The Shops at La Jolla Village

Horrible parking situation!!! I have been there over six times in the past two months during daylight hours. A major portion of parking lot is fenced off. Very little progress is being made, and during normal working hours it appears that no one is working on the parking lot. Very helpful uniformed parking lot directors are doing what they can to help this ridiculous situation. It appears that this will continue through the FALL. Seriously considering moving my Rx, food, and other shopping needs to amuch less stressful and more convenient locations.

Much has been razed here at «The Shops» at La Jolla Village. Gone are TGIF, BJ’s, and the other Villa La Jolla movie theater. You still have Whole Foods, Peet’s, and The Flame Broiler however.
A new Nordstrom Rack will be built next year (2016).
— They actually have apartments built into this shopping center. Seriously? Who wants to live in a shopping center?
— This was one of worst places to park in University City. Now you’ll have to go to La Jolla Village Square across the street to get that level of parking frustration.

I have 2 stars for only one reason… parking is awful… Everything else is really great. Really beautiful and clean.

I’m a fan for the following reasons:
–ARC light theater
–Dinner dates in the Food Court watching people ice-​skate. Especially the middle aged show offs. Seriously, the best people watching I’ve found in SD. #FreeEntertainment
P. S. Watch your back in the Parking Lots here. Seriously, people! What’s the rush!!!

Cute, quaint and a reasonable neighborly selection of shops. At least on a sleepy Monday evening with ongoing rainy mist. Would The Shops look as lovely during a Saturday crunch? I dunno. But I liked the TJs; the fact the movie theatre is there; that’s there’s a handful of other places to pop into for food, cosmetics and the like.
Not in my ‘hood at all, but while here, it was fun to poke around and see what’s doing. I ended up liking my time at The Shops, and would enjoy another trip sometime in the future.

This parking lot has to be the worst thing ever to be invented. However, the shops here are useful (CVS, Pet People, Rubios, TGI Fridays, Fex Ex, Whole Foods, Radio Shack, Sprinkles, some dry cleaning place, etc). There are also lots of ATMs, which is nice.
I recommend parking right near the entrance to avoid the disaster that comes if you try to park close to whole foods or CVS. Seriously, don’t even try – you will hate your life.

holy crap, this parking lot goes from zero to clusterf**k in less than 3 seconds.
as in, you enter the shopping center, and are engulfed in a parking disaster in less than the aforementioned time.
case in point, i thought i could stop in to cvs before hitting the road out to LA for some water and possibly an energy drink, but after being stuck in the parking lot for about 15 minutes (half of that time was me aborting the mission and trying to get out), i realized the madness that ensues here. i mean, people were going the wrong way in one way parking isles, one chick even ditched her car in the middle of the road to run in and pick up her friggin cupcakes, which was an issue exacerbated by really old folks not knowing how to drive around the car. i sat in my car in serious disbelief for several moments before i regained my inner zen.
it’s actually a new revelation for me, even with the whole foods in this shopping center being my primary source of food, mostly because i tend to do my shopping at night (when the clusterf**k subsides). i’m still inclined to give a better than poor rating, simply because i live off one of the shops and depend on another for daily knicknacks. otherwise, the fact that this place is impassable during the daylight hours makes this place suck pretty hard.

The Shops at La Jolla Village – not to be confused with La Jolla Village Square across the street – offers some decent stores and places to chow down. I find myself here every few weeks.
Parking. Argh, parking. Here, it’s generally a horrific situation, though the parking spaces are significantly bigger than the spaces in the plaza across the street. God, what a terrible parking lot design though. During busy times getting from The Shops at La Jolla Village back on to Nobel Drive can be quite a hair-​pulling experience; when the task appears to be Mission Impossible I actually opt to take the long/​back way out. Luckily there are 2 different ramps to the I-​5 really close to the plaza, on both Nobel Drive and La Jolla Village Drive.
Moving forward I’ll probably be hitting up The Shops at La Jolla Village less often. Why? The new Sprinkles and the crowd it brings. What’s with you people and those $ 3.50 designer cupcakes?!
On a more positive note… huge fan of the Post Office (located around the back of Whole Foods) and Elijah’s Deli (located in a nook behind Rubio’s) right here!
I’m feeling generous today, so 3 stars.

Horrible parking and planning. But I love having a whole foods, peet’s, sprinkles and movie theatre all together.

Even La Jolla needs to have a strip mall, and The Shops certainly fit that description. I usually come out here when I head out to Friday’s, but afterwards I take the time to walk around and check out the area.
As this is in La Jolla, there are some shops that cater to the moneyed folks. However, some of the other restaurants look inviting (such as BJs Pizza and The Broiler), and of course, Landmark Cinemas is present for the indie-​loving film crowd.
The parking isn’t as bad as one of the reviewers said it was — I’ve never had problems parking here, and in fact it’s actually easier to park here than it is at the Trader Joe’s area across the street.

This is my go-​to shopping center in the area. CVS being open 24 hours is very convenient, whether you needs meds to combat whatever ails you or just need to pick up toothpaste. If you know what you need it’s much easier to get in and out of than Ralph’s across the street. Other attractions include Peet’s Coffee (also good teas!), Rubio’s, Flame Broiler, Bank of America, Blockbuster, and the Landmark Theatres (plays all the indie films). There’s even a secret post office no one knows about behind CVS (drive around the back of the parking lot).
I’m not going to lie. Parking is sometimes a challenge in this shopping center but not nearly as bad as the previous reviewer makes it out to be. Just plan for an extra 5 – 8 minutes for parking or plan to walk a bit further and you’ll be fine.

Avoid!
This shopping center has some useful stores and services: a bank, a CVS, a Whole Foods, a Peets Coffee, and others. However, the parking lot and just attempting to navigate in and out of it is a complete nightmare. Even if you don’t mind parking far away from the business at which you intend to shop or consume, you’ll spend far too much time being stuck in the clusterfuck behind indecisive drivers, people waiting for a parking space, and other morons. The sheer nightmare of just entering the lot and trying to enter one aisle of parking without a long wait or having to deal with someone stopped in the middle of the road made me completely change my mind and decide to leave. But then, I had another long wait ahead of me as I attempted to exit the parking lot. My failed attempt to run one simple five minute errand here and my desire to punch someone in the nuts the entire time I was in my car in this shopping center reminded me why I hate the UTC area so much, and why I moved away from it so many years ago.