Oaks Bar & Grille at Los Robles Greens GC

TRAVELERS ON THE FRENETIC 101 FREEWAY between the San Fernando Valley and Ventura are generally in too big of a hurry to notice an oasis of grass-fed greenery as they pass through Thousand Oaks. But golfers in the know have been stopping at Los Robles Greens Golf Course for some 61 years now, ever since architect William F. Bell sculpted a fine, par-70, 6,300-yard layout amidst the towering oaks and abundant mountain views of the Conejo Valley. It’s known for pristine conditions and eye-candy water features, as well as some true-rolling greens.

One can only imagine the quietude in 1964 when the course opened, but the joint was jumpin’ on a recent weekend when we paid a visit to the operation’s busy Oaks Bar & Grille, where gangs of golfers tore into their burgers and beer with obvious relish (not to mention ketchup and mustard).

The eight barstools were fully occupied — as were most of the four-tops — with guys poring over scorecards to see who owed how much to whom, the usual passive-aggressive tableau familiar to hackers everywhere. I hope the winner at least left a fat tip.

It wasn’t too noisy to hear oneself think as one surveyed the encyclopedic menu, but the vaulted high ceilings, crisscrossed by thick wooden beams, could have made for a natural drum room given its echoic dimensions. Windows at ground level and all the way to the roof make for a bright and cheery atmosphere, and the course views from the outdoor terrace were custom-made for selfie-snaps and wedding portraits before and after either golf or holy matrimony (is there a difference, really?).

They do a huge event-staging business at Los Robles, and in fact were holding some kind of antique roadshow powwow in an adjacent conference space on the day of our visit. Guys lugging golf bags had to steer clear of women laden with cartloads of semi-precious objects d’art and thrift-shop tchotchkes, eager to be told they brought a genuine Tiffany something-or-other by the assembled experts. Kind of charming actually, and unusual for a golf course Saturday. I would have brought one of my spare Rolexes had I known.

“One can only imagine the quietude in 1964 when the course opened, but the joint was jumpin’ on a recent weekend when we paid a visit.”

Open seven days a week for three squares daily, the Oaks Bar & Grille is not your drunk uncle’s average hot dog and hops establishment. Come on, when was the last time you followed a finishing hole birdie with a poached pear salad or what the chef de cuisine calls a “Tuscan Quesadilla” (prosciutto and fig compote with fontina cheese and micro-basil)?

The hummus is tinted scarlet with roasted red peppers, and the “stuffed airline chicken” is loaded with mushroom duxelles and glazed with a port wine/truffle demi-glace.

Service was beyond friendly and attentive for a busy day, and I happily succumbed to subliminal menu suggestions from our smiling server, who rightly suggested the fried chicken wrap with onion rings, as well as the generously proportioned ahi tuna bowl.

When Kayleene arrived with the edibles, she brought two unasked-for servings of ranch dressing for the rings, personally declaring herself a “ranch girl” — an unexpected side dish of good cheer and warmth along with the well-prepared lunch. Craft brews on tap include a Tarantula Hill Candy IPA and Buenaveza, a Mexican-style lager with hints of lime and sea salt. Wine and cocktails are also available.

Weather permitting, the outdoor terrace is recommended, where one is well-insulated from the hum and thrum of the freeway — you might even hear the click of a well-rolled putt dropping into the cup on the 18th green should some lucky hacker roll in a snaking 40-footer for the money. Hats off to Arcis Golf — which manages Los Robles Greens for the city of Thousand Oaks — and who also oversaw the environmentally friendlier renovation of the course in 2016.

Come for the reasonably priced golf and stay for the top-notch vittles.