The Lakes

The Lakes keeps evolving. Tenants come, tenants go. The physical outdoor space is beautiful day or night. I sometimes make a special drive by in the evening to see the lights outlining the grassy areas and the fountains lit up highlighting the dancing water.
Very sorry to bid a quick adieu to Brighton recently. The good-​byes were short and sweet, after many years in this location. Their management said the direction the center is going doesn’t fit their vision any longer. Such a shame, as retail tenants haven’t had much longevity here over its history.
Fortunately, the restaurants do better. P.F. Chang’s is a rock at the east end of the complex. California Pizza Kitchen seems steady as she goes also at the east end. Both have patios overlooking the beautiful lakes, fountains, and waterfalls, plus the kids’ play area. Roses bloom throughout much of the landscape, almost year round.
Live music is often presented on the center lawn area, which should encourage diners & shoppers to linger with their families.
Am really not sure about Lassen’s becoming the major anchor at the west end. To my taste, it doesn’t seem like a fit for the overall atmosphere of the center.
Sabor is elegant, screamingly upscale price-​wise, and appears to be hanging in, adding a patio space for al fresco dining. Who knew?!
Hoping the management continues to evolve a winning formula for this lovely addition to central T.O.

This ONE STAR review is for that crappy ice skating rink! They do not have skate-​assist for the small children to hold onto while they skate, and it costs 15 $. No one is hardly there because it is so awful. I asked what happened and they said they went with a different company than last year. If u have small kids– DO NOT come here

We’ve been to this shopping plaza at least 5+ times over the past 4+ years and it’s gotten nicer and nicer. The stores and restaurants have been filling up, and there are some good choices in the area. We like Lassens, Sunlife Organic, and the plenty of outdoor seating and grass in the area. Fun place for families to come and enjoy the sun and outdoors.
There’s a large parking lot in the back.

very nice court yard to take a stroll and enjoy a relaxing evening. I highly recommend for a quick stop on a date to enjoy the lake that has coy fish. the restuarants that I noticed were Umami Burger, P.F. Changs, California Pizza Kitchen and a few others. They location also have a market named Lassens. Very cute place to bring the kids to play in the small playground as well.

I had the opportunity to check out The Lakes earlier this week for my first Unilocal Elite event (yay me)! The shopping center itself is so clean and looks great. Right now they have Christmas lights up all over which adds to the holiday feeling if you go ice skating here.
The ice skating rink they have is a lot smaller than an actual indoor skating rink. But theirs is outdoors which is already a whole lot cooler than being indoors. Make sure you wear some warm clothes. The only downside is that they don’t clear the ice here to glaze it over the way most rinks do. So after a couple of hours you might begin to notice that it’s a little more tough to skate around due to the ice buildup.
Plenty of spots to eat at before or after you skate — including 9021pho and Umami Burger. I’m not sure why The Lakes is listed as a shopping center when it’s predominantly restaurants. It seems more like an upscale plaza to me. They have about two stores that you can actually shop in (one is a Brighton).
I recommend skating here if you have some time for it! Especially if you live in the valley because you’re closer to it than us westsiders: p.

Lame lame lame
Small
Horrible ice!
Okay skates for rentals
Gets too crowded
Offers nothing for food or drinks except water for $ 3 what?! No thank you!

Great place to skate. Friendly and helpful staff. I would definitely go back!!!

I just went ice skating here today! I don’t have much experience at all with outdoor ice skating rinks, but the mere fact that is was an OUTDOOR ICE SKATING RINK really seals the deal for me!
$ 13 for ice skates and an hour of skating? Yes please!
Protip: You can get tickets there, or online beforehand at
There’s a surcharge if you order online: two tickets with skate rentals cost me $ 31

Visited for the first time Sunday early afternoon. What a beautiful restaurant. Attention to detail and lovely ambiance. The service was perfect, all staff was wonderful. My husband took advantage of the Sunday buffet and I ordered from the menu. Both choices were the right ones. I had the Chile Pasillo Rellano. I am a huge Chile Rellano fan and was not disapointed at all. The chicken was perfect, spices on spot. My husband thoroughly enjoyed the buffet choice and let me say, he’s a very picky diner so that in itself says a lot. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone and plan to dine there again very soon.

Attended The Valley Beer Festival here in late August and I enjoyed this place, has a bit of everything for everyone, a playground for kids, grassy area where the Beer Festival was held & The Lakes.
Saw fountains, but hey, it is nice regardless what you call it. Unless there are Lakes I am not aware about, then maybe I am wrong or correct.
Anyway, I think it is a nice concept regardless, ample parking in the back or you can get lucky and find parking along the main boulevard, which we did.
Will attend again if I ever find myself in the area.

Interesting shopping center that more of a dining experience than a shopping one. There’s a few stores like Tommy Bahama and Kalologie. Fortunately, this review isn’t about individual stores rather the center as a whole.
What’s interesting about this open air center is the dining choices. There’s no real anchor. No Lowe’s or Home Depot, no Barnes and Noble. Not even a supermarket. Instead there’s a PF Chang’s on one end, a Claim Jumper on the other and Nate N’ Al’s, Sabor Mexican Cucina and CPK in-​between. The atmosphere is defintely middle-​upper class cool with a nifty playground in the middle of the center for the kids. After all, you’re probably going to wait hours for a table at one of these places, so I don’t think a kid is going to fit at the bar drinking a Stella in a sippy cup. Thus, the playground.
That’s the surprising thing about the Lakes. Not just is there no true anchor stores, there’s not even a coffee bar on the premises. Or Ice Cream/​Yogurt shoppe. How did that happen? Sure, you can go to Nate N’ Al’s and get a cappucino, but would you really think of going there for that and that alone?
The Lakes is trying to be a community center of sorts. Especially with the Civic Plaza right next door. I was on the Courtyard for the annual Valley Beer Festival and I’m sure they do other events as well. All in all, a pretty classy place and the playground is a kick.

Love this place, one of the coolest malls in the area with great shopping and great restaurants. The best part is the parking in the front on TO blvd.

Be weary all, for the ghosts of Jungle Land loom on these grounds. I’ve heard tales of flying silverware, lights going on and off, performances at the Civic Arts Plaza being sabotaged by Orangutans, and the ice skating rink melting unexpectedly in the winter.

I had one of the best dates a girl can have at the Lakes on the day after Christmas 2008. We went ice skating on the tiny rink they have there. To be fair to my picking this place, I didn’t know it was so tiny. But it ended up being pretty decent sized and it wasn’t too crowded. I think they have a good limit on the number of people allowed on each hour.
As I was finishing tying up my laces on my cute white skates, Red Pants (my date) pointed out that a guy was proposing on the ice. I remarked with a laugh, «that’s love, kneeling on ice.» Although I know (thank you ice rink employee guy) this happens a lot, I thought it was cute and something I hadn’t seen before. Perhaps because I don’t ice skate often, it was actually my first Christmas ice skating-​adventure. It was a perfect Christmas-​y thing to do and I loved it! The ice skating I mean; while the proposal on ice was cute… it wasn’t the proposal for me necessarily. Actually as long as «that guy-​someday-​in-​the-​not-​so-​near-​future» puts thought and a little personal touch that only true love… yes I’m a hopeless romantic… true love, life long committed love can inspire, I’ll be all smiles and might even say yes (blush and giggle). But I digress as usual…
The ice skating was tons of fun and afterward we ate at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (
). It was so yummy and so I now know why all my friend’s like this place. I can’t wait to use my gift certificate that my sister gave me. YUM! Our waitress was adorable and seated us quickly because we were willing to sit outside (think it was around 40 degrees F and got windy toward the end of the night, but there were outdoor heaters). We had the Eggplant chicken something or other entrée, Won ton Soup (so yum and good on a cold night), and Lettuce Wraps!)
So all and all, I enjoy The Lakes (especially the lighting of the trees which was done by Mobile Illumination:
~ where my brother works). It is a very cute small shopping complex that I’ve been meaning to go to for a while. It would be especially nice to eat over there before attending a show or concert at The Civic Arts Plaza (where my brother’s work also puts lights up during the holidays).
Thank you cute ice rink and P.F. Chang’s for contributing to a very wonderful date night.

A nice place to take the kids, listen to live music (when they have it), do a bit of shopping, eating and coffee drinking. My son loves the lake, the playground/​sand pit and finding the fish, as well as watching for the ducks. Its very peaceful for a place that is right on the blvd, and another bonus is that its not overcrowded.

The Lakes has beautiful landscaping, and during the Christmas season they have ice skating, which is fun for southern CA. Several chain store restaurants, and chain stores fill out the shopping experience, but I guess that is par for the course. You can hit Claim Jumper or PF Changs here if you are of a mind, and shop at the Black/​White store. One thing I enjoyed this year was the American Girl Shop, just for the holidays. It was fun going in and looking at the things I had gotten for the girl in my life, but it will be gone in just a couple of days, as I write this.