Meet Luke Tada of Luke’s

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Tada.

Hi Luke, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have been cooking since I was 6 years old. I originally learned from my dad and grandma who were both very handy in the kitchen. Since my grandma immigrated from Japan in her 20’s and lived most of her life in Montana, our family’s cooking style was always very unique. Country-fried elk steak with rice and tempura’d vegetables from the garden as well as soy sauce braised trout that we caught in the creek earlier that morning, are a couple interesting combinations from my childhood summers in Montana.

My love for food blossomed from there. I have since branched out with my cooking style after spending time working in restaurants and and playing around with food at home. My last job was working as a sous chef/manager at a casual dining chain. Even though I was enjoying the experience and got to learn a lot about running an $8million/year kitchen profitably, I knew that I eventually I would want to serve my own food the way I wanted.

3 years after starting that job I tore my ACL skiing with my buddies while on vacation; I ended up on disability leave. In the boredom and recovery that ensued following my accident my friend and now business partner, Tyler Gray, and I got to chatting about starting a restaurant of our own. We asked our mutual friend Will Costigan to join in on the action too. In the span of about 2 months it went from a casual conversation to putting money down on a lease. That was over a year ago now. since then we have been working on dialing in the menu, doing pop-ups, acquiring equipment, and building out our space. It has been a great experience getting to serve our locale using the “pop-up” format. Not only have we received overwhelming support for what we are doing, but we have also had real time feed back and been able to dial the food in even more.

Looking to the future. The space is almost done and we are excited to finally be able to open our doors this October!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say it has been a smooth road, but I believe we have been pretty fortunate to make it as far as we have. Starting a restaurant is not easy, which I am pretty sure most people know at this point from watching “The Bear”. The thing is, you don’t know what you don’t know, until you know it. The toughest thing for me so far is simply the amount of different hats you have to wear when you set off on a project like this. Unless you can afford to pay someone to manage everything for you, the role extends way beyond culinary knowledge and operational know-how. As of right now, I am a social media/marketing manager, interior designer, carpenter, painter, office manager, equipment specialist, and a few other things. Not to mention the whole real estate side of the equation. Luckily I have partners, Tyler Gray and Will Costigan to help out and prevent me from having an emotional breakdown. With all that being said, we chose this path and are working our way through it with smiles on our faces.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Luke’s ?
Luke’s On Main a locally owned sandwich shop started by three friends who grew up right here in Ventura. For us, this place is home, and our goal has always been to give our community something we felt was missing; a spot where sandwiches are taken seriously, but without any pretense. This has been something we have selfishly always wanted for ourselves and had a suspicion that other people did too. So we decided to make it happen.

At Luke’s, everything on the menu is made completely from scratch using our own recipes. We put as much care into a classic Club, BLAT, or Italian as we do into our more playful creations, like the Romesco Chicken or our grilled “Katsu”-inspired sandwich. We want our guests to feel both the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of something new when they take a bite.

What sets us apart is the way we approach flavor and integrity. We’re committed to using quality ingredients, building recipes that highlight bold and unexpected combinations, and creating sides and specials that are as thoughtful as the sandwiches themselves.

Brand-wise, we’re most proud of staying true to who we are: three locals trying to make the best sandwiches we possibly can, while pushing the food culture in Ventura forward. While we would like to say that when you walk through our doors you are getting more than just lunch, we don’t really follow that line of thinking. It IS just lunch, but we think that “just lunch” in Ventura could be a whole lot more than what it is.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think for us, the most important thing to remember is upholding our integrity. I believe an unwavering attention to detail when it comes to quality, flavor, and customer experience can go a long way. The soul of good food comes from the energy that’s put into it, not just the recipe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lukesventura.com
• Instagram: @lukesonmain