[Review #805] 2024-004…read more I started shopping at the Torrance Promenade when I moved to the South Bay in the late 1990s. My former co-worker, Jayne, loved this discount fashion store (don't remember the name & the store is no longer a current tenant) that stocked named brand fashions at discounted prices. Originally built in the early 1970s, the mall was designed for 100+ tenants with Kmart as the sole anchor store, & a section called "Artisan's Way" dedicated to glass blowers, crafters, & silversmiths. Since the entry of Del Amo Fashion Center & South Bay Galleria, the mall was remodeled & anchored by Marshalls & Plums in the 1980s. I watched more transitions: OSH Outdoor Supply Hardware (discovered the lemon boy tomato here & started a small patio garden), Aki-Home (home furniture & kitchen essentials), Bally Total Fitness (workouts with my manager who was also my exercise partner), Office Depot (personal office essentials), Babies"R"Us (supplied most of my daughter's clothing & entertainment; essentials: bottles, nipple replacements, pacifiers, baby food & pouches; safety: car seat, stroller, booster seat), & David's Bridal (my daughter's one & only flower girl dress), come & go, or just go, since shopping at the Promenade. OSH & Babies"R" Us spaces are still vacant & it's been several years with no tenant on the horizon. The best additions were Trader Joe's in early 2002s when I started to transition from the staple grocery stores, & In & Out about a decade ago for its convenience to grab a bite after shopping. I think I ate onsite twice? I mostly ordered via drive-thru & enjoyed my burgers in the comfort of home. In the 2020s, part of the south side parking was removed to make way for Jollibee, a Filipino fast food restaurant. David's Bridal vacated, & will be succeeded by New Balance. I think I shopped about 1/3 of all the stores at one point or another with my regular or infrequent go-tos: Trader Joe's, In & Out, Marshalls, Burlington, HomeGoods, Carter's (my son is aging out), Walmart, Party City, just to name a few. Besides In & Out, & Jollibee, there's not too many food options are available: Flame Broiler, Jersey Mike's, Simply Salad, Togo's Sandwiches. The Promenade offers plenty of parking, but gets super congested during the winter holidays, & businesses with lots of food traffic like Trader Joe's, north side by Walmart & Marshalls, & In & Out. Sometimes I'm not buying a huge amount between stores, I prefer to walk the distance than hop in my car by parking in the middle of the 2 furthest (& drop off the bags as I walk south), but it's not designed to be walker-friendly, especially if you're walking from Walmart down to Burlington & need to stop at Party City & Trader Joe's. If you're seeking an alternative to the larger malls & off-priced retail, Torrance Promenade is conveniently located between the 2 largest in the South Bay & is likely to serve this niche market.

Hey, Golden Cove property managers, please clean the bird crap off of the glass…read more Much of the golden Cove reputation is it's coastal view but this kind of ruins the experience FYI, I did ask the coffee shop staff to contact the property manager

Scenic shopping plaza overlooking the ocean complete with a few eateries and a Starbucks with a…read morefantastic view. Trader Joe's is also prominent here and is quite a nice store.

This is a useful plaza…read more Parking's ok and it has some great shopping. SHOPPING - Barnes and Noble - Chase Bank Standalone Kiosk - Old Navy - Pier One Imports - REI - Trader Joe's - Vitamin Shoppe EATS - Barnes and Noble Cafe - Cafe Rio - Il Fornaio NEXT DOOR - BevMo - Fresh 'n Easy - Office Depot happy Yelping and here's to tasting life!

This is a very small shopping center, but I actually go here a lot, mainly for the Old Navy because…read moreI think it's the best Old Navy in the area. The other stores are also pretty decent. It's a good area to go to during the day because it's not too crowded and the stories are spacious.

One of our favorite spots, especially with my toddler! It's only about 5 minutes from home, which…read moremakes it our go-to for a quick and easy outing. They have a great mix of coffee, ice cream, and food, so there's always something for everyone. The space is family-friendly but also great for getting some work done. Definitely a place we keep coming back to!

The Enclave is one of those places where you can just go to hang out. It is surrounded by business…read morebuildings, but there are various restaurants and drink spots. The restaurants have their own seating, but it overflows out into the outdoor shared seating area. Every time I've been here, it's a social gathering. A little crowded. There are groups of people sitting in clusters, enjoying the outdoors. Parents come with their children, too. I've been here for a couple of the weekend flea markets. The last time I was here was for a Yelp Event at the Hiro Nori Craft Ramen restaurant. There are a couple of lovely murals on the walls. There's plenty of free parking.

Malaga Cove Plaza,located in beautiful Rancho Palos Verdes Estates in Southern California is a…read moreterrific stop on a picturesque drive along the coast! They have beautiful architecture,a stunning Italian Neptune water fountain,nice shops and a market to buy foods,drinks and snacks.Plenty of free parking. For a scenic drive along SoCals version of the famous central coast Monterey/Carmel "17 Mile Drive" start your journey in San Pedro at the port of Los Angeles area and drive west on West 25th Street that takes you to Palos Verdes Drive South. You will go by The Trump National Golf Club,The Point Vicente litehouse,The Wayfarers Chapel,Portugese Bend and lots of places to explore all along the Pacific Ocean! You'll wind up at Malaga Cove Plaza for a stop and you can go onto Hermosa,Manhattan and Redondo beach communities-a great drive! . . . . #malagacoveplaza #palosverdesestates #ilovepalosverdes #scenicdrives #pointvicentelitehouse #redondobeach #manhattanbeach #hermosabeach #monterey #carmel #17miledrive #californiadreaming #californiadreamin #californiasoul #trumpnationalgolfclub #wayfarerschapel #portugesebend #takeadrive #glasschapel

Serving as the main retail area for Palos Verdes Estates, Malaga Cove Plaza was recently named to…read morethe Register of Historic Places in 2021. It has various financial institutions, along with two places that serve sit-down food. All share a large, free parking lot, with slots having different max time rules, enticing cars to be in and out. In the center is the Neptunes Fountain, though it wasn't running when we stopped by. We only found parking in a 30 minute spot, which was enough time to pick up our sandwiches from the market, walk a little to see the fountain, and be on our way.

Today we went to Pollo Loco for lunch. It was a great experience. First of all. It was super easy…read moreto park next to the restaurant second they weren't busy and they took our order right away and her food came out a few minutes later. There are other restaurants at the corner where we were.

With additional encouragement from my Yelp friend, Lilah J, to score another FTR for a shopping…read moreplaza in the City of Lakewood, here goes my go at Lakewood Marketplace. Lakewood Marketplace is located at the intersection of South and Woodruff. Here's a question for you: Which corner of that intersection is Lakewood Marketplace? It's a trick question because the answer is all four corners! lol It's true, there's something going on at every corner, and depending on your needs, you may be able to fulfill all of them at this one intersection. Just like parks, I don't find shopping centers easy to review, not knowing exactly how to approach it, but since I've stopped by all four corners at some point in time, I'll split this review into four sections, one dedicated to each intermediate direction. Southeast Corner: Vons is the anchor store here, but you'll also find a Daiso Japan, Starbucks, Granny's Donuts, Banfield Pet Hospital, Arby's, and an Ace Hardware store that just recently replaced Tuesday Morning, oddly enough, opening their doors to the general public on a Tuesday morning. The Vons here is more spacious than the *other* Vons on Woodruff, so if that *other* Vons is your usual Vons, and you can't find any of those seemingly scarce eggs, you may want to consider making the 1.7 mile trek north to this Vons instead. If you read my review of Carwood West Shopping Center, also in Lakewood, I mentioned a story where I tried to find something at the Vons on the other side of Woodruff and encountered a suspicious family asking for gas money. I told them I didn't have any, but wished them luck anyways. I drove up to this Vons, and when I was about to leave, that same suspicious family came up to me again! Luckily, that was the only such encounter I've had at Lakewood Marketplace. Northeast Corner: I've only been to El Pollo Loco and Pizza Hut. Also the Seven Eleven on 7/11, but they had run out of free slushies. UFC Gym was the anchor business there, but they have since closed. However, Tesla owners will be thrilled to hear that there's now a Tesla Supercharger here! I don't own such a vehicle, so I can't really comment on how effective the charging station is there. For eats, there is also a Church's Chicken and Thai Villa here. They're probably better than what I had at El Pollo Loco and Pizza Hut. I don't find this corner particularly interesting compared to the Northwest and Southeast corners; I find it about as boring as the Southwest corner. Northwest Corner: Alongside the Southeast corner, there's just as much or maybe even more going on at this corner with the recent addition of a Cassidy's Corner Cafe, though I personally think it's overkill to have 5 locations within 6 miles of one another! The other grocery store, Grocery Outlet, is at this corner, and shopping there lately has been more of a game of maximizing your savings while minimizing your spendings. Don't expect the quality of the merch to be better than that of Vons, but you can definitely save a ton of money if you shop here often. The expiry dates are much earlier than at Vons, so keep that in mind in deciding whether to patronize Grocery Outlet or Vons. There are more options for eats here: Yoshinoya, Mamma's, Adobo Taco Grill, Subway, and Carl's Jr. There's also Cafe Monster that took over Ding Tea, and I'm not sure if it's a rebranding of the bubble tea shop with the same employees? If it is, I'd be hesitant to visit as my one visit to the then-Ding Tea was a complete and utter failure. See my review of that one to see why. Southwest Corner: The only businesses I've patronized on this corner are ARCO and Boba Bee, the last of which is a pretty nice boba shop. Much better than the *other* bee-themed boba shop in Lakewood, which happens to be next to the *other* Cassidy's Corner Cafe, both of which I'm avoiding like the plague. Some gas stations are set up so that if you want to park your car in the parking lot directly in front of a business in the same corner, you'd have to get back on the main road for a few feet. Not here. There was a time when I needed to pump fuel at ARCO, and then immediately after, I parked in the lot without having to get back on Woodruff, which was pretty convenient, but with such a smaller space to traverse your vehicles through, you'll have to keep a keen eye on other drivers finding their way about. Compared to the other three corners, I believe fender benders are likeliest to happen at this corner. Did I mention the parking lot here? Since it's a strip mall, there's a long strip of parking spots with minimal room for two vehicles to pass by one another in opposite directions. If you're really having difficulty finding an open spot or maneuvering your vehicle with such a short turn radius, I recommend parking closer to Tokyo Hibachi. Overall: It wouldn't be easy for me to give a rating to each individual corner of this intersection. Luckily, deciding on a holistic rating was. 4 solid stars!

Though First to Reviews (FTRs) are quite an honor to have on this review platform, I honestly…read morewasn't planning on having said honor bestowed upon me until a Yelp friend, Lilah J, prodded me to go for it. I thought it would have been quite the challenge to be reviewing a shopping plaza, one especially across the street from the 4th largest shopping center in California, in spite of my frequent visits to both. However, I figured if Lakewood Square could serve as a good respite from the hustle and bustle of Lakewood Center, it surely deserves at least one review, am I right?! So ironically speaking, Lakewood Square isn't even square in shape, but Lakewood Center, at least sans Restaurant Row, fully occupies the square block encompassed by Lakewood, Del Amo, Candlewood, and Clark. Hardwick divides Lakewood Square into two sides. Either side has plenty of parking, but the north side will be more abundant, especially on Sundays when the anchor tenant, Hobby Lobby, is closed. That Hobby Lobby used to be a Vons, which closed some years ago in spite of its seemingly prime location from a birds eye view. The south side is anchored by World Market, which offers a wide variety of international goods as well as some neat furniture that could go well in your backyard or your front porch. In the immediate vicinity, you can also have your teeth done at Ocean Dental before finally rewarding yourself with some food from one of Subway, Pieology, Cafe Rio Mexican Grill, or Yogurtland. I've been to all four, but none of them have the best food in Lakewood. However, they will certainly do in a pinch if you're too lazy to go across the street, either Lakewood or Hardwick. Eateries on the north side include Crazy Delights, Wasabi Roll & Ramen Bar, and Chuck E Cheese. In addition to a dentist, there's an eye doctor as well as an urgent care to care for your eye and medical needs, respectively. Plus, Metro Infusion Center will be opening very soon. As I mentioned before, there is plenty of parking on both sides of Hardwick, but if you really can't find a spot on a busy day, try to look for parking in the rear of the buildings. You might be able to snag a spot there :) There's also a security guard roaming about the plaza, so you can feel safe while shopping there. Tenants come and go pretty frequently here, so if you were to come back in 5 years, it would look quite different. One thing that has befuddled me is having two Phenix Salon Suites just a mere hundred feet from one another. There was already a standalone location on the north side hugging Hardwick, and now there's another location on the south side, also hugging Hardwick, that recently replaced Catherine's. I don't think it's clear where the bounds are for Lakewood Square, but after consulting their website www.shoplakewoodsquare.com, it seems that First Bank is at the northeastern corner whereas Yogurtland is at the southeastern corner. However, there's more excitement in either direction! To the north, there is JOANN, Big 5, Petco, and Savers, the last of which recently replaced Big Lots. To the south, there is an Optum, Farmers & Merchants Bank, and the old OfficeMax building, which will be a Sender One very soon! I can see that last one getting a ton of foot traffic, indicating that Lakewood Square may be seeing more activity in the near future! In addition to F&M and First Bank, there's also a Chase at Lakewood Square to fulfill your banking needs. Need a haircut? Great Clips has you covered! Or uncovered? lol Need a place to work out? Check out 6 Degree Fitness! There used to be a Crossfit BPM on the northwest corner, but that unfortunately closed recently. Between Hobby Lobby and Crazy Delights, you can also find a laundromat, beauty supply store, and a tobacco store. I mentioned JOANN previously, but there's also Michael's if neither JOANN nor Hobby Lobby has the arts and crafts material that you seek. Artists can try their luck at Painting with a Twist, and if they'd like a manicure or a pedicure, Beam Nail Bar next door can provide those services! What about the kiddos? They can meet some new friends at The Little Gym of Lakewood, or they can have their own birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese! If you're wondering why there's no longer a Men's Wearhouse on Restaurant Row, it's because they recently moved into the spot that was recently occupied by The Avenue. It seems clothing stores have not had the best of luck here, unfortunately. Hopefully, Men's Wearhouse doesn't succumb to the same fate! Though it pales in comparison to Lakewood Center Mall, Lakewood Square is a nice plaza to visit if you want to experience a different kind of shopping. There's just about something for everyone here, but you can't really do all your one-stop shopping here due to lack of a grocery store. However, there's a CVS Pharmacy where you can also pick up your prescriptions and get your COVID/flu shots. Plus, Albertsons is just one block east.

I didn't realize that there was only one review for lakewood Sq. I frequent this area for a few…read morebusiness. My most used is the CVS. I use the drive thru for all of my prescriptions. Theplace I visit most often other than CVS is the UPS store. I do all of my mail returns here. It can get pretty busy. In terms of holiday or party decor you can't go wrong with Micheals or Hobby Lobby! I use Michael's for all of my art framing also. World Market has been the staple store in this center. We used to call it Cost Plus! I love their cards and Xmas ornaments. I bought my turquoise night tables here too. Savers is now my go to to drop off donations! There is a drive thru drop off thru the alley.

Got this delicious mocha cake at the bakery in this plaza! The staff was very friendly and even…read moregave me candles

This plaza is running a shady operation by aggressively towing cars to make money. They have a…read moretiny, almost unnoticeable sign at the entrance about towing, and if you don't immediately enter a store after parking, they call the towing company right away. They even have someone secretly monitoring you without any warning. How do they determine who's a customer and when? They don't--they just don't care. To make matters worse, the towing company is within walking distance, so they show up almost instantly. Getting your car back will cost you around $500, making this an outright scam. It's clearly a setup to trap unsuspecting visitors and make a quick profit. Avoid this place unless you want to deal with an unnecessary and extremely costly headache.