VENTURA : Fall Opening Is Goal for Pier Restaurant

Visitors to the Ventura Pier could be dining on steak and seafood by the end of November if blueprints submitted to city planners are approved on schedule, said the merchant who will open the restaurant.

Eric Wachter, owner of Eric Ericsson’s Fish Co. in Ventura, said Monday he expects to celebrate the pier restaurant’s opening around Thanksgiving.

City officials “are going through the second round of plan checks now,” Wachter said. “They made a few structural changes after the first round, but the plans are in pretty good shape.”

Wachter said the restaurant will be a two-story, warehouse-style structure on the north side of the pier’s base. It will have high windows that offer sweeping views and a staircase that leads to an upstairs lounge.

The bar will feature an open area, allowing guests to look down onto the dining room, where art with a nautical theme will be displayed, he said.

A snack bar along the side of the building will allow pier visitors to take hamburgers and other grill fare with them, he said.

Wachter also will offer hot dogs and other fast food from a portable cart that will open by July.

Once the plans for the restaurant are approved by city planners, the project will be forwarded to the City Council for review. Wachter is confident he can construct the building in months, after he receives a permit.

“We’ve got a big contracting firm all lined up, someone that’s capable of doing it in a six-month period,” he said.