Knead Bakery Review

Did to-go meal. The food was fabulous. The website for ordering was awful. Tried to get food for Sat evening, the website said "pickup after 3:30 tomorrow", so i ordered for Sun. Only place to specify time was in the notes.
Then got an email on Sat saying "your order is ready". Get the website ordering sorted out!
Had roast chicken, roasted eggplant dip, potato salad and coleslaw. All were great and we'll be back, in person next time

Wow, not only do you get the world famous bread, which I'd go for alone, but the chicken is perfect, adding with the sides! I had the white beans, caramelized cauliflower, and rotisserie potatoes. Wow wow wow, plus an atmosphere that fits right in with ojai. Do not forget dessert. It's on point!

Excellent food, amazing bread, the owners work with the staff serving and visiting with guests, great ambience, excellent music

The food and service is excellent! Such a unique menu that is perfectly executed. There's something here for everyone.

I am thrilled to see a new type of restaurant in Ojai! This is exactly what Ojai needed.

The food is excellent the dining area is fun and vibrant the wine bar has a fantastic selection.

We enjoyed some wine and appetizers on the tables just outside the wine box (it s the wine and beer). We ordered way more appetizers then we needed to because we didn t realize that the platter came with bread and we knew we had to try the bread!

We checked in a couple times to make sure they were not going to run out of chicken and we re assured that if we ordered by eight it would be plenty. We ordered two full chickens, a salad and four large sides and had way too much food for five people. The sides that come with the chicken are very generous.

Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs but we want to make sure we were able to try a little bit of everything. I had read the reviews and had my list of dishes I wanted to try plus we overindulged on the bread because it was so delicious.

The leftovers were just as delicious if not better than they were the night before.

I wish Ojai Rotie the best of luck and look forward to returning soon!!

Love the outdoor seating. Casual relaxing environment. Though they offer the rotisserie chicken which by the way all my friends love. Me being a pescatarian they have some options. Simple fresh and delicious.
You order at the counter at the back of the restaurant, food is brought to your table. Wine is order seperately at the walk up mini house there in the patio area. Pet friendly, kid friendly...lets support family owned business.

The food, atmosphere, and hospitality are 10/10. We tried almost everything on the menu after a few visits and I can honestly say it's the best food you can currently get in Ojai. Thumbs up to the passionate staff, who put their heart and soul into every dish they make.

Great food, great ambience! Super charming owners and employees.

Food was awesome, really chill laid back atmosphere, definitely must visit if in ojai! Don t miss the eggplant! Prepare to wait in line at least 20-25 mins to order and then another 20-30 mins for your food.

This place is amazing. Perfect for a date night or a happy hour with friends. We just discovered it tonight - ordered a half chicken meal with sides of potatoes and caulifower and a fatouch salad to split. It was a great amount for two people. Every element was so delicious. I can't wait to come back with my friends so we can share a bottle of wine and one of their incredible looking loaves of bread.

Slight word of warning... If you eat the whipped garlic (which you absolutely should), you will leave with crazy garlic breath. Enjoy it! This is what life is all about.

Good food. Simple yet delicious. Great atmosphere and customer service.

They served warm water and then the manager came in and yelled at everyone inside including my friends and a whole family with kids then went on to yell at the employees... avoid this restraunt!!!!

This place is fantastic. The best chicken ever. Bring friends so you can try ALL the sides. The potatoes are the bomb, the cauliflower is delicious. The bread is so yumm you want to eat the whole loaf. The roast eggplant is divine, the pickled turnips are just the right level of pickled. I could go on... Yoy lucky people of Ojai. It was so yummy that we ordered almost the same to take home for lunch the next day. Too bad I don't live here, I'd come once a week if I could.

Not sure what the deal is at this place. We walked into patio seating area, told we could sit anywhere and someone would be with us shortly. Noticed multiple other tables with people sitting, waiting. Wait staff just seemed to be walking around aimlessly, it appeared they were doing something, but it wasn t grabbing menus, taking drink orders, or even bringing food out to people. After 10 minutes, and noticing that none of the other tables were being waited on we just decided to leave. It was surreal. I thought maybe at one point we were on a gotcha tv show, or part of a social experiment. Weird happenings in Ojai tonight.

Good food, good service. A nice addition to Ojai. Reasonable prices relative to the quality of food and considering cost of business in Ojai and California.

Charming, delicious and devine. Such a special atmosphere with perfectly seasoned bites.

Great bread! First crusty loaf that I ve experienced since moving to CA in 1999!
The chicken is tasty and juicy.
The coke slaw needs tweaking but aside from that it s an amazing place and a wonderful experience!

I just looked this place up hoping I could dupe their white beans at home. We were visiting Ojai for a long weekend and seriously debated on going here twice. It was definitely our favorite. Don't forget to order some sourdough!

I like the atmosphere here. Nice outside seating. Food is okay. I ll try other dish next time.

The meals and service were ahead of my expectations. I surely enjoyed the ambience of this spot. Extraordinary place to take the family out for dinner.

Just finished a meal - the food is pretty good. I recommend the potatoes as a side, because the chicken and pita absorb the potato juice perfectly. My low rating is primarily due to bad service. On a Saturday afternoon (non peak hours) it took over 30min to receive my meal. After inquiring about the wait, I discovered they had forgotten about it. Furthermore, I had to follow up because they didn t give us all the food. Please improve your service.

Great location. That being said, I am a vegetarian, so the rotisserie chicken is not on my menu. I tried the eggplant sandwich with the crispy cauliflower salad. Both were tasty, but nothing exceptional. The sandwich was open faced and rather hard to eat.

I look forward to returning and trying something else.

Very attentive and courteous staff. As a vegan, I had only a few choices from the menu, but will be back for the amazing wine selection.

Just all around great atmosphere and killer food. The new chicken soup was fantastic! Service was tentative and caring.

Our out-of-town party of six were incredibly impressed with every aspect of our experience at Ojai Rotie. The juicy, tasty chicken and home made breads were my favorite, and everything was a hit with our group. The service was the best and the vibe is warm, friendly and kind. ~ Highly recommended!

Quite an interesting take on rotisserie chicken. But in my view, the highlight is the sides and the bread; the chicken itself is good, but not extraordinary. Would highly recommend the charred eggplant.

Apart from the food, very high marks for the ambience, music and service.

This place is wonderful, tasty food, cant wait to go back! Yum

Healthy rotisserie with little flavor. Even the lemonade was bland. Will not come back

I really loved their dishes. I always get excellent customer service here. The place is well kept and the staff members are always helpful. Will visit here again.

Food was phenomenal! Absolutely loved the Rotisserie chicken and all the sides. Baked sourdough was to die for! We'll definitely be back. Staff was so accommodating and welcoming. Felt like family!

This restaurant takes themselves a little too covid- serious than necessary. I was just told I could not place and purchase a 'TO GO' order WITHOUT A mask;. and the line to order and wait for the food IS OUTSIDE. NEVER AGAIN... even when society is no longer imposition by covid.

Very displeased with the behavior of the young inexperienced management as well...

The best courtyard/patio restaurant in Ojai. The roast chicken was phenomenal. The service was good. Good but cheap wine selection. We did not get the sourdough but I am guessing it would have been amazing with the juice chicken.

I went to Ojai Rotie during COVID season (end June) so I am assuming the service is even better during normal times. They served our food kinda takeout (in a bag, paper clothes and such) but they still served us wine and have our food in the lovely patio.

The chicken is amazing. The roasted potatoes were very tasty! The service was top notch. A must stop when you're in Ojai.

Terrific food. Wonderful, very rustic, low key atmosphere. Claude happened across my little daughter and her friend dancing after dinner and brought them Hurricane Brownies (his grandmothers recipe). A genuinely happy and relaxed place in town to eat.

The food was amazing, but the service was awful. One guy taking orders, and several busser type guys - yet no one ever cleared out table until we left. It was odd but still 4 stars for good food.

Service was quick and food good. The ambiance was great!

I m sorry to say that this place was a disappointment beyond words.
I am Lebanese and why they use that as a selling point I do not get at all. The chicken started out tasty then and became so dry in my mouth it was like mud. The sides were mediocre at best and absolutely flat. I will say the potatoes and the quinoa was decent. The one thing I absolutely loved was the watermelon drink. They served is in paper bags with plastic everything no ice in our cups. In 116 degree weather. It s overrrated and overpriced. I would highly suggest you look a little closer before you jump right in.

Wonderful spot in downtown. Great atmosphere, lovely wine selection, and tasty food. The casual vibe is refreshing. The food was good but a little disappointing for the price. The chicken, while tasty, was a bit cold and lacking juicyness and the soup and salad were over priced. Go for the chicken meal and a group to try a variety of dishes. The bread is awesome!

Outstanding chicken! Tender and juicy. Went for the whole bird. I'll come back and try the half to see if it too is tender. Some could easily say the best chicken. This may have to be a weekly thing.

Sides we got (for take out) were the slaw and the cauliflower. Delicious. I think the slaw should be called kitchen sink slaw (jk) because there's everything but the kitchen sink in it. Heh. Never had coleslaw with jalepano peppers or peanuts before. There were even some golden raisins. My friend took a pass on it because it had a little cilantro in it. Heh.

The cauliflower was awesome. It had a curry taste (and must have been Turmeric based). So, extra stars for great sides that stand on their own.

Still full stars plus even though the bread wasn't a fav for me (this is personal pref. people love the bread). The chicken meal comes with a flat bread that's alright. We got a loaf of the sourdough too. The sourdough is certainly well made and has the perfect balance of crisp crust and soft center. For me though whole wheat sourdough isn't my deal. The wheat obscures the sourdough taste. I love a well made white sourdough.



We called ahead (which I think is a good idea for take away and easy). Just check your bag to make sure you got everything you ordered. (Poor girl forgot our sides. I think she felt worse about it than I did. They're busy so stuff like that happens now and then. )

Friendly staff, great wine and IPA. Beautiful setting, healthy chicken and tasty sides. Only problem is lots of flies but can't do much about that.

Nice place, loved the ambiance. I ordered the chicken, potatoes and flat bread roti. The chicken was ok, moist and cooked right, not savory, it was bland. The side dishes were really good, the potatoes were so tasty with the flat bread and the cucumber pickles. I paired this with french syrah from Rhone valley, it was just right. I will try eggplant next time, will be back.

The best grilled chicken you will ever have in an idyllic atmosphere like no other, from the friendliest most beautiful souls out there.

Ojai Rotie catered our wedding in early October and our guests can t stop talking about the food. Initially I was hesitant because at first glance the menu looked more like items for a picnic instead of a wedding.
But we changed our minds very quickly when we sat down for a tasting. Everything was of such high quality and superb taste that we immediately stopped looking elsewhere. The coleslaw is a perfect example. I ve never been a big fan of coleslaw and usually found it to be pretty tasteless or full of mayonnaise. Larry and Claud s creation however is so rich in flavor and freshness I ve never had anything like it before. I can say pretty much the same for all the other items on the menu as well; they were all fantastic.
I was also concerned about replicating this quality at scale for a large wedding. Have no fear. The food arrived fresh, hot and delicious and our guests gobbled it down. Oh, and the bread! That alone was worth the catering. Claud is a master baker and that homemade butter that accompanies his bread is like crack.
We can t recommend Ojai Rotie enough. They worked tirelessly to make our big day one that even the foodies on our guest list raved about.

Great food. The menu is very simple but delicious. It reminds me of places I have been in Europe. Rotisserie chicken, cheese board and the best sourdough bread ever. Great wine list and casual outside dining.