Santee Trolley Square Town Center

This is my go-​to Starbucks, as I’ve been hosting my Read & Critique groups here for the past few months. I accidentally reviewed the wrong Starbucks, since the address seems to be a point of confusion… so, that’s the only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5.
The Starbucks itself is actually super accessible, since it’s right at the end of the trolley line, and adjacent to the tracks, so even if you don’t live out in Santee, you can still get here on public transportation. Hey, writing ain’t just for the intelligentsia downtown, kid! Pull up a chair; you might learn something.
There’s also a Barnes & Noble in this shopping center, so after you’re done having all of your hard work ripped apart in our critique group (just joking — we are actually super nice), you can go buy some writing guides to further improve. (I think you may be sensing a pattern here…)
If you normally dig/​drink Starbucks, then you know the drill: all the usual suspects are here!
If not, congratulations: you are some sort of space alien who has recently dropped down to Earth, and we, the people, welcome you. Try a latté and a cake pop! Soon you will achieve total consciousness.
Rock on, Starbucks TS, where it is, indeed, hip to be square.

Right in the Middle of Santee next to all the other big stores. Cool how the Green Line has a stop here.

The folks at the Santee BB& B are wonderful! Big shout out to Wendy who helped me complete my home remodel. And the online service is beyond compare!

Lots of places to shop and hang out. Traffic here on a Saturday afternoon was very light for some reason.

Santee Trolley Square is a nice shopping mall, that being said, it could use a bit of upgrade, like maybe add a (historic carousel, playground, water mountain, lounge area, food court, etc.)

This is one of the primary reasons my husband and I are choosing to buy a house in Santee. Yes its within our budget to live here and yada yada, but the proximity to everything we need is key for us as current city dwellers. My cousin purchased a house a few years ago in Santee and as a San Diego native I was always super skeptical about Santee fka Clantee.
This shopping center is a testament to how far Santee has come since I was a child/​teen even in my 20s. We have been to Santee Trolley Square many times in the past and we always have a good experience. I have to be honest, the line not wrapping around the building at Phils is a complete bonus too. We cannot wait to move to Santee.
Now who can I convince that all they need is a Victoria Secret out here???

I don’t ever come to Santee but I had to for an emergency pickup. What I liked about this shopping center is that there is lot of cool stores! I came when it wasn’t too busy, but leaving there was traffic.
Some mentionable stores — Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target, Bath and Body Works, Old Navy, and more. Additionally, I noticed a lot of restaurants and eateries. To name a few there’s Phil’s BBQ, Jamba Juice, and more.
There’s a 24 hour fitness in this shopping center as well. The parking lot is huge but maneuvering may be an issue especially if there’s traffic. A lot of people speed through the lot too. UGH!
About 1.5 miles from the 52 freeway, so it’s conveniently located off the major freeway.

This is one of the best shopping malls in San Diego. My favorite! Like the fact that it has a lot of open space. Had enough of closed-​in shopping malls where you are constantly bumping and weaving around people and strollers. My favorite store there is Barnes and Noble. It’s so big, never crowded with so many interesting books to check out, a huge variety of magazines, lots of stationary, journals, and organizers. The children’s book area is nice and big with places to sit, a wide variety of books and many have items related to the book, like stuff animals of characters from the book. There’s a wonderful child/​adult toy section with lots of unique things to buy. Love the Old Navy store because it’s spacious, never crowded and has my size. Phil’s Barbeque is awesome. It’s really big so there’s not a line wrapped around the restarant so you get seated right away. The service and food is excellent. Love the fact that there are so many stores and restaurants/​eateries to check out and there’s always ample parking. Another plus is the trolley’s last stop is there.

This place is pretty crazy~! Plenty of retail shops to buy what you need, and quite a few restaurants. Nice place to head off on a Trolley adventure, but don’t park in the 4Hour Only spots if you want to see your vehicle again~!

The trolley brings transients in who I’ve witnessed, being formerly employed in this area, steal and loiter. Unpleasant to sit around at the Starbucks. I worked right across from Starbucks and watched a homeless lady pull down her pants and pee on the chair.

This place was really cool! I love the giant Christmas tree they put up here. This is truly «The end of the line» on the Trolley! This place also has a great shopping center! I am a fan!

This place is adorable, a mini outdoor mall, clean, with nice people. love all the food options and the fact that theres an awesome target.

I love this location. This is the future of Santee and never is a hassle to visit for what ever reason you need to get out for. With plenty of dining options (both chain and hole in the wall) and shopping choices, why would you go anywhere else. A movie theater perhaps, well that is being talked about and would only make things better (can you add a sixth star???). The cherry on the top is that fact that this location is the end of the green line for SD Trolley, and since the property owners take pride in the location, it makes for a safe place to park your car (or walk to) for a ride to any location on the trolley lines. This is a must visit location if you live in the Santee (and El Cajon) area.

This is my local «mall» and it’s a pretty good place to visit if you’re just out for some window-​shopping, or you have a particular destination in mind. Usually I go to the Barnes and Nobles or Gamestop to browse and the Petsmart to visit the shelter cats, but there are also plenty of places to eat and clothing stores in the mid-​range. No Hot Topic or Spencer’s, though. :(
And Coldstone reopened last I heard, yay!
The trolley stop in the middle of the mall makes it really convenient for those without cars.

I went and got a flat bread bbq chicken pizza was really good and my husband said the same thing about her meal over would come back

Nice place to walk around and shop. They have all sorts of places here. Barnes n noble, Bath and body works, tj maxx, petsmart, tilly’s, Einstein bros, jamba juice, target, and many more ! I just named some of my favorites :) oh I saw they are going to open a Phill’s BBQ… mega excited cant wait.

I love to ride the San Diego Trolley! When riding the trolley, I can feel and expereice the pulse of San Diego. This end of the line station is a great place to hangout because it’s located at a rather nice looking mall in Santee.
It’s a great place to meet up with my friends that live in Santee. At times, we all hangout at the Starbucks that is feet from the station.
Good times!

I love this shopping center. There are so many different stores and places to eat! It’s really clean too. I could spend an entire afternoon at Santee Trolley Square.
This particular shopping trip was quite interesting… We stopped in to Payless there was a new associate helping us find shoes for my 2 year old. The obviously know it all more experienced clerk was rude and snippy to the new girl. There was an issue with the new girl triggering a security notification. I guess she pulled the wrong dollar bill out of the cash register. We’re waiting at the register for the rude clerk to finish with the alarm people and to reset the register. We just wanted to pay and go about our day… FINALLY. we check out and walk out into the beautiful warm sunshine.
Only to be greeted by AK 47’S and BLACK n WHITES!!! There were at least 10 sheriff cars surrounding the entire area. There was a deputy holding an AK a few hundred feet in front of us. The deputy asked us if everything was ok in the store. I said yes that the clerk accidentally triggered the alarm. My 2 year old, 15 year old and I kept walking. the deputy yelled at us to walk the other way??? It was As we turned the other way that I noticed all the other officers surrounding the place with their guns out!
A woman and her kids that walked out after us was freaking out when she saw the CHAOS outside!
I guess all I can say is this shopping center has some SERIOUS SECURITY!

I have to give credit to this place — when I think of Santee I do not think of nice, upscale or really anything like that. BUT this shopping center makes me forget I am in Santee and that is saying something! The shops here are all nice and some good shopping can be found here. You can really spend all day here and get all of your shopping and eating done without ever leaving the center.

The San Diego MTS Trolley System green line makes its last stop here at Santee Trolley Square. Over 40 retail shops and restaurants are clustered together for easy walking.
My recommendations:
Chili’s
Daphne’s
Einstein Bros
La Salsa
Mimi’s
Oggi’s
Old Navy
Olive Garden
Party City
PetsMart
Pier 1
Staples
Target
Tilly’s