Immediately off the Interstate-5 and a five-minute drive from The Outlets at Orange, Santa Ana’s MainPlace Mall is currently an indoor shopping, dining, and entertainment center in the process of transforming into a “mixed use destination” with more outdoor components. With over 150 stores and entertainment choices ranging from Fun Parx (previously American Ninja Warrior Adventure Park) to a movie theater and the arcade/bowling alley/pool hall Round1, MainPlace is surprisingly compelling for families.
Beyond mid-range clothing options – Abercrombie, Crocs, Express, Foot Locker, H&M, and multiple Q shops – there are multiple shoe stores, a Macy’s, and Victoria’s Secret, plus jewelry, nail, perfume, and cosmetics options. For kids, a human-sized crane game is available outside of a toy store, and there are two video game shops, and multiple anime and Japanese import stores. There’s also a more adult-safe store called Pure Blades with swords, shields, and samurai gear from Marvel movies and popular games. Restaurants are a very weak spot, though: Applebee’s, Boudin SF, Cinnabon, Sbarro, and Starbucks are among the bigger names here, with Mexican ice cream shop La Michoacana leading a collection of lesser-known boba, candy, coffee, crepe, and egg waffle vendors.
Parking at MainPlace Mall is free and fairly plentiful, interrupted for the time being by “MainPlace 2.0” construction around the Applebees/Round 1 area. When finished, the new center will connect with Paloma, an existing luxury apartment community, as well as a concert venue for 4,000 people, and a substantially expanded collection of restaurants.
