If you’re in San Diego’s South Bay area, make sure to visit the new Otay Ranch Center. Otay Ranch is on the eastside of Chula Vista going towards Eastlake.
A few years back this part of town was nothing but dirt. It seems as if just over night homes started popping up left and right. It is your typical suburbia, but it’s suburbia with class.
My wife and I purchased a condo last year in the Otay Ranch area, and we are getting ready to buy a second. We figure this is an ideal area to live in due to its rapid rate of growth. The area is expected to double in size by 2020.
This past year Otay Ranch unveiled it’s greatest accomplishment yet…
The Otay Ranch Center!
This is by far one of the most family friendly shopping centers I have visited in all of San Diego. If you’ve ever visited Santa Barbara’s downtown shopping district, it is very much like that.
You can park right in front of the shops. Now tell me, what shopping mall has those options. It even has valet parking! It is typical of a downtown shopping district, but it has been done with class unseen anywhere.
I don’t own a dog or anything close to it, but I think it’s really cool that the mall was designed with poochy in mind. The stores have a dog bowl for drinking water outside. Most people don’t realize that fluffy gets tired and thirsty having to wait for you while shopping.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, there’s also a dog-friendly park across from the mall.
Do your kids enjoy writing on the walls at home? Well my son isn’t old enough to scribble yet, but I’m sure he’ll be excited to know he can go wild scribbling with chalk at the town center’s “chalk garden”. There’s popper fountains, so plan on bringing a spare of clothing to change your kids into after they are completely soaked.
The Otay Ranch Center is still very new, so you won’t experience much crowdedness (Unless you come on a Saturday or Sunday).
Keep in mind that when shopping in San Diego it’s all about the experience, and not necessarily about buying everything in sight.
I often tell my wife that she is a professional shopper. She knows exactly where to park, and she has an strategic plan before getting there.
My wife really likes the Black and White store. I prefer to spend most of my time in the Apple Computer store or Discovery store (geeky stuff has always attracted me).
You will find a lot of high-end stores that rival Rodeo Drive at the Otay Ranch Town Center. Here’s a quick list of just a few very popular (a bit pricey too) stores.
- Coach, Anthropologie, Macy’s, Ann Taylor, Build-A-Bear Workshop,REI, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sephora and White House Black Market.
You also have a good balance of stores that won’t knock the financial wind out of you.
Also, don’t miss out on the Philly Cheesestake sandwiches at Steak Escape in the Food Pavillion. These are really good! Or if you feel like dining at other more well know restaurants there’s P. F. Chang’s China Bistro, Cheesecake Factory, Frida Mexican Cuisine, California Pizza Kitchen.
Additional Information:
Otay Ranch Center
2015 Birch Road, Suite 500
Chula Vista, California 91915
(619) 656-9100
Mall Hours:
Monday-Saturday:10:00am-9:00pm
Sunday:11:00am-7:00pm
Store hours vary, please call ahead.
Tags: otay ranch, otay ranch center, town center
