The lemony Ojai cookie arrives on grocery shelves. Here's how residents feel about them

Pepperidge Farm has named cookies after haute Milan, decadent Brussels and fair Verona.

Now, artsy Ojai has been added to the list.

The Connecticut-based snack manufacturer's new lemon sugar cookies made their way to Ojai in January, branded with the name of the small town at the foot of the Topa Topa Mountains. A Pepperidge Farm spokesperson did not respond to emailed questions about the name.

The large cookies are soft with a bit of chewiness. Crystals of sugar sprinkled across the dome of the cookies add a light crunch. Sharp citrus scent pours out of the bag as soon as the foil seal is cracked, though the lemon flavor itself is more muted.

So far, reception has been mixed in Ojai.

In social media groups dedicated to the city, some complained that the snack giant was profiting off the city name. Others claimed, in jest and otherwise, that the cookies aren't Ojai enough: A real Ojai cookie would be vegan or cannabis-infused or feature the town's well known Pixies instead of lemon.

But at Ojai's IGA Westridge Midtown Market, the cookies are selling fast.

"The first shipment was gone before I could blink my eyes," Jake Wilkinson, a manager at the market, said on a recent Wednesday.

Outside the store, Ojai guitarist Billy Russo paused his playing to try one of the sugary sweets.

"I can tell this is going to be good already," he said.

When he took a bite, his palate agreed with his intuition.

"Oh my god," he said. "These are good."

Stephanie Hoops, a health-care analyst and freelance journalist, said the cookies tasted like they were flavored with Meyer lemon — a sweeter, more floral variety of the citrus.

“These are great,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t care what it tastes like. Just to have something that says Ojai when company comes to town it’s like a novelty item.”

Russo said he would consider buying one of the eight-cookie packs to pair with a cup of chai.

Jose Espinoza stopped to try the cookie while picking up treats for workers at the Ojai Health and Rehabilitation facility. The 70-year-old with dental concerns first worried the cookies would be too hard to eat.

One bite dispelled his concerns.

“These are soft,” he said with a smile. “They got a nice flavor to them. It’s fresh, you know.”

Nuri Ronaghy, 83, lounged on a picnic blanket in Ojai's Libbey Park in Thursday afternoon's golden sun. She and Alan Shorb, her 85-year-old husband of three months, hadn't heard of the cookies.

Shorb said the couple's favorite cookie is one they bake at home: a Persian version packed with walnuts, cardamom and "lots of butter."

Both rated the Pepperidge Farm cookies as good, but not great.

"Tastes about what I expected," Shorb said.

"Lightly sweetened, not too sweet," Ronaghy said.

Reed Fish, a videographer spending his afternoon at the park, wasn't enamored with the cookie's concept.

"What's not to love about a giant corporation with no connection to Ojai producing a cookie called the Ojai that is not related to the town whatsoever?" he said.

He wasn't enamored with the cookies either, rating them a six on a scale of 10.

"A cookie is a baseline five, because it's a cookie, right?" Fish said.

Juna Efross, 6, took a break from the playground to snag a cookie. It wasn't her first. Her family had already tried a pack in the weeks they'd been on market shelves.

Still, a grin spread across her face as she tucked in.

"They're lemony, sugary and a little sour," she said.

As for a rating on a 10-point scale? She paused to consider with an index finger pressed to her chin.

"Ten," she said.

The new cookies are rolling out at grocery stores across the country, with websites for Ralph's, Pavilions and Wal-Mart showing the large chains have begun to stock them.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes. Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com, 805-437-0236 or following him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh or @vcsschools. Support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Residents give new Pepperidge Farm Ojai cookies taste test