Aliso Viejo Town Center

The shopping center contains multiple eateries which the prices ranging from cheap to a semi-​hefty amount (depending upon what you’re craving). The main attractions here are the shops and the theater which helps it thrive a lot more than one might expect.
My first time there was overwhelming. So many things to do and see just hit me at once. Be ready to be amazed.

Although anything anyone could ever want is located here, the clientele leaves much to be desired.
Typical «South County» vibe in the air.
Entitled, rude, snobby people with their noses in the air that seem to forget they wipe the same.
No regard for right of way in the parking lot, no courtesy when it pertains to backing out of a space either.
I have lived in the area for the better part of 10 years and love the fact that everything you could need is centralized, however couple my description above with no available parking spaces because the town center is packed like roaches and you have your reason for my 2 star rating.

More like Ali-​sewage Viejo Town Center, amirite? Just in case anyone hasn’t been here and doesn’t know what I’m talking about: all the way from bagels and brew to the cinema there is a regular leakage of very raw sewage air. The entire place smells disgusting, fortunately the businesses keep their doors closed.
And no, it’s not temporary thing, I’ve worked here for 6 years and it was like this when I got here.
The shops themselves are great though.
It’s a nice place, just not what you’d expect in a neighborhood that’s trying desperately to look like Irvine but without the budget.

The great thing about this Town Center is that you can really do almost everything in one central location.
The center offers everything from fast food to casual dining to fine dining and covers almost all food types. You can start your mornings at Bagel and Brew or Bruegger’s Bagel and also pop over to Barnes & Noble after 9:00 am to get your coffee and catch up on some reading.
You can then do some home shopping at Pier 1 or school supply shopping at Staples or clothes shopping at TJ Maxx or several of the other clothing boutiques.
If you need groceries there’s a Ralph’s and if you need just a few things and a prescription filled there’s CVS next door.
For lunch there’s always Wahoos and many other places such as The Habit, Del Taco, Sharky’s, Panda Express, Daphne’s, Mobtown Pizza, etc.
For your entertainment there’s a large Edwards movie theater with an IMAX. Stadium Brewing often has bands playing during the dinner hours and is a good spot to watch sports. For the real sports and TV junkies, Buffalo Wild Wings is probably more your speed. The grand park is a great place for the kids to run around and they often have bands in the summer.
For dinner my favorite place in all of Aliso Viejo is Panini Café. The food is always fresh and tasty. Other good places for dinner are Thai Bite, Opah’s, and the already mentioned Stadium Brewery and BWW.
Since Cream opened its the usual place I end the night with a tasty ice cream sandwich and/​or walk over to Barnes for a late coffee or tea.
The main reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is that several restaurants have closed and nothing has taken their place and the parking can be a pain. They really need another parking structure to accommodate all the cars, especially on weekends and during the summer and holiday season.

I live in Laguna woods and I used to drive to this center regularly to eat in the many quality restaurants in this center. After dining I often went shopping or took in a movie. Sadly I no longer come any where near this center. The reason I don’t come is because of a rude, unfriendly & ticket issuing machine who is an Orange County Sheriffs deputy. This rather obese, jumpsuit wearing cop hides in the town center and then prances on motorists pulling into the center. Not long ago I was turning left off enterprise to get into the center and officer Baker on his mighty motorcycle signaled me to pull over. It took 20 minutes to find out why he pulled me over because he had SIX others pulled over for the same violation, SIX.
There is no doubt we broke the law, but this is a classic example of a Traffic Trap. The ticket & traffic school cost me well over $ 300. I am now too nervous to drive in the center worried about what tree this giant money machine is hiding behind.
I now shop in other centers where I feel more wanted.

A very cute town center with plenty of options for eating, shopping, and lounging in the grass area. Parking can be hard to find on Fridays, but overall lots of space.

Everything in one center you could ever possibly need… except adequate parking. Poorly designed and not enough spaces. Exiting limiting to right turn only on aliso creek for all but 2 exits

The Movies are great, there are many restaurant choices, ranging from American, to Sandwich, and Mediterranean and Asian restaurants.
The Barnes and Noble sitting area is very popular and nice for studying. It must be noted that it’s very «OC clean» around the Town Center, which is nice, but it’s not really anything important in the end.
I personally love the Tj Maxx a lot! The manager once explained to me how their shipments are unpredictable, which is amazing, because they get all sorts of random goodies (:
I’ve visited the Aliso Viejo Town Center for over 6 years now, and I simply love it! The only really downside I see are the immature, rude, spoiled, drug-​dealing kids from Aliso. I was shocked to see how much of that kind of activity goes on around there. But who cares, right?
4 Stars for the nice Aliso Viejo Town Center

In other parts of the country this place would be referred to as a strip mall. Its just a giant parking lot with stores around it. It’s not like a ‘downtown’ or ‘town center’ (despite its name).

Just watched the fireworks here for the 4^th Of July, pretty good show for almost half an hour. A lot of people in the Grand Park, a stage with live music almost all day and a lot of booths, different companies promoting their services and even giving out prizes. The whole grass area was covered by people’s coolers, chairs and pets. This is not just once a year, they have concerts and events there all the time. But the everyday life is different, a lot of traffic from Aliso Creek Rd, that’s why sometimes I take Aliso Viejo Pkwy and drop down on City Lights, Vantis or Enterprise. The most convenient are still Aliso Creek and Pacific Park though. A lot of shops, restaurants and services, from movie theaters to medical services to nail salons, you can find it all here, perfect for the numerous residential buildings and great lunch time destinations for the people in the offices around.

I can’t stand this shopping center. I have nothing against the businesses here and there’s a nice variety of options from fast food to casual to sit-​down but the parking and the cell phone reception are major fails.
The parking is basically in one big bunch in the middle of the lot and there isn’t a break in the middle so you literally have to drive from one end to the other to go to the next lane. Of course, all the businesses are concentrated on one side so it is impossible to find a spot during busy times on one side but very easy if you want to literally hike across the entire lot.
In addition, I’ve found that the reception for Verizon (LTE) is sketchy at best. From within several businesses, the signal is so bad that your texts fail to transmit and never mind trying to check Facebook or Unilocal.I guess this is great if you want your date to focus on you and if you’re dining solo, you will just have to catch up on your online-​optional games.
I also can’t understand people who park in the middle of the town center’s main drag (between Opah and Panini Café). It’s a total pain to pull out in that section with cars passing through.
I’m giving them a star because there’s not a whole lot of other options in AV to hang out and dine besides the Town Center.

Awesome, has a bit if everything. Movies, a brewery, wings, sushi, Thai, the fast food trifecta, the Habbit, Fat Burger, Greek, which wich, bagels and coffee. I could go on forever, this is the heartbeat of Aliso if you live in town. If you don’t, and are looking to move here, then you hit the mark. This place has EVERYTHING; even a Trader Joes next to Lowes. K, that was corny.

Summary: I like how there is a variety of different stores and restaurants here, everything is close by and within walking distance.
Location: In the middle of Aliso, as mentioned it’s close to everything you realistically need. Parking is ATROCIOUS EVERYWHERE. There is never anywhere to park. Ever. I’m very sure the person who designed the parking lot wasn’t thinking logically. The movie theater on a Fri/​Sat night, forget it, it shares the same lot as the 7 restaurants location a feet away. You have to park very far and sometimes still unsuccessfully finding a spot. So many times I’ve just turned around and gone back home to avoid the mess. People don’t pay attention to the signs and run each other over, very frustrating!
Stores: As mentioned, you have lots of different stuff going on here from Barnes and Nobles down the list to the Theater and of course Super Market (Ralphs.) It’s a one stop shop and even gas fill up as it’s incredibly close to everything. I do wish the carwash in the Chevron station worked consistently, it’s always broken and I have to go across the street to use the Shell one.
Layout: The design is bad. There is a sure possibility you will get hit by a person in and out of a car. It’s awful. You have to drive slowly and hope no one is as ignorant as you think they would be driving. Lots of blind drives and the stop signs are never used. I wish there was a full time cop regulating traffic in there sometimes.

I have never gone into the bar or patio here and received good service. Since the options in Aliso are limited, Every once in awhile we venture back … hoping it will be better. This trip topped them all. No one greated us at the door. We went out to the patio and grabbed a table. There were two tables taken in the bar, four people at the bar, and one table taken on the patio. Pretty slow day!!!
We were greated at our table after 10 minutes. 10 minutes later a waitress arrived. We placed our drink order… Meanwhile the couple two tables away starting smoking. The bar tender came out, crouched down and chatted for sometime. Never asked them to stop, just brought more drinks. I commented that the smoke was annoying. I got a stare, but not a word spoken.
15 minutes later our drinks arrive. Two more cigarettes light up and it’s miserable.
We drank our drinks. No one ever came back to our table to offer another round or take a food order. Cigarettes still burning on. I went inside and told the bartender it was miserable w the cigarette smoke, we’d have to leave. He said «ok I’ll send your bill out». The only time they moved quickly was now! The brought our bill and we left… not a word said. We will never to return again!
I

As another reviewer wrote, there is a lack of sidewalk in the parking area in front of the movie theater. Unlike the newly built sidewalks on the other side, between Chick-​Fil-​A and Ralphs. When you’re walking, be careful for cars and please use the sidewalks, when it’s available.
Always back out of your parking spot slowly and look both ways. Drivers don’t always notice if they’re distracted by the shops, eateries, and pedestrians.
Do not put your car in reverse in the parking aisle. Just witnessed yesterday (⁰⁸⁄₃₀) a car full of teenagers backing out of an aisle (that’s right an aisle not a parking spot) and since they were not paying attention, nearly ran over two people walking to Panda Express. Statistics show teenagers, especially when their peers are in the same car, do not follow/​practice safety driving skills.
Besides the unsafe drivers and some misfit pedestrians, this shopping plaza has great restaurants and a movie theater.
During the summer there are concerts and movies in the park next to Stadium Brewery.

The is the central hub of action in Aliso Viejo. The shopping center has some great businesses like The Habit, Native Foods, Opah, Edwards Cinema and OC Pole Fitness. Even though I am probably not allowed in the Pole Fitness classes, I just like the thought that there is an establishment that teaches ordinary women to master the ancient art of pole dancing.
But I digress. You can pretty much stop here and get all of your errands and shopping done. The amusing part for me is that just when you think that you have reached the end of the businesses, you turn a corner, and there are even more stores. Parking is plentiful but the intersection near Opah’s and Bagels n Brew can get pretty crazy. It is a RR Crossing (Range Rover).

I like to walk, and the size of the Aliso Viejo Town Center gives me plenty of opportunities to do so. However, the lack of consistent walkway/​sidewalks there also give drivers plenty of opportunities to try to run me over. After all, I’m a pedestrian in CA, who am I to get in the way of a vehicle rushing out of here just so they can wait at a red light for a couple minutes?
I come here because it’s right down the street from where I work, and I don’t like to drive for lunch every day. If there was somewhere very specific I wanted to go, I might drive a few miles from another spot to get here, but generally I go here out of convenience, and only once a week. I’d rather go to places on La Paz to eat.
There’s some great scenery with benches to sit, and so much here that you should find something you like. However, there’s also a lot of chain restaurants like Chilis, Buffalo Wild Wings, Macaroni Grill, blah blah blah, and tons of fast food joints. They seem to take up the most space, but if you look hard enough there’s a few places that are intriguing and less well known to the general public, like the Native Foods Café, Inka Mama’s, and Panini Café. Sure, you can find them elsewhere, but they’re less prevalent. I also find it hard to believe that places here like Z Pizza and Thai Bite are ranked amongst the highest on Unilocal in all of Aliso Viejo.
Regardless, one could work down the street from a location with a lot less. The shopping options are better than the dining ones, there’s Pier 1, Barnes and Noble, Michaels, and Vitamin Shoppe, which are great time killers.
And, if you’re a female you can go to OC Pole Fitness or Core Power Yoga. Although from my observations, it appears all the females end up shopping at Michaels with their kids.

This place is awesome! So convenient! If i have to do any kind of errands, like go to the bank or grocery shopping; all i have to do is drive down the hill on my lunch time. This place has everything, fast food/​sit down restaurants, Movie Theater, Pet Store, Etc.
Fast Food Eats:
Burger King
Chick Fil A
Subway
Del Taco & more!
Sit Down Eats:
Opah
Inka Mama’s
Buffalo Wild Wings
Chiles & More!
Grocery:
Ralphs
Trader Joes, and more!
LOVE IT!

Say what?! You can review the towne centre?!? Unilocal,you slay me! The town center is great on so many levels as it is:
THE ONLY THING TO DO IN ALISO VIEJO (concentrated into a ginormous strip mall). I am serious.
.
I have never seen a strip mall this massive, until, of course, the towne centre.
It has so many stores: Petsmart for your pets, a giant Barnes ‘n Nobles, the CVS, Ralphs, Modern Romance, Pier One … I mean the list, of course, goes on.
It has an abundance of fast food and sit-​down restaurants that range from totally low-​key to quasi high-​end.
Also, the only movie theater in town! So get your booze on at the Brew Co., watch the skaters take over the sidewalk, and catch a movie or really anything you want to buy … in the world.

Don’t get me wrong… I still love the Aliso Viejo Town Center… but the parking is terrible here. The planners couldn’t have picked a worse layout for parking (garage off in the boonies with a huge lot spread out for ages right in front of the center). Too much ¹⁵⁄₂₀ minute parking, too. I don’t cheat the rules but I’ve definitely seen cars stay much longer.
On to a happier note… I love the center because:
* Of the community events that happen on the park area in nice weather
* The selection of restaurants that is available — whether for breakfast or lunch or dinner, there is something to suit your fancy. I normally end up at the BWW because of their sporty atmosphere and trivia game. I do want to give the pizza place a try.
* Ample seating in the courtyard by BWW. So nice to just catch some sun and relax!
* The center is very walkable! Park your car and go!