The Happy Place

Bringing East End Heart to Downtown Ventura

VC Locals Only

September 12, 2026

There’s a moment in every great restaurant story where passion outgrows its original home. For Sky Sunner, that moment came after four years of chasing hungry customers around Ventura County in a food truck. Now, that journey has landed him in one of downtown Ventura’s most storied buildings, and the result is Happy Place Eatery — a smashburger-and-pizza destination quickly becoming the neighborhood’s newest gathering spot.

Sunner is no stranger to the “Happy Place” name. Eight years ago, he transformed a liquor store in Saticoy into Happy Place Craft Wine and Spirits, inspired by an online review that ended with the line “this is my happy place” — a phrase that hit home since Sunner’s mother’s name is Happy. From there, the brand grew to include a food truck and now this brick-and-mortar location downtown.

The path came through community connections: a fellow restaurant owner introduced Sunner to the family of the building’s previous owner, Jim Wright, longtime owner of the neighboring bar Sans Souci.

After about a year and a half of planning, Happy Place Eatery opened its doors in October 2024, continuing a beloved pizza program with a personal twist — “Jimmy’s Slice,” created with Wright’s daughter and son as a tribute to how he liked his pizza, loaded with meat and bell peppers.

The star of the show is the double smash burger: high-quality beef, brioche buns, house-made bread-and-butter pickles, caramelized onions, and a fiercely guarded “happy sauce” with a slow-building kick. On the drink side, a beer-and-wine license opens the door to rotating Ventura County craft beer alongside local favorites like Balcom Canyon Cider’s Los Mango and a blueberry cider that drinks far lighter than its 10% ABV suggests. A build-your-own seltzer bar lets guests mix flavors to taste.

Tucked behind a hidden passage connecting to Sans Souci, still run by Wright’s family, Happy Place Eatery carries forward the building’s downtown legacy — one plate, and one pour, at a time.