Del Mar Highlands Town Center

Del Mar Highlands Town Center is one of my go-to shopping centers in the area because it feels clean, modern, and easy to spend a few hours at without it turning into a chore. The layout is open and walkable, and there’s a nice mix of everyday errands and “treat yourself” stops—shops, services, and plenty of food options when you want to take a break. It’s also a good spot to meet friends since you can shop a bit, grab a bite, and keep it low-key. The overall atmosphere is a big plus: well-kept landscaping, a more upscale North County vibe, and generally a safe, pleasant place to wander. I also like that it doesn’t feel as cramped as some older malls, and there’s usually something going on—seasonal displays, small pop-ups, or just a lively crowd that makes it feel active. I’m giving it 4 stars because parking can be frustrating, especially during peak hours and weekends. You may have to circle longer than you’d expect, and a few sections can feel a little congested with cars and pedestrians. Some stores also skew pricier, so it’s not always the best for bargain shopping. Still, for convenience, variety, and a nice overall experience, it’s a strong 4/5.

Pretty neat place with a grocery store, movie theatre, and a cool food court all near each other. A nice place to pass a few hours.

Came across this plaza when we were trying to find a restaurant for dinner. When we arrived, I didn't expect to see so.mamy shops, restaurants and 2 grocery marketa. It's a good one stop area to get what you need.

Very busy most of the time, under expansion as of 2020. Angled parking and additional garage parking. well built entrance and exit systems to handle the traffic. There are two plazas in this town center - the upper houses grocery, pharmacy, fast casual eateries, pet supplies, beauty services, banking. The lower plaza has a kid friendly fountain, trampoline, seating, boutique clothing retail, fuel.

Beautiful and clean shopping center with super cute boutiques and places to eat!

Just love this mall especially after all the renovations and expansion has been completed. Some great restuarants and cafes and ice parlors and donut and cookie shops to explore here. Plus the ambience is very laid back and kid friendly . To top it off it's a must see mall for Christmas lights and decorations !! Not sure if any other mall in San Diego beats their Christmas decor!

A little of everything. Great parking. Free WiFi, plenty of setting. I did NOT see where you can get R.O. Water… By the gallon. Famous Thrifty Ice-cream

The sky deck here was great today for hot ramen! A rainy windy day just screamed for ramen and me and my buddies were not disappointed. Update: great ramen on a rainy day

I don't think I've let a review since they renovated the highlands! I really love all the enhancements they made to the property, like the SkyDeck and the shops on the newer side of the property. They have everything you could possibly need from a grocery store, an elevated food hall, a book store and even a movie theater. These changes were all for the better!

This is a large Towne center with lots of great shops from restaurants, desserts to clothing. It's a great place to just relax too as they have seating around the area. They also have fun bouncers for the littles. It's a nice outing for the whole family. They also have plenty of parking.

We live 10 mins away from this community. The plaza center is nice, good ambiance and a beautiful place to stroll around. Lots of restaurant and plenty of parking spaces. Nice restaurants across the street and wonderful theater!

Del Mar Highlands Town Center has become my most favorite part of San Diego County. The plaza is beautiful and has lots of free parking in a private lot and there is a parking garage too (I don't know if underground parking is free since I've never had to use it). I've never had trouble finding a space in the parking lot. Plentiful and free parking are becoming extremely rare in many parts of the county, so I find myself gravitating towards this plaza, especially when I'm with a large group of friends or hosting one of my events for my MeetUp Fun Diego Ladies group. I have frequented so many restaurants here and can say I love them all! Towards the far right end of the plaza is the Sky Deck, which has a collection of amazing restaurants (The Glass Box is my favorite sushi restaurant!). Directly under Sky Deck is Jimbo's market, that has fresh produce and flowers, and so much more! All along the plaza, there are so many restaurants, dessert places, small boutiques, a movie theatre, and so much more! This plaza really has it all! Right now, they are fully decked out in Christmas decorations. Most impressive are the rows of palm trees wrapped in red and white lights like candy canes and bursting white lights that look like mini fireworks from far away. They also have a tall Christmas tree designed using surf boards, very clever and original! You'll have to come check it out!

Great holiday vibes. We visit here as much as possible during the holiday season to sink in the atmosphere.. my kids love to hang out here and play around .. so many nice restaurants with lots of vegetarian options to choose and eat and relax. Beautiful decorations around picture worthy.

Really nice location with multiple options. It was great to meet friends and get some shopping in.

Great location! No waiting for self wash over the weekend! Perfect place to bathe your pup after dog beach! Thank you so much!

Beautiful sky deck and plaza. There is plenty of free parking. It's got everything you'd need and more! Casual and upscale dining, a luxury theatre, grocery store, pharmacy, and shops to spend your hard-earned money.

Renovation has taken a bit longer but hasn't dampened the fun and enjoyment of shopping. This place has it all and all in one place. I enjoy the location. Close to home and the beach. Tons of parking too! I'll be back for sure during the summer to enjoy the lounge areas.

PRETTY DECENT ! We have visited this shopping center every now and then over the past 6 years. Now that the Sky Deck upscale food court has been added on top of Jimbo's in 2021 we may hit this place more often. Of course if they added a Tesla Supercharging station ( One Paseo across the road shut theirs down ) then we would be weekly visitors spending our hard earned cash in the shopping center !

I miss the shopping center the way it was before. Too packed, too confusing of a lay out. Just a pain in the butt to get around now. No longer convenient with easy access. If you have no where to be and have all day to lounge around it might be fine, but other than that, it is a nightmare and people drive like crazy bc they are probably frustrated too. I will not be coming here anymore- too overdeveloped.

We've shopped here since we moved west to Del Mar over two decades ago. This Center has two levels. The upper level has a Ralphs and a Rite-Aid, several casual dining spots, retail shops, two banks, and a rather nice movie theatre. Down the escalator or driveway ramp to the lower level to find more fast food and casual dining, plus boutiques, retail shops, and a health food market on the ground floor and professional practices on the second floor. At the far end is the latest addition, Sky Plaza -- a multi-story food court. Parking is easy, especially with the parking garage. Always a pleasure to shop or eat here

This is a great place for kids during the holidays! My kids are still little and like the idea of Santa but are terrified of getting a photo so we've been checking out places mostly with lights and decor. Love the holiday decor throughout the place like the reindeer on the roof, the snowboarding penguins, the lights, and the big and little Adirondack chairs! My boys had a blast walking around the place and getting Sidecar doughnuts. We also picked up Mendocino's before going home. Highly recommend day or night!

Parking lot is absolutely horrendous. Parking garage even gets almost full but it's a little better than across the street. Traffic leaving the center never seems to know that cars entering don't have a stop. The shop selection and restaurants here are overpriced and underwhelming. As of this first week of December 2022 the traffic intersection Del Mar Heights Road has the traffic lights off and flashing for whatever reason creating a 10-way stop complete cluster fuck of a situation as if it wasn't bad enough already. I recommend going in the receiving entrance behind jimbo's to get into the parking garage as there are no stop signs or long lights. Whoever is in charge of this Center sure loves Christmas as there are so many decorations and music playing as early as November 1st.

I am here at least 3-4x a week. I do a majority of my shopping and eating here. They have a starbucks for my coffee addiction, cinepolis to keep me entertained, nail salon to keep me groomed, einsteins for my lox cravings, BOFA to keep my accounts plump, gas to keep my tank full, car wash to keep my car clean, hair salon to keep my ends neat, jimbos for my protein shakes, tillys for the kids back to school shopping and the list goes on.... My top 3 favorite eateries here are- 1. Seersucker when you want to sit relax and enjoy a nice meal. 2. Mendocino Farms when you have the kids and want something quick. 3. Pokewan when I am alone and want to take something home. What I love most about this center are the festive events they put on for the kids! They have an awesome Halloween event with trick or treating and live entertainment and during the holidays they have a beautiful tree lighting ceremony with Santa, carolers, hot coco and cookies for the kids. We have been coming to all their events now for 6 years and it has become our family tradition. I will be sad when my kids outgrow them.

This review is for the parking situation in the plaza, particularly with respect to the EV charging stations. We have been living in the area since 2012 and have been frequenting this plaza for over 10 years. We have always enjoyed our visits and really appreciate the management's attention to detail in keeping everything nice and pleasant. However, during our most recent visit, we had an incident at the electric vehicle stations in the parking garage that made me feel extremely uncomfortable and unsafe. My husband and I stopped by for a quick bite and parked at the last available Volta EV station. The vehicle in the next spot had just pulled in about 3 seconds before us. After parking, and while waiting for the elevator, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the owner of the neighboring vehicle had walked over to our car. We watched him yank the charging plug from our car and proceed to plug it into his own car. We presume that this is because his plug was broken. When we walked back to confront him about it, he became extremely aggressive and told us that it was rightfully his because he was there first. We noticed his uniform and he confirmed that he is an employee at "Dirty Dogs and Meow," one of the shops at the plaza. After ranting on about how he had been waiting since 8am and throwing a very loud fit, he stormed off without apologizing or trying to fix the issue. At that point, since we no longer felt safe in case this individual decided to vandalize our car, we chose to leave. Normally, we would not have minded giving him the plug given the situation and called it a day. However, his immature and uncourteous behavior made us feel like we should bring this to the attention of Del Mar Highlands management. This type of rude behavior from store employees in the parking lot really does not reflect well on the plaza. This entire incident makes me feel unsafe and uncomfortable to shop at a plaza that I have been visiting for more than 10 years.

I've been frequenting this shopping center for 23 years and witnessed it's ebb and flow of businesses. It will always remain my neighborhood 'go to spot' for everything I need locally. It's always a comfortable place to visit although many restaurants have come and gone.

I love the highlands shopping center. Been coming to it for years now. I only really have two complaints. 1- There's been a severe lack of variety in its stores. Lots of cool places like the Bakery and even Whichwich have closed, and there aren't many alternatives and options here anymore. There's a Nordic bakery coming, and that's cool, but can we please get something new other than the 8,500 specialty boutiques? There's a new one every couple of months and they all sell basically the same kinds of stuff. We need some variety. How about a Flame Broiler? One would make BANK here! Maybe a pizza by the slice place. Hell, I'd take a Subway just to break up the recent monotony. Anything but another boutique. Please. 2 - I love that they have guest WiFi here, but have you ever tried to use it? It's abysmal. I'm pretty sure their server room is comprised of two overworked hamsters in a habit trail. It may as well not be available at all. Change these two things and this center would be restored to its former glory. One Paseo is killing it, but I'm really rooting for the Highlands.

Highlands Town Center is definitely growing on me. While skewed to higher end clientele, there are in fact affordable options for the average Joe like myself ( McDonald's / Witch Wich / Jamba Juice / Ralphs / Domino's / El Pollo Loco). I come here at least once a week for various shopping / dining options. Note that the McDonald's and El Pollo Loco here are more upscale than the ones in other locations. Trying to find parking at this shopping center is like finding parking on Convoy on a Saturday night.. terrible. They are building a parking structure similar to Flower Hill Mall's behind the movie threater. Will it be enough? Unique dining options. - Searsucker - Rimel's - Urban Plates Unique gifts - Olive and Baker - Chuao - Mistral Special Find - Village Bakery Overrated (clap clap clap-clap-clap) - Sammy's

I'm not a big shopping gal, but I'm a fan of Searsucker & Mendocino Farms (and to a lesser degree, Urban Plates), which are all located here. Club Pilates is here now, which I'll go back to if I ever go back on #ClassPass The fancy movie theater, Cinepolis is here, as is Jimbo's. Basically, if you live in Carmel Valley/Southeast end of Del Mar, this is your one stop place to shop. Heck, they even have a gas station here! Plenty of dining options. There's also a parking structure. I actually wish the center closer to my house (Village at Pacific Highlands) had more useful businesses like they do over here. Minus 1 star for their tight parking/gridlock. But overall a nice mall to have fairly close by.

Electric car owners beware: I parked in one of the electric car charging stations. As we were walking away, an employee from the Dirty Dogs store literally walks up to our car, unplugs the charger and plugs it into his car. Got hostile and obnoxious when confronted. Wtf?

I used to come to this mall weekly years ago when the neighborhood was just a year or two old and have recently had a reason to rekindle my relationship here. My son now attends a school not far, so it's really convenient for quick snacks or a real meal with the family. Parking can be a bit of a hassle, but what mall isn't. They have a great variety of stores here from basic retail to restaurants and specialty shops. I've discovered a really great restaurant which I've already written a review for and will be back to soon. Keep on Yelp'n!

Well Date Of Visit : January 1 , 2020 and Coming to this Shopping Center to see the cool set up they had going for the Holidays !! But when I arrive they were taking the Decorations down !! Seeing them removing the decorations were a little saddening because I felt that it should be still up until at least after New Years !! But Not !! So I still Walk around the Shopping Center and took a few cool pictures of some of the decorations that were still up !! At least I caught a few decorations before they took it down !! So As I walk around I notice there are lots of shops here such as Tillys , Ralphs Grocery Store , Rite Aid And they just added a Happy Lemon also which is pretty cool but one of my favorites is Sidecar Donuts And Coffee which has awesome Donuts !! Also an El Pollo Loco with an McDonald's also this is just a few of the shops they have here but the Vibe I get here is this Shopping Center is pretty darn cool and There is plenty of Parking and they do have a Parking Structure also it kind of reminds me of UTC In La Jolla with elevators and escalators also going up . Overall Cool Shopping Center And I For Sure will Return And Walk Around and Enjoy the shops here !!

A great huge shopping center in the middle of Del Mar and Carmel Valley :) Del Mar Highlands is located off of El Camino Real and Del Mar Heights Road offers plenty of options from shopping, to snacking, to nice restaurants and everything in between. The parking lot here is huge, but during peak times finding parking here can be difficult. There are some short-term parking spots for quick food pick-up. This place is upscale because of the community, but still an everyday type of shopping center.~ In the mix: Gas station, Searsucker, Carnita's Snack Shack, Urban Plates, Nekter, Starbucks, Jimbo's, McDonald's, Which Wich, Einstein Bros, Jimbo's, Rite Aid, Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas etc.

If only there was a way to give ZERO stars, this place warrants it. Well, it's been about a year since the last review and I actually thought someone was paying attention because the "absurd stop sign" I posted about last year... they removed! So happy to have things back to normal... until recently when they put back the Stop sign when exiting onto El Camino Real. There no longer is a Stop sign when entering from El Camino Real... however, the problem is people see the one across for people exiting and just assume there is so you still have people stopping when there is NO stop sign. Furthermore, the stop sign for traffic exiting onto El Camino Real does nothing to help or provide a safer environment. In fact, it is less safe! Again, you have traffic entering stopping where there is no stop sign. I'm sure it won't be long before there is a rear-end accident because someone saw the stop sign across and assumed there is one entering. Not to mention how it backs up traffic onto El Camino Real for people trying to enter. And the stop sign for exiting traffic does nothing to help and again, likely causes more problems. I've seen traffic backed up because people are all stopped at the stop sign, yet the light for people exiting onto El Camino Real is green!!!! I've lived up here for 25 years and this center was a GEM before they overbuilt it. Putting in the parking garage was much needed and has helped but these traffic signs.... first their up... then they take them down, then they are back up again... THEY ARE NOT HELPING!!!! There are particular businesses at this shopping center I do like to frequent, but I'm beginning to find alternatives at the Piazza Carmel Shopping Center. As I said, I've lived up here for quite some time and it used to be effortless to come to this shopping center. Please get rid of the signs that do NOTHING to enhance safety and only serve to make this place a dreaded place to visit.

I love this shopping area! They have such good clothing stores, boutiques, restaurants, things to do (movie theater, nail salon, etc), and places to sit around to enjoy food/the day. I love how you can get all your errands done in one quick swoop. Very clean with lots of parking.

Theo the security guard helped me so much this week he's security and he's the best at his job I appreciate a good staff

This mall has a simple but nice water feature that the kids can play in. And lots of good restaurants to choose from. I couldn't find any public restrooms though. I use Ralph's or Jimbo's if I have to go but change my daughter on the various couches spread throughout the place. I put down a thick towel first and, hey, if they are going to attract the kiddos and then not have restrooms nearby, what do they expect. The mall did give off the "we think we are Del Mar and above you all" vibe. But that's ok. It's fun to laugh and think this is just Carmel Valley which is, maybe, a step up from Rancho Penasquitos. Come during off hours or parking might be rough. They do have valet in the back though.

Well, the Del Mar Highlands center used to be absolutely terrible but now it is much better as the place significantly renovated with new restaurants, shopping and a Cinepolis movie theater. The major downside still exists within the parking situation, it is absolutely terrible... Nevertheless, great center with some fantastic options for dining, shopping and some great happy hours. Pros- Restaurants Theater Shopping Jimbos Location Cons- Parking is terrible Oil change place is out of place lol

*IF* you've NEVER: - had a soccer mom give you 'the' finger , come here - had a parking space snatched right before your eyes, come here - spent 35 minutes trying to find parking to just buy food from a supermarket, come here - spent 25 minutes trying to figure out how to exit a dang strip mall, come here Who ever devised the 'in's and outs' of this place should be fired. Trying to get into this place sucks. Trying to get out of this place sucks even more. I appreciate the money they pumped into this 'mall' as I've seen this mall since it's inception all those many years ago. The new stores such as Davanti, Mia, Burlap, etc are great - but jeez...the parking and the layout of the stores are just difficult. They have a 'concierge' golf cart that can take you from the bottom level (Jimbos/Burlap/Urban Plates) up to the top level (Ralphs, Rubios, Starbucks, etc) BUT - how the heck do you track the concierge tram down when you need them? I don't see a phone # to call or a station where we can page them. That would be really helpful don't you think.

What do you get when you combine a sense of entitlement with bleach blonde women driving leased SUVs while chatting on their phone running through stop signs along with the most horrible parking I've ever seen for such a big strip mall? You get Del Mar Highlands Town Center of course! Watch out for the distracted drivers in their SUVs on the phones as they try to run you over. If you can survive that then good luck finding a parking place in certain areas of this mall during peak periods. The spaces are striped too small and they really need a parking structure or two here. Once I was here and a SUV parked so close to my driver's side door I had to climb in my car from the passenger side. I was so close to keying the hell out of that SUV. But I digress, while the selection of stores may be good here, you will have a stress attack trying to park and dealing with all the entitlement snobs or the bored Carmel Valley kids that have nowhere better to hang. The kid problem seems to be bad at night. I tolerate it because there is business I must transact here but this is not one of my favorite "centers." 1 * for the parking and 1 * for the selection of stores makes this a solid 2.

i have lived in this neighborhood for 20 years now...i have seen this shopping center transform ...and it has truly blossomed! before it was fast food, ralphs, and rite aid.... now it's fine dining, still the right amount of fast food, family dining, snooze, swanky theaters (i was ok with the old ones...but not complaining)..salons, swirls and so much more!!! i have very little reason to leave Carmel Valley anymore! parking is not easy...but not the end of the world stressful...i always find something quickly...i like that some of the shops have 20 minute parking...frequently the golf carts pick me up when they see us walking to/from our cars...no need to ask...they offer. if you are leaving the theater and want a ride to Searsucker...just have them call the cart...you'll get a ride! would be nice if they transform the back parking lot into a parking garage...would totally help a ton!!

About 5 awesome food places here AND a kick butt LUXURY movie theater. Oh and a "lifesaving" dry bar. I really like coming to this place! Quit possibly the poshest, yet still practical, strip mall around San Diego! (*yeah I've had emergency Fedex Kinkos and Ralphs usage here)

For the quality of shops and dining options at this center, they deserve 5 stars. I moved across from this shopping center in June of 2010, right before they started the demo in the fall, and it has become progressively more and more of an awesome place to walk to from my condo. I feel like Carmel Valley has gone from a lame suburb to a very walk-able and enjoyable community just by the renovation of this center. I am just counting down the days until that new tea shop opens. Like a kid in a candy shop. If you dont live within walking distance, or you have to make a large grocery run that requires a car, this is where the complex falls apart. The parking sucks a big one. But, if you dont mind parking far away and walking through this massive center, I think the rewards are worth it.

It's ok love the fire pit but there are too few options to eat. Wish this place was more like the grove or Americana which I think as is lacking. There is a pretty sad splash pad for kids here. Can u say lame? Well the plaza is built in an area without many plaza so better than nothing.

They have a good amount of shops, but I hate the layout. You can't really walk around because it's huge and just wrapped so oddly. I hate when a plaza is like that. Definitely like that they have the shoe store Head Over Heels, Studio 1220, Pretty Please, and CeramiCafe all right next to each other.

I feel like I could quite possibly live in the parking lot of this shopping center, and never need to leave. They really do have it all. Great restaurants (fast food and sit down), grocery/drugstores, and everything in between. They also have a little fountain area where some kids were running around, and there's plenty of parking! The only downside is that there's some construction going on in the surrounding area, which is a little annoying. But overall, this is a really convenient shopping center that has it all.

I always thought this place was nice to just come for a walk but now since One paseo open they became awful with customers. We were having lunch at one of the restaurants and a rude guy scream at us "you can't park here and cross the street!" We weren't! We were looking for a restaurant entrance!! Still the guy didn't ask, just scream! The worst is that they hide and scare people with screaming and rude behavior. Very bad idea! I recommend no one to come to this place again! If you want to control vehicles invest in something, ticket machines or similar, hiring rude people is not a good tactic. I could hear them lying saying saying that in the other side, they have to pay for parking... awful behavior from them I won't go back and I recommend people to don't go to Del Mar highlands

Hit and miss with this shopping center. I like it when it's dead and I get to choose my space in a trouble free zone!!! They do have a security/valet person that drives around with the little golf cart if you're absolutely lazy azz to walk from point A to B. Great places to eat, esp for Happy Hour. Cineopolis (luxury movie theater) is also located in this shopping center. To really impress a date, have a nice dinner in one of the neighboring restaurants and walk over and cuddle to a romantical movie in Cineopolis.

Love it here. Ralphs, Swirls, Urban Plates, Starbucks, Snooze, Trick or Treating, Jazz, Rimels, Davanti's and last but not least-CINEPOLIS. My favorite theater. Yes, the parking can suck. Be patient. Follow someone. People are always leaving. They aren't spending hours in the center eating frozen yogurt or grocery shopping. There is Searsucker who has a great HH. Fedex if you need to copy anything. Snooze the best breakfast place, full bar included. Be patient there on the weekends. Grab a coffee or a drink and just enjoy time talking with your pals. Ralphs is remodeled and added a hot food bar, cheese and antipasta bar. There is always someone sampling great cheeses with jams and crackers. They spruced up the deli items also. The friendliest staff of any grocery store ever! I love the checkers and managers. You'll always get a Hello, and can I hello you find anything. The produce guy says hi too. Better prices than Vons too. Gas rewards for Shell. Can't beat Ralphs.

This shopping center has a nice family feel to it, and is in a great location to really draw in both the Carmel Valley and Del Mar customers. The are two water features, and kids are always playing in the lower outdoor fountain. There is a large variety of restaurants (variety in both cost and taste), shopping options, and even a grocery store. The location is finally fixing the parking issues they have struggled with over the last few years, so this will be a nice spot moving forward. This shopping center is fun to walk around, even if you're not buying anything.

Every thing they put in is just more expensive than the last. I remember when it had Red Robin for your family and sammys was reasonable. Now it is boutique this and cliche that. For family eating I almost always leave the neighborhood to get both quality and affordability. It's like the new restaurant at PHR in place of west root. Checked the menu, family of 5 would be getting to $200.

I love this center! They have a great variety of unique restaurants, places to grab a snack and do some shopping!

This mall is a parking disaster. It will take you longer to park than it will to engage in whatever activity you had planned at this mall. The brilliant people who designed this mall took advantage of the existing hillside to squeeze more commerce onto a small lot.... Which is cool except they forgot this thing called parking. I like jimbos,.. But my gosh not enough to park in the next county when I need to pick up yogurt. El Pollo loco, at the South end..... Seems to accurately describe its customers: You gotta be crazy to go through that drive-through wedged in the corner While down the block is Searsuckers, on the corner of Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real. In this case, the suffix (suckers) suggests yet another accurate adjective to describe patrons who are so dumb as to deal with the traffic debacle in order to patronize this high-priced mall. The South-most parking lot has a "shuttle" (i.e. a security officer in a stretch golf cart, giving folks rides to and from their cars.) I don't know if the other two lots have comparable shuttle service but I suspect so. Today, after driving through the parking lot and fruitlessly searching for a parking space, I gave up and went home. I'll shop elsewhere thanks.

Very dangerous for kids. Right on front of the yogurt store is a very dangerous railing that goes up a staircase that our daughter has run into twice in the past year. The railing is the exact height of her face, and impossible for a four year old to see. There is also a dangerous escalator too. People drive very fast around the parking lots, including the security guards. The entrances and exits have been designed very poorly making it extremely difficult to navigate your way into and out of the mall.

I was chatting with some Del Mar Highlands babes at an event the other day and said "you know you're a local Highlands gal when you've ridden around the center in the complementary golf cart"... probably drunk from bottomless mimosas at Searsucker. This pretty much sums up the DMHTC. I kid, there's so much more than drunk cougs on golfcarts here! There's amazing shopping actually, the boutiques have fantastic clothes, gifts, shoes, there's a jimbos and a chain grocery store. There's SNOOZE for godssake. Don't get my started on Cinepolis and all the restaurants (Sammy's, Mia, Taverna, Urban Plates, etc) I'm here a couple times a week for whatever. There's a Paper Zone, a bagel place (yay) a few fast food places and bloody marys that just don't quit at Davanti. The parking is why it's not a 5 star shopping center. It is truly horrendous. I have to buy a macaroon from Champagne Bakery immediately after FINALLY finding a spot just to put myself back into a good mood. Speaking of good moods, Drybar and soon a 20 Lounge! Yay! I think it's the best shopping center around these parts... with flower hill as a close second.

Oh my gosh I love my town center! This is a big town center. Off the top of my head some of the stores I'll list; Lolos Cineopolis McDonald's Rubios Panda Express Itan Cvs Ralph's Bath and body works Champagne Urban plates Sammys Snooze A whole bunch of clothing stores I can't remember much more ice cream, food, clothes, movies. This is a great town center! It's always really busy

Oh man, the parking here is terrible. That is, if you go during lunch or dinner. So don't do that. As in: don't go to the restaurants here. I'm not kidding. I've circled on multiple occasions for more than 20 minutes, only to give up. There's just not enough parking. However, if you go during the mornings (breakfast, grocery shopping, early trip to barnes&noble), it's easy-peasy! I have been as late as 10:30 am with no parking troubles. Hooray! Beware of some crazy drivers though. Not enough parking makes people go loco. Just take your time, follow the signs (as in, don't clog up everyone coming from the light when there _isn't_ a stop sign in front of you), breathe in and out, and smile. The folks that work at the shops here are all super nice, so the ickiness must just fade the second folks are out of their cars. They do have curbside pickup for a few restaurants and 20 min parking spots if you just want to run an errand, so that's nice. Wish they had Jimbo's-only spots too, like they do at Trader Joes in Point Loma. Maybe if they have to start competing with a true One Paseo project, they'll figure it out.

Albeit all those plastic fantastic women and BMW SUV's milling around, this outdoor plaza has some nice things to offer. In addition to having some great restaurants and one of the best natural food markets around (Jimbo's), this plaza can be a pretty hopping place. The design incorporated a build-in performance space with atrium-style seating. In the summer a splash fountain dances as children run through. In August, it becomes center stage for a premiere concert series. In December it houses a very large and grand Christmas tree. On Halloween all the stores stay open late to hand out tricks or treats to the ghoulish children and other odd entities that are out. I like the fact that they have community bulletin boards spursed around the mall so that locals can post their services.