Bean Team

Pam McCay of Oak View dreamed of owning a coffeehouse. Her childhood friend, Phyllis Schaller of Meiners Oaks, had good credit.

They were a perfect match.

And now they are business partners, co-owners of Java 33 coffeehouse in Oak View at 485 N. Ventura Ave.--a.k.a. California 33.

“I talked to everybody about coffee before we opened--it seemed like I went to every coffeehouse in the world,” McCay said. “I spent a lot of money in coffeehouses every day. I used to go into coffeehouses asking questions--a guy in a Camarillo coffeehouse thought I was a spy. I talked to a lot of roasters, read a lot of books.”

When McCay and Schaller opened Java 33 earlier this year, they expected that commuters leaving Ojai would be their primary clientele. But what they’ve found, McCay said, is tremendous support from Oak View locals.

“They’ve been great,” she said. “We open at 6 a.m., but I come in at 5 every morning, and I get regulars here at 5:05.”

And when business becomes real hectic, the regulars even lend a hand, McCay said.

“There’s a couple times we’ve just been slammed,” she said. “We’ve had customers who just jumped up and filled our [condiment] shakers for us. It’s kind of like people feel comfortable here.”

Java 33 offers a selection of regular and gourmet coffees, including a regular mocha for $2.50 and $2.75 (depending on size) and a regular latte ($2.25 and $2.75). A satin mocha, made with white chocolate, is $2.75 and $3.25.

The coffeehouse also sells baked goods from Bill Baker’s Bakery in Ojai and Lorenzoni’s bakery and cafe at Ventura Harbor.

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The food is good, the decor clean and the service pleasant. But what’s the deal with the name?

Who’s Feldan? That’s what customers of the Feldan Cafe in Oak View have been asking between bites of grilled liver and onions and pot roast over noodles.

So to set the record straight, there is no Feldan.

The restaurant name is a melding of “Fel” in Felip Sandoval and “dan” in Ladaniel Sandoval, the brothers who own the family-style restaurant.

Felip is not new to the family-style concept. “I worked at Loop’s in Ventura on Main Street for 16 years,” he said. “I was the kitchen chef for six or seven years.” And after Loop’s, he ran the kitchen at the Player’s Club in Ventura for about nine months.

Feldan Cafe is at 595 N. Ventura Ave. (yes, just down the dusty street from Java 33) in a building that has housed various restaurants over the years. The Sandovals saw the place sitting vacant for a while and decided to join the list of culinary tenants.

“We said we’ll get it, we’ll try it,” Felip Sandoval said. “If you never try, you never know.”

The cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For breakfast, the menu includes a large selection of egg dishes ($3.99 to $6.99), pancakes ($2.99 to $5.25) and omelets ($4.79 to $6.59). The lunch menu includes a sizable selection of hamburgers, salads and cold and hot sandwiches, including the ever-comforting grilled cheese ($3.79).

Feldan’s dinner entrees include New York steak ($10.95), pork chops ($8.95), grilled liver and onions ($7.35), country fried steak ($7.99) and grilled halibut ($9.95).