By Alex Wilson
Brandon Ristaino and Misty Orman are married business partners and co-founders of Good Lion Hospitality, which has grown over a decade to include several bars and restaurants in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura. Jaguar Moon is their latest local endeavor.
Good Lion’s first Ventura venture was in 2021, the elegant Bank of Italy Cocktail Trust in a landmark Neoclassical bank building, which was famously…and fictionally…robbed in “Swordfish,” the 2001 action thriller starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Bank of Italy’s cocktail program is mostly classic, with an Italian twist and an emphasis on Amaro. Strange Beast followed in 2023, opening next door in the same building and offering an izakaya experience (think Japanese tapas) with sharable plates like “Godzilla” sushi rolls and a “Kaiju” smashburger, paired with premium sake or cocktails like an Okinawan daiquiri or Yoshi + Peach with tropical green tea whiskey.
Jaguar Moon maintains that international flair, although the concept’s compass points in a different direction: far south of the border.
Yucatán Nights
Jaguar Moon and connected restaurant Cocina Jaguar opened last November and are now in the process of growing into a large outdoor patio space, just in time for summertime libations with sunshine and a cool ocean breeze in the day, or twinkly lights by a fire pit by night. Ristaino told Ventana Monthly that the property owner approached him and Orman in the summer of 2021 about utilizing the revitalized space that for many years housed a pawn shop.
“And said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this incredible chef who you guys are friendly with. Chef Ramon Velazquez. He’s looking to do something here. And we would love for you guys to do the beverage side.’ Essentially kind of a multi-tenant space,” Ristaino said. “Once we found out Chef Ramon was a part of the project, we were all in. Over those 39 months of permitting and construction, we had time to develop the concept. And Chef Ramon was really keen to do more of a Yucatán-style cuisine with some influences from other parts of Mexico, but primarily Yucatán. And so, we did a beverage program to match.”
Many of the specialty cocktails at Jaguar Moon are mezcal- or tequila-forward, like the eponymous Jaguar Moon and the Watermelon Fix. But other spirits are put to good use, too. The menu includes a Oaxacan Cobbler with aged rum, passionfruit, banana and mint, or a “Vampiro,” made with gin, apple brandy, agua fresca, ginger and absinthe.
“We touched on some kind of tropical fruits and flavors that would pair well with the food from that region,” Ristaino said.
Center of Town
Jaguar Moon opened up in time for the holiday season and Ristaino said they have had a great reception so far.
“We love operating in Ventura. It’s just a wonderful community. And since we opened our first project in Ventura back in 2021, we’ve just been lucky to have a great response from the community. So, we’re excited to be there. We’re excited to be downtown. We just love the downtown area, the center of the city.”
Their approach to Jaguar Moon is to make it a fun place for neighbors to gather, and if tourists stop by, that’s cool too.
“First and foremost, it’s super important to us to be a locals-first kind of bar and restaurant, which has been our mentality throughout our career,” Ristaino said. “So, our hope is, and thankfully thus far it’s been, primarily locals with kind of in-the-know tourists occasionally popping in, which we always appreciate. The menu is such that you can layer on different elements if you’d like…We hope to be a little bit flexible for people, depending if they just want to pop in for a quick one or want to stick around for a full dinner.”
Exuberantly Equatorial
Orman helped design the space and told Ventana she was excited about the concept after they fell in love with Mexican culture during their travels and started designing the space in their heads. The ceilings are bright pink and the walls are dark purple. There are hanging pendants and sconces resembling a golden snake. The bar gives off fantasy vacation vibes.
“It’s bright. It’s tropical. We like to say it feels like you’re walking through an agave field on acid,” Orman said. “We have beautiful custom wallpaper with jaguars, and the spots are like pops of gold foil. When you walk in, there’s a huge jaguar mural. It’s like 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide, and the jaguar’s eyes are, like, staring into your soul as you walk in, and around him are tropical leaves and flowers.”
Jaguar Moon has become known as a place people like to celebrate, Orman said.
“You get a lot of parties of 10, parties of 15, that come in and take over big areas, and people circulate in and out throughout the night. A lot of birthday parties, bachelorette parties, people really love to celebrate there, which has been amazing to see. People creating their own reels and just having a great time with us. It definitely leans celebratory, and it’s been amazing seeing the different people come in and enjoy this space.”
It’s also become a space which is comfortable for women to hang out in, Orman said, and she sees lots of selfies taken at Jaguar Moon.
“I run our social media and I can’t tell you how many beautiful pictures I see of girls taking pictures of themselves…with the neon Jaguar sign and all throughout the property, you really get a lot of girls taking photos. And it’s actually some guys, too. So, I’ve enjoyed getting to see that they invite friends to come another time and they’re enjoying the space.”
Jaguar Moon
79 South Oak Street, Ventura
Open daily at 4 p.m.
www.jaguarmoonbar.com
