Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery

A group of my friends and I went there for dinner … It was honestly the worst service I had ever experienced! The food was not that great it took forever to get our meals they brought three meals out then waited 15 min for the other orders to come out … And it was not cheap I definitely will never eat here again !!

Solid Marie Calendars. There are a lot of good food places in Ventura but this is your California. The restaurant is clean, the staff is so friendly, and the food is good and affordable. Check it out, try to get «Humberto» as your server, he’s a nice guy.

I keep trying to give this place chances after chances to make an experience good. Do they hire the most unhappy people? Or is this company a breeding grounds for a bad work environment? I went to get pick up a few pies, and every single of the employees I encountered or saw appeared completely miserable. The gal in the photo did not smile once for any of the customers while i was there. Furthermore, a male employee walked by rambling obscenities that the entire line heard. It was a tense situation at Marie’s. Oh and they gave me a totally different pie than I asked for. Upper management, you are losing customers solely based on the negative experience of your guests.

I’ve been going to this Marie Calendars for about 20 years because I live in the area. Usually, once you get seated, it’s usually a good experience. I just don’t understand why you are consistently ignored when you walk in the door. It’s absolutely awful.

We ate dinner here Saturday night because of their Kids Eat Free promotion. I ordered the quiche which I used to love… this time it was greasy and the edge was hard and burnt and you couldn’t cut through it. I also had to scrape off the huge glob of cheese they plopped on top of it. My husband got the Salisbury steak which was EXACTLY like the TV dinner version! Normally I would’ve sent the food back and left, but I felt like since the kids meals were free we could just suffer through it. Several servers and hosts walked by our table and not one smiled, said hi, or acknowledged us at all. It was obvious that great customer service is NOT encouraged by the management here! We will never be coming back.

Every time i try to buy pies here, they never have them. And they’re rude about it. I’m giving one star because a zero is not an option.

The customer service here is atrocious. I called this evening to reserve a cheesecake, of which my husband drove all the way down to pick up only to have the entire staff tell him that no one called to reserve the damn cheesecake! Are you serious? Andy, a moron female that works there answers my phone call a second time, of which she tells me she dropped it on the floor and they don’t have another one. She said she didn’t tell my husband yet and whoops. Ummmmm this is utterly ridiculous and rude on so many levels. I’m going to have a field day with talking to corporate, what is wrong with you? Keep up your customer service and you will work here forever ANDY!

Who doesn’t love a pie from this place! Thankfully they don’t rely on the dining experience to pay rent. This place needs a good cleaning. Starting at the dusty air vents and down the light fixtures. The food was very mediocre at best, hot plates, luke warm food, but the waitress was nice and did try hard. Management however seemed to care not that customers attend his establishment and it was made apparent when he sat us for the table. A good vacuuming of the floor wouldn’t hurt either. Splurging? Try a carpet shampoo too.

Not good. Was served cornbread then waited five minutes for a fork and napkin. Chili was cold and sent back. Chicken sandwich was not the one ordered. Place was dirty.

They only had 3 of the 4 flavors of pies that I prepaid for 3 days before thanksgiving. They tried to blame it on new staffing giving people the wrong pies. I had people next to me in line that weren’t able to get any of the flavors they pre paid for

Let me preface this review by saying I’m in charge of pies for Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t know how this came to be but I find it more economical than hosting the whole shebang myself. Pie for everybody is my mantra.
My mantra is also a process. Children can be so finicky that I never place the order until I’m certain no allergies and/​or likes have changed dramatically. Having completed that step I called the restaurant on Saturday the 21^st to place the order but was told that in order to reserve the pies I needed to go online and prepay. No problem! I like online transactions and was thrilled that I could go into the prepaid line come Wednesday.
Except when I went to the website, orders for dinners and desserts was blanked out the entire Thanksgiving week. Minor setback but didn’t give it much thought and just thought I’d swing by Wednesday morning, snag what I needed, and continue my errands.
Line wasn’t too bad and only 8 pie buyers ahead of us. And we waited and waited and waited while the only person packing pies and taking the money kept stopping to answer the phone and tell other potential pie buyers to go online and reserve their choices (see the blackout dates in above paragraph) while the line for pickup got longer and longer. And my companion was loud and yelling/​touching anyone who would listen about the joys of Disneyland, his favorite pies (Apple, cherry, and pumpkin), and his love of turkey and mashed potatoes. I looked around and realized there was a two foot gap between us and other buyers. And I said a silent prayer that we would make it to the front of the line without traumatizing any of the small children staring at us in wonder? Horror? Fascination?
We finally made it to the front where the nice lady thought it would be good customer service to smile at us — which only encourages my companion to reiterate his love of Disneyland quite loudly. Suffice to say, we got the goods and everybody got out of the way as we exited. Sometimes it’s great being me. Thanks Marie, pie is always delicious after a carb filled engorgement on a massive scale.

Ok, so Food is pretty decent. Prices are ok BUT… Service is Horrible! We went for Happy Hour being our 2^nd time we thought it would be relaxing just to sit and have a few drinks, Watch the game. We sit down and our drink order was taken brought out fairly quickly, our Server Meagan was not Friendly what so ever, was more interested in serving her friends, finally came back took our food order, normally you receive warm Cornbread to start, NOPE not us none what so ever. All the other tables being waited on sure did though. Anyways were there for Drinks, after order a Couple, and asked for 1 More before last Call we were Rudely told that there was a 3 drink limit. And we were not getting anymore, but the table of Friends of the Waitress had quite a few alot more than the 3 drink limit. So Needless to say we will Not be Back to Marie Callenders. Service Sucks.

Ugh. We had a modest group of 12 people for a family birthday party that I was able to attend when I was in the Ventura area recently. I’m not a general fan of any big chain restaurants but this place was chosen by family and I figured it would be «OK”– and that’s all it had to be. They put us in a little separate room which was a nice idea as it afforded a bit more privacy. But I could tell service was going to be a problem as within the first 10 – 15 minutes half the table had empty glasses of water, soda, tea or whatever was ordered. Because my family was there I didn’t want to make a stink so I quietly left the room and attempted to speak to the waitress. She was no where in the vicinity. I should say that with a group of 12, we probably represented nearly half of the total patrons on this weekday evening. I’d guess there were maybe 30 – 35 customers total (including us)…it was a very light evening. Instead I had to settle with telling the host that we had a room full of empty glasses and that my expectations were for good service especially given that it was not a busy night. He said he would pass along my word to the waitress when he saw her. I had hoped that would jumpstart the service to a decent level… short story… all evening it was pretty much the same. Waitress came in very irregularly, not very attentive and always half a table of thirsty people at any given time. She obviously didn’t care. The food for several people in our party was bad — two people ordered soup that was so thick — literally a fork would stand straight up in it, as my sister actually demonstrated. Both soups sent back but the waitress didn’t seem surprised or genuinely apologetic that the soup was basically inedible. My brother in law received french fries that were actually still frozen. Not cold… frozen! Again, the waitress replaced them but seemed unfazed by it… as if this was «par for the course». Which, after seeing other reviews here, is probably true. My own food, fish tacos, was OK. I wasn’t expecting anything special and it certainly wasn’t…but it was OK. But given that ¹⁄₃ of the table had to send *something* back, I can’t give even the food a pass. Summary: Horrible service. Sub-​par (even for ‘casual chain food dining’) food. And I’d guess that the management is probably bad too, as the poor reviews keep coming and obviously management isn’t doing anything about it. Seems everyone involved from the management to the cooks to the waitstaff have just given up and are going through the motions. Avoid!

Stopped in to pick up a Cheesecake for my 50^th Birthday after having a nice dinner nearby. They didn’t have any Strawberry Cheesecake but said they could put some cut up strawberries and glaze in a container so when he gave me a big box with the Cheesecake in it I assumed they must of put the strawberries on it. Got the $ 35.99 Cheesecake home only to find out not only was there no Strawberries or Glaze the Cheesecake was frozen solid. We defrosted in the microwave and we all agreed it was okay but definitely not worth the price and the service was awful. Huge disappointment :(

I totally agree with Di’s review. Marie Callender’s tries hard, thus the recent blitz of coupons, etc. I was intrigued by the Build Your Own BBQ Platter. I ordered it with the tri-​tip and chicken breast. I had pre-​ordered my meal in the morning for lunch pickup. When I got there, I was told they were out of pumpkin pie. Why didn’t the guy who answered the phone check on that this morning, when I placed the order? And then put aside a piece for me?
I decided on a piece of pecan pie and took my meal home. I honestly don’t see how it’s possible to screw up a baked chicken breast. This was a half hour into the lunch for the day! My chicken tasted at least a few days old. The tri-​tip was half fat, which I don’t eat. It looked disgusting! It was very tough and difficult to cut. The loaded mashed potatoes were cold and not great. I can say, I did love the BBQ baked beans. I’m saving my pie for later, it looks fine.
For the management I would say, if you’re going to rain down ads and coupons on potential clients, make sure you have the goods when they come in! A new chef, or chefs, at least. You may get one-​time clients, but never a good base of returning patrons this way.

Very poor service and mediocre food.
My first visit we ultimately had to seat ourselves after waiting in the lobby, alone for nearly ten minutes.
The second visit a month later, I was blow away, the exact same thing happened to not only us, but three couples. An elderly couple had to sit themselves after the wife told the husband that she’s simply couldn’t Stand any longer without her wheelchair. We… my wife and my daughter and I waited another 5 minutes after that and walked out. But not before alerting the young woman at the register why we were lesving and what the elderly couple finally had to do. The catch, she was ringing up those who were leaving without one care about those waiting. Not even a single acknowledgment for any of us waiting.
Very sad to see such a sence of apathy in what was once a great restaurant.

Let me start out by saying that I love Marie Calender’s and am soooo sad that they are slowly going out of business. But this one is a good example of why. We were on our way to Orange Country and stopped for dinner in Ventura at this Marie Calender’s. We were seated underneath an A/​C vent blowing right down on our table. And so moved to another table. The staff seating us, was very nice and friendly and helpful. She was funny, when we complained she explained something about the draft from the front door which was no where near the table where the A/​C was blasting down on!
We ordered the salad bar. I need to start taking photos!!! This one was so sad. The presentation was just pathetic. It filled about a third of the salad bar, all of the containers were kind of shoved into one end of it and I’ve gotta say that Shakee’s does a better presentation. Half of what is normally on the salad bar at other Marie Calendars was totally missing. There were 4 croûton and a bunch of crumbs where the croutons were supposed to be. No cheese, etc… Even with what they had there… I could have made the sorry version of a salad bar look a little more presentable with lettuce garnish etc. (maybe they could just save money by turning down their a/​c and investing more in their salad bar! Someone needs to train the salad bar person how to set up!
I asked for pie with merengue and I think that the server actually took the initative and gave me a piece where she switched the merengue to the slice she served. A+ for effort! But the piece was kind of broken and a lot smaller than normal and the crust was tough, almost frozen. Next time just say … sorry you’re out… I’d rather pay $ 5 for a piece that I feel is worth the $ 4.99 they charge. Also two salad bars… and we only recieved one piece of cornbread and never recived the extra napkins we asked for. By the way, this place did not seem that busy.
The soup was not the same consistency as the others I’ve tasted at other Marie Calendars. I think it was just way overcooked. All the ladles needed wiping etc… Not sure who the Manager was that night but they need someone working a little harder or this will be the next Marie Calenders that says CLOSED when we google it!
I encourage you to still support Marie Calender’s!!! There are still some great ones out there!

This place is five minutes from my house and in previous years in other places, I have had wonderful experiences at this restaurant chain. Here, however, I’m afraid, last night’s dinner was so unpleasant, I don’t think I’ll be back. For three people ordering a pot pie, a small, overcooked cheeseburger with a handful of French fries, and a small plate consisting of some tater tots, scrambled eggs, and toppings (cheese, avocado, bacon), a Sprite, a Coke, a water — our bill was over 40.00 once I added the small tip I felt obliged to leave. That’s an insane amount of money for so little food.
But, price would mean nothing if I had enjoyed the dining experience. The food was not terrible, but it wasn’t amazing, either. It was… basic. But it was the service and atmosphere that I found lacking. If I want very slow service and sticky tables, I can go to Cocos or Denny’s. I always thought Marie Callenders was a step up, I’m no longer sure about that.
For some reason, we were not allowed to have a waitress or waiter. I don’t understand why. Everyone else had a server. And the ones I saw were what you would hope and expect — cheerful, friendly, efficient — and not at our table. The manager seated us and took our orders. I couldn’t figure her out. I couldn’t tell if she was special needs or intoxicated somehow, or perhaps a regular person suffering from a condition that makes her appear compromised in some way. Maybe she’s a bang up manager — but she’s not someone who should be interacting with customers.
Her strange manner bothered me. That, and the fact that she touched my cornbread with her pen — nauseating — made me want to order the minimum and leave as quickly as possible. The sticky table, the food stuck to the chairs and the menus — were all offputting and made me wonder about the sanitary conditions in the kitchen. Any thoughts of a salad or sandwich or more complex meal I might have entertained were quickly dismissed. I ordered what I thought was least likely to be contaminated — the chicken pot pie — even that was underwhelming. The crust was not like the ones in the pictures — nothing flaky about it — just sort of plopped on top of a bowl of cream of chicken soup with some admittedly lovely big pieces of chicken in the broth.
I was mystified why she brought refills of our sodas when we had taken maybe two sips of our first sodas. And at the very end of our meal, when we were finally allowed a waitress, she brought water just as we all finished our food. We had nine beverage glasses on our table — which makes no sense at all. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen.
During the very long wait for our food, during which time we saw vast quantities of food piling up on the shelves in the kitchen (the cooks were cooking but nobody seemed to be picking up the food). I timed it, and some burgers and sandwiches sat there for a good 15 minutes on the warming shelves — and salads above them on the top shelf — piling up — sitting there — absolutely untouched by any servers — couldn’t figure that out. Maybe they were waiting for a really, really, really big order to be ready all at the same time.
I actually had to stand up and ask about our food, and, shortly after we finally got our food, the people at the next table also stood up and asked someone about their food — they had already been at the restaurant when we arrived and were clearly alarmed that they still had no food when our very long wait was finally over. Their wait was longer.
During the long wait, no one ever came by to see if we wanted more corn bread or to apologize for the delay or anything. Since we didn’t have a waitress, we had no one to flag down and ask. It was truly one of the strangest eating out experiences I have ever had. I was so eager to make this a favorite neighborhood stop, but now I am afraid to go back.

I ordered the $ 8 fettuccine, it came with a small salad. The fettuccini was not good! Very watery. The waitress was very nice and polite and asked if I’d like them to redo my fettuccine, I don’t really believe that if you complain you get untalented food. I played it safe and just ate what I was served.
My recommendation is find another place in Ventura to eat.

We were visiting from out of town and decided to order the Holiday Brunch for pickup on Christmas Eve Day (we were staying in a vacation rental).
The gal who helped us was sweet, but the holiday pickup center was grossly understaffed. There were a lot of customers waiting, confused about where the line started, and with only one person to help? I felt really sorry for the girl who was stuck running back and forth between the kitchen and floor that morning. Where was the manager? Other staff members? Ive ordered holiday meals from another location, and compared to past experience, this location was seriously disorganized.
They also ran out of muffins at 10am in the morning (muffins which were supposed to be included in the pre-​ordered takeout brunch). Since our order was placed 10 days in advance and the chain is no stranger to holiday takeout orders, this was disappointing. They substituted a pumpkin spice cake and an apple coffee cake, but we would have preferred having what we pre-​ordered ready.
The whipped cream that was supposed to come with the fruit platter ended up being horseradish sauce. What? That was a surprise and didn’t taste very good with pineapple or watermelon. Another oops. We couldn’t help but wonder if whomever ordered the prime rib got our whipped cream on top.
At least the quiche, as always, was good. I really liked Marie Callender’s food back when I was a kid, but it’s really gone downhill over the years. Too bad.