"Having operated Playa Mesa in this space, I know firsthand what a special corner of Costa Mesa this is," Mario Marovic told the Orange County Register in September. He owns 428 E. 17th St. with partner Andrew Gabriel, and he was explaining why Zov's is taking over the corner.
That quote holds the pattern for Costa Mesa's whole fall. The places that opened here since September mostly aren't first restaurants. Nearly every one is an operator with a track record somewhere else in Southern California, picking Costa Mesa for its next location and moving into a room someone else used first. With South Coast Plaza lighting its tree on Nov. 19, most of the city's newest tables belong to familiar names at new addresses.
On 17th Street, both arrivals took over existing restaurant rooms
Bear Flag Fish Co. now operates at 154 E. 17th St., in the former Santa Monica Seafood space. Greer's OC reported on Oct. 25 that it is the company's fourth location, after two in Newport Beach, including Crystal Cove, and one in Huntington Beach. It is also the brand's first stand-alone building.
The bigger room changes what Bear Flag can offer. The 17th Street location adds a full bar and indoor, counter and patio seating. The seafood market carries more than 20 varieties, from halibut and swordfish to uni, toro and black cod. The sushi bar serves nigiri, sashimi and an omakase, and Greer's OC reported that more items exclusive to this location are planned. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Four blocks east on the 400 block, Zov's is following the same route into an existing room. The family-run restaurant dates to 1987, when Chef Zov Karamardian opened the original in Tustin. The Register counts Costa Mesa as its fifth location, following a recent San Clemente expansion, and three generations of the Karamardian family now work in the business. Its stated timing is "late 2026," with a Mediterranean-meets-California menu of grilled lamb chops, mezze, seafood, flatbreads, pasta and salads.
That makes two familiar Orange County names on one stretch of 17th Street in the same season, and neither is starting from zero.
Bristol Street got the same pattern at three addresses
The Bristol corridor shows the pattern more clearly, because each opening there arrived with a following in place.
Maleza at The CAMP, 2937 Bristol St. The Register reported that the modern Mexican restaurant began dinner service Saturday, Sept. 12, in the former Native Foods yurt. The concept first opened in 2023 inside Drift Palm Springs. Costa Mesa is its first standalone location, and Irvine-based TMC Hospitality runs both. Chef Marco Arreguín grew up in Santa Ana, and the Register describes the opening as a return to the city where much of his cooking career began. Visit California confirmed the Sept. 12 opening and listed the restaurant as a modern Mexican kitchen and mezcal bar.
Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud at South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St. This name has history at the mall. Tiffany first opened a 48-seat Blue Box Cafe here in late 2020. What's new, per the Register, is Boulud's menu and a suite connected to Tiffany & Co.'s redesigned ground-level flagship. It is also the first California restaurant from Boulud's Dinex Group. The menu includes the Breakfast at Tiffany's tower at $72, Holly's Favorites at $35, Tea at Tiffany's at $98 and a $34 cheeseburger and fries.
Ambitious Ales at The LAB Anti-Mall, 696 Randolph Ave., Ste. B. The brewery opened in 2019 in Long Beach's Bixby Knolls. Its five founders are high school friends from the Cypress and Buena Park area, so the Register called the Costa Mesa location "a bit of a homecoming." Its best-known beer is Professional Human Being, a hazy IPA that won gold at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival. The tasting room sits at the back of The LAB, and the patio is open to dogs. According to the brewery's Costa Mesa page, it is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and until 9 p.m. Sunday.
Side by side, the pattern looks like this:
| New Costa Mesa location | Where the operator was before | Space it took over |
|---|---|---|
| Bear Flag Fish Co., 154 E. 17th St. | Newport Beach, Crystal Cove, Huntington Beach | Former Santa Monica Seafood |
| Zov's, 428 E. 17th St. | Tustin since 1987, plus San Clemente | Former Playa Mesa |
| Maleza, The CAMP | Drift Palm Springs since 2023 | Former Native Foods yurt |
| Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud, South Coast Plaza | Tiffany's Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan; earlier café at this mall since 2020 | Suite connected to Tiffany's new flagship |
| Ambitious Ales, The LAB | Long Beach since 2019 | Tasting room at the back of The LAB |
Harbor Boulevard's addition is an expansion of a place locals already use
The quietest opening of the fall follows the same logic, just inside one building. Casa Libre sits inside Mercado González at 2300 Harbor Blvd., per the Orange County Register. The Shelby Report reported that it opened Sept. 24. It is a specialty coffee concept that roasts Mexican-grown beans on-site, with opening selections from Chiapas and Veracruz.
The café is a partnership between the González family behind Northgate González Market and the Taormina and Creighton families. Its hours matter most for regulars. Casa Libre opens daily at 6 a.m., which carries the Mercado into the breakfast hours. The menu includes café de olla, the El Jaguar Latte with a house-made corn, cacao and chile syrup, and pan dulce from Pastelería La González. For anyone who already shops at the Mercado, the change is an earlier reason to go.
The two names aimed at year's end come from the same playbook
Two more arrivals were announced with year-end timelines, and both fit the pattern.
Zov's is the first, with the "late 2026" target the Register reported in September. The second is Three Eyed Tiger at The LAB Anti-Mall, from Zach Scherer and co-chef Drew Adams, the team behind Darkroom and Chrysalis in Santa Ana. In a September Register interview, Scherer said he hoped to open "in early December or at least before year's end."
According to the Register, Three Eyed Tiger began as a Southeast Asian concept. It became what Scherer calls an "Orange County heritage restaurant and bar," built around the county's music, lowrider culture and surf culture, with a multicultural menu and a serious cocktail program.
Scherer told the paper, "We're not just seafood restaurants by the ocean. We're a lot more than that."
If Three Eyed Tiger joins Ambitious Ales at The LAB, both of the center's newest tenants will come from operators with established followings elsewhere in Southern California.
The holiday dates these openings now sit around
The holiday calendar begins Thursday, Nov. 19, and most of it falls along the same Bristol corridor as Maleza and Blue Box Café.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 7 p.m. The Segerstrom family hosts South Coast Plaza's traditional tree-lighting ceremony and Santa's arrival at Town Center Park, next to The Westin South Coast Plaza. The mall's holiday calendar has details.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The Nutcracker for Kids plays at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
- Dec. 10 through Dec. 24. American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker runs at Segerstrom Hall. Weekday performances are mostly at 7 p.m., weekends have matinees, and the final show is at noon on Christmas Eve, per the center's schedule.
- Through Dec. 13. Registration is open for the City of Costa Mesa's Holiday Lights Display Contest. Voting runs Dec. 14 through 18.
- Friday, Dec. 18. The city announces the contest winners at Snoopy House.
Each date has a nearby new option. Blue Box Café is inside South Coast Plaza, the same property as the Nov. 19 ceremony. Maleza is a few hundred numbers down Bristol at The CAMP, with lunch and dinner service. The Ambitious Ales tasting room stays open until 11 p.m. on the Fridays and Saturdays of the Nutcracker run. And for anyone heading out early to see the lights on Dec. 18, Casa Libre opens on Harbor at 6 a.m.
When a brand like Bear Flag, Zov's or Ambitious Ales picks a Costa Mesa address for its next location, that choice says something about the street around it. The Vasquez Group follows these openings across Orange County alongside the home sales on the same blocks, in English and Spanish. If you'd like to know what your Costa Mesa home is worth as the new neighbors move in, get your free home valuation.
