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The Shops At Tanforan

2.8 (353 reviews)
Closed 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

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What a difference a year makes. Ghost town. #May2026

It's time to tear this place down and start over. SERVICE Very few businesses exist in the mall. A jewelry store, Hallmark, movie theater, and a food court that had one broken down escalator (going down from 2nd floor) and about 3-4 restaurants only. There was a restroom near the food court but it feels precarious to use it as there were not many people around. SELECTION Not even worth visiting. Save your time and gas. VALUE Very little. I remember when the racetrack was torn down and this mall was erected. It was a place to go to on the way to visit family and friends in and around SF. It's now a shell of its former self.

Daniel M.

This is a belated review but it's also an easy one. This place sucks. I've seen cemeteries with more life than this mall. I remember seeing on the news years ago that this place would get shut down in favor of a biotech campus. Is that still happening? A part of me thinks it won't since this old relic is still somehow standing but at the same time, after actually stepping foot here for the first time in years, unless businesses come to occupy the VAST amount of empty space here then I don't see why this place still needs to exist. A lot of stores and eateries are gone. The only things I like about Tanforan are that Barnes & Noble and BJ's are here - but I live in the East Bay. I have no reason to go all the way to Tanforan for either of those places. The escalators when I went here were nearly ALL broken which makes going up and down a complete pain in the ass. It surprises me that whoever works here bothered to put up such a nice Christmas tree during the holidays because who the hell is coming here to see it? There's nothing to do here. Even freaking JOLLIBEE isn't here anymore. I dislike Jollibee but if even that can't stick around in an area where there's a ton of Filipinos, there's no hope for anyone. This mall is washed. It's sad, it's depressing, it makes me want to start drinking again. Yes, I will revert to alcoholism because of Tanforan. I hope you're proud of yourselves.

Empty
Jack R.

I'm calling it, this mall is dead and doomed. This place is pretty much gutted. No more Aunt Annie's pretzels. No more Smoothie place. No more Old Navy or Daiso. The food court has like 5 places, most of which suck. No more Five Guys, not that I like them at all, but still. No more Poke place. This place is a ghost town and really looks like something out of a zombie horror movie.

Mary L.

It's really not as bad here on a Friday afternoon, but not sure about weekends and holidays. This shopping mall has the most parking spots and the parking garage is nearly empty on the upper levels too. It's a beautiful piece of property with Century Movie Theaters on the third floor. Very clean and well maintained mall area. Best of all, the food court area is more spacious than most typical food courts at small shopping malls. It doesn't have a lot of great choices, but at least you can find a Sakura restaurant, Chipotle, and then right above or upstairs is a delicious dim sum food place, plus Pate A Choux/French cream puff snacks. BJ's restaurant is downstairs. Not much, but you won't starve. There's more delicious foods and restaurants across the plaza where grocery store is located too. Retail staffs are friendly. Inexpensive items can be found here. Saw a few security guards. Not much happens here these days. Small shopping malls have all suffered over the years. Yes, you get an emptier feeling because of many retail spaces available for lease or have been shut down. If you like fashionable ladies clothes, they certainly have a huge Q store and Demasque store inside. Those stores are much larger than ones located in the South Bay Area. Glad to see Barnes & Noble bookstore with Starbucks inside. Target store should be enjoying and still around. Love reading books and sipping hot beverages. JC Penny is still around. I actually enjoyed the short walk in the well lit white colored shopping mall. High ceilings too. Two floors is enough, unless you really want to catch a movie on third floor. I would say the location is pretty darn convenient, right off Hwy 380 on El Camino Real exit. Love it on Friday. Depends on your purpose for coming to shopping malls. I'm just glad that this place still exists, especially great to sit inside on rainy/foggy days. Hopefully, retailers would come back for business, but knowing the current conditions of San Francisco Bay Area shopping malls, it's unlikely to fill up, so just appreciate what's left of it today.

1/26/2025 it's a slow death
Mel T.

I miss when this place was fun and had the theater downstairs. It used to be so busy. Thank for BN and BJs (although they can be better too). A lot of stores closed and even the food court is lacking. It's a slow Sunday afternoon, and the coffin is being built as we walk down the corridor.

Stefan T.

Dwindling popularity of the shops - lots are closed. Food court had great options - maybe a good place to come watch a movie and have dinner. If you live in an area that still has an open bookstore like Barnes and Noble - it means you live in a good area. Word on the street is a lot of SF cops actually live here in this area - I guess they don't trust the streets that they patrol with their own families... A cell phone repair spot. JC Penny.... Given that so many shops are closed the place still has some dignity. Maybe its a refection of the surrounding neighborhood. Convenient to Bart - might want to give that a try this month as I heard there is a 50 percent discount. Yeah, everybody loves a good deal. In fact, there might be nothing more American.

All that for what? I just needed a smaller bag...  Not as small as your paycheck but around that size ‍
Lily S.

This is to the GUESS store in particular There was a short Latina and a flamboyant latino working that day, me my mom and kiddo walked in that MF disheveled as hell, moms wig was not wiggin, I didn't sleep the night before because my toddler went to sleep at 8am that morning and well I needed a small handbag because my north face backpack was making security look at us like we was gonna rob the place ‍ Those two talking down on me and my mom because we ain't trying to pay 74 for a fanny pack and asking them about prices apparently was funny & well a burden to them and their empty store. Customer service was garbage, my mom made it a thing to start picking up whatever just to make them look up prices now because she was confused as to what crawled up their gluteus maximus that particular day that talking bad about a customer was an option that was on the table. We speak Portuguese and they spoke Spanish so we kept the English going to act like we didn't understand them until they called us broke... Now. Now my mom don't take that word lightly especially from two kids that are struggling making ends meet while working retail in a soon to be abandoned mall, that don't know how to apply make up or maybe clown-chola was the look that day and from a boy who identifies as ZIM! I went to get this 25 dollar bag and woops credit card denied and these losers laughed until I got my man on the phone who said while on speaker, "baby request what you need honey I'll send it right now!" ‍‍‍‍ Humbled the kids right up. See while we leave and enjoy our day you enjoy that 43 dollar paycheck. Tuh, my man got me. Just rude. And double rude for providing no positivity not even something good to look at... ‍

Tart and Mango
Kari C.

I was content with the service. Weighed the dessert for service~~~ my friends left me there lol.

The area where the monthly family events took place.
Caitlyn C.

1 star because I still like this shopping mall even though it's pretty much a ghost town. Sad that they keep posting monthly Family Events on both Facebook and Instagram when the events didn't even happen such as today. I am extremely disappointed to have to find out from a security guard that these events will not be happening anymore. There's no notice of cancellation and it was also not announced on social media (Facebook & Instagram). I also did not get an email of cancellation despite being on their mailing list. :( 1 Star for having spots like Sarku Japan and Happy Lemon. This Sarku Japan gives you more chicken (if you order teriyaki chicken) than the one at Hillsdale Mall. Please keep them open until next year when the mall shuts down.

Food court area

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1 year ago

Rating is for the shoe stores - lots of good selection even though the mall is mostly empty since it's going to be torn down soon!

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1 year ago

The stores are "nonexistent", there a few open which shocks me considering half the mall has empty lots

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4 years ago

this genuinely feels like a ghost mall. There was basically no stores aside from the JCPenney theater barnes and noble and the target.

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7 years ago

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3 years ago

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1 year ago

Escalators not working shops are closing closed this place is basically dead af. Will definitely not go back

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It's further out than the Serramonte but I'd rather drive further for this location.

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Westborough Square - Real Mexican for eat in, delivery, takeout and catering - next to the UPS store in Westborough Square

Westborough Square

2.6(20 reviews)
2.0 mi
$$

This shopping center has a burger joint, a Korean bbq chicken joint, a pho-noodle house, a Chinese…read morerestaurant on the fancier side, a decent sushi bar, a good bakery/dessert spot, a hip cafe, a boba-tea joint, an Asian grocery store, a pizza joint, a drugstore, a laundromat, a bank. Everything I look for in one location and is right off Hwy 280 at, surprise, the Westborough Blvd exit. The area is usually clear of trash and debris which is nice. People don't litter or the owner have the property taken care of well. Also, two gas stations and a major fast food chain are adjacent. Note the parking and lanes are tight and can get filled up quickly on weekends.

I've been to Westborough Square a couple of times to grab a coffee from Philz. Recently, I stopped…read moreby to grab some food for a second lunch and dinner. The roommate and I swung by on Sunday, August 13th around 3:15pm. We started at Paris Baguette. I love bakeries. Especially self serve type ones like Paris Baguette. Though this location didn't seem to have as much variety as other locations I've been to. Also, service was a little weird as they gave us an extra item we didn't order. We didn't realize until we got home, so we spent a little more than we had intended. Since we didn't have dinner plans, we decided to grab some chicken from Bonchon. It was relatively slow as we were there between lunch and dinner. I do love their chicken. It's crispy and very flavorful. Though our sides weren't very good. The kimchi slaw tasted old and off. We ended up throwing that away. They have more random shops such as my namesake restaurant Ng's Cooking, an AT&T store, etc. For some reason, my cell phone data wasn't working at Bonchon, so I guess it would have been convenient to just stop by AT&T next door. Though it started working once we left Bonchon, so maybe it's just a dead spot? Decent little shopping plaza. I never really get down this way, but if I'm craving chicken, Bonchon will do the trick!

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Westborough Square - Walgreens

Walgreens

Westborough Square - Philz Coffee

Philz Coffee

Westborough Square - A few restaurants

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The Shops At Tanforan - shoppingcenters - Updated May 2026

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