suggested for their first date. They have been together for 8 months now, and thoroughly enjoyed their return visit. My shrimp with mashed potatoes was excellent, and I was happy to see the caprese salad on their specials. We introduced our friends to the fab floating island dessert, and we loved every bite. We had a nice chat with the owner about our upcoming trip to Andorra, and we almost feel like part of the family here because we eat here so often, but no, we pay for every tasty bite.

I was so excited to go to dinner tonight .
I have been going to 71 Palm for nearly 20 years. It had been a year since I came to have a meal here. (Life has been going by to fast)
I was not disappointed!
Didier the owner never disappoints with his amazing French food. We started with frog legs and foie Gras delicious !! bouillabaisse, Seabass, pork chops and French beef stroganoff, wedge salad and did I mention the French wine selection? We spent 3.5 hours sitting drinking and eating. We were so full we had to pass in desert (I really wanted crêpe Suzette!)
I will make an effort to visit soon I really want to have his original croquet Monsieur !!

Chef Didier & Karen work seamlessly to help pull off an impressive business lunch. We had 12 people with 4 VIP’s from China that we needed to impress. Thanks to the 71 Palm team and their willingness to work with me on a specific menu filled with seafood and local selections our guests left impressed. An upstairs private room and a professional waiter (Tom?) set the tone. Everything was prepared perfectly, the mussels were so delicious we even had non-​mollusk people enjoying them. The custom menu with our logo along with our guests was a nice touch too. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been to 71 Palm for a special occasion, and It obviously won’t be the last.

Deider is an amazing chef and owner!
Beautiful ambiance! Intimate, welcoming and superb french cuisine!

I can’t wait to go back!
The best Chicken Picatta I’ve ever had. Literally, nothing will ever compare.
New Ventura date night spot!

This is between a 2 and a 3 star review.
This is my second time at the establishment.
Our server last night was nice enough. We never got bread. Were we supposed to? Not sure.
The food was good, but not amazing. French onion soup good — but it tasted a bit more ‘light’ than expected. A higher end cup o’soup-like starter perhaps more than a hearty stock. Perhaps it was too soon to judge it from the offering I had at a different French restaurant a few days earlier. And perhaps its apples and oranges. My filet was good, and the accompanying mashed potatoes were yummy — reminiscent of my grandmother’s.
Service was attentive. Pace was fine. While I could tell they were getting a little anxious to go home when we were one of two parties left in the restaurant, they never made any steps towards making us feel like we’d worn out our welcome.
But I cannot, for the life of me figure out why a restaurant would need to charge a $ 30 corking fee. Can someone explain that? I can see why they might try to recoup money lost from the sale of a bottle or a couple of glasses… but $ 30? That is just a bit over the top for me.

Went there for anniversary dinner and it was my fourth time there and it will be the last one.
Server with no class, $ 16.50 for endive pear salad special, the pear was fermented! I mentioned it to the owner Didier he though I was jocking and didn’t do anything about it. Coq au Vin was average but found bone fragment in the meat, not sure if the cook knows how to debone the rooster!
Pork chank was good as well the duck confit salad.
Over priced dinner.

Very good, very professional, very classy… but easily replicated back home. It’s just hard to rationalize this place as true «French Food.» I’d prefer to use the term «French-​inspired Bar & Grill.» Still, four stars for a fine effort.
I had the French onion soup, the rack of lamb, and tastes of several desserts. The lamb was very nice, but I’m not a huge fan of horseradish — wish I would have known about that beforehand. It was also a little too raw — I guess that’s what happens when you ask for rare. That crème brûlée was amazing; smoky and crispy on top, creamy and sweet on the bottom. Yum.
The staff kept our glasses and breadbaskets full. The upstairs dining room (it was a rehearsal dinner) was intimate and pleasantly adorned. The atmosphere looks quite fun downstairs too.
It is quite expensive — $ 20 or more for most entrees. So it’s a nice place for a special dinner now and then, but it probably wont become your regular haunt.