Cori Sainte Marie / Daily Nexus

Since coming to UCSB, I have been in a long distance relationship. Every few weeks, my boyfriend and I decide to meet each other in some designated location. Sometimes we go south, sometimes we go north and sometimes we just meet halfway. Not only is this traveling rough on our wallets, but it also puts a lot of pressure on our food choices. My boyfriend and I share a love for food and look forward to eating together. For the first few years of our relationship, though, we lived in the same town and usually only ate at the same places. We knew what we liked, and we didn’t try to change anything. However, once I moved away to college, we had to start venturing out of our food comfort zone. Some of the highlights we have experienced so far are Italian food in Las Vegas, Mexican food in San Diego and seafood in San Francisco. This past weekend, we decided to keep it semi-local and meet halfway in Ventura. Ventura is often a place we like to meet because of the close proximity to where we live. Although it is a great location, it never really impresses me with the food options. This time, though, I was determined to find something great for my boyfriend and me.

One food we enjoy equally is burgers. We are always up for a nice, big, juicy burger. I am pretty sure our relationship is based on the love of burgers. This particular weekend, we were feelin’ a good burger. So, I did what any good girlfriend would do, and I opened up my Yelp app and searched for Ventura’s best burger. This was the verdict:

Place: Bombay Bar and Grill

What I ordered: The Beach Breakfast Burger

Applewood smoked bacon, Haas avocado, fried egg, aged cheddar cheese, maple aioli

We walked in to Bombay at 7:30 p.m. sharp, and with our luck we had just missed happy hour. The restaurant was dark with only a few people inside. The emptiness made it uninviting, so naturally one would leave at this point. However, we remembered that this restaurant was rated number-one for burgers in Ventura, so we went along with our decision to eat there. When the waitress handed us our menus, I was in awe. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact that I was starving, or that they were actually delicious, but all of the burgers sounded wonderful. After we ordered, it took about 15 minutes before the waitress walked over to us with what appeared to be heaven on a plate. Like, I kid you not, the plate was glowing. After I took my first bite, I knew I had made the right decision. The burger was amazing. The crispy bacon and the gooey egg really complemented each other, and with every bite it just got better. It was one of the best burgers I have ever had. I rated it a 9.5/10.

So, the moral of the story is; if you catch yourself in Ventura because you’re in a long distance relationship like myself, or if you just like visiting Ventura then I recommend heading on over to Bombay Bar and Grill and trying one of their delicious burgers.

I promise, you won’t regret it.