Ojai Burger will open in Old Towne Orange on Saturday, July 23, with the first 100 guests in line at noon receiving a free burger or sandwich of their choice.
On opening day only, the menu will be offered at 50 percent off and each guest will have the opportunity to spin a prize wheel and receive a “Supporter Since Day 1” card offering 15 percent off all future orders for the first year.
The wagyu burger concept is a rebranding of Ojai’s Yume Japanese Burger Cafe by Carl Tong and Pokeworks owners Michael Wu, Kasper Hsu and Peter Yang. The friends stumbled upon the burger concept while visiting Ojai with their families.
“My kids were in a toy store and we were starving so we started Yelping and we came across this five-star burger place (Yume Japanese Burger Cafe),” says Ojai Burger partner Carl Tong. “So we thought we’d try it. I ordered the chicken sandwich.”
It was a revelation.
“This was the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. So I went back in, holding the sandwich,” he says. “The founder of Yume was working the grill and his wife was at the shake station.”
Yume Japanese Burger Cafe is located in Ojai and owned by Takeshi and Chikage Ozaki. They decided to partner with Tong and his friends to open Ojai Burger in Orange.
“He’s a tennis coach by trade,” Tong says. “He was making these burgers at home for his tennis students. And his students said, ‘It’s so good. You really need to do something on your own.’ So he felt compelled to open up this store during COVID. We got there eight months ago and they had opened two months before. The founders are our partners now!”
Tong and his friends credit Ed Lee of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos for suggesting the building in Old Towne Orange.
“We wanted something that felt like Ojai. We really like the neighborhood,” says Tong. The burgers are made with wagyu beef. The signature Ojai Wagyu Burger is served with kewpie mayo, fried egg, shredded cabbage and Ojai classic sauce on a brioche bun. If you ask Tong, definitely order the Ojai Chicken Sandwich with fried chicken karaage, shredded cabbage and karaage mayo on a brioche bun.
Find it: Ojai Burger, 238 W. Chapman Ave., #100, Orange; eatojaiburger.com
