Village at La Floresta: The Perfect Date Night

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Pandemic. This simple statement has flipped 2020 upside down and left us reeling. School is still up in the air, kids are constantly around, and there is a lot of pressure on adults to keep everything going and going well. And this mom is stressed! Like beyond stressed. The hardest part about all of this is finding a place and time to destress. So many places are closed and not even all restaurants have the capability to be open at this time, simply exacerbating the already hard situation.

So, it was quite welcomed finding a fun place this week for my husband and I to go out, without kids, and enjoy a night without all the worries of the world. A place where we could simply enjoy each other, have discussions about life, and enjoy our time in a beautiful, relaxing setting. And we found this respite at The Village at La Floresta in Brea.

Perfectly situated in the heart of Northern Orange County, The Village at La Floresta has one mission: To help shoppers, diners, and businesses flourish together. And this feeling was almost tangible as we walked around and took it all in. The Village at La Floresta is a new ground-up development in Brea, which stands apart from the area’s Spanish design style by offering a soft color palette combined with contemporary and rustic finishes. With a solid retail mix, including boutique clothing stores, specialty stores, health and beauty as well as other services, center sponsored Wifi throughout, and top-of-the-line restaurants, all anchored by a two-level Whole Foods Market; Village at La Floresta has something for everyone. Village at La Floresta is designed around a large, central multi-level terraced plaza and amphitheater called Oasis Plaza where different community events are held throughout the year. And currently, where visitors can enjoy a delicious meal, or conversation in a safe outdoor setting.

As a couple, we took advantage of this area to have a night just for us. No plans, no schedule. Just a break from the kids, to talk to each other.

Our Date

Have you ever heard of restaurant hopping? No. Well, we love to do this and it provides the opportunity to try a lot of different dishes from different restaurants. And the Village at La Floresta provides ample locations all within walking distance of one another to do so. Plus, these are regional franchises, which means you can eat a dish you are not likely to find many other places. And I’ll tell ya what… we were impressed!

The choices were superb. The meals delicious. And the overall feel and experience was fantastic!

We started our date night with an appetizer from Mendocino Farms. I had heard good things about this place and it lived up to it’s reputation. I had the craving for something caprese, but since this was our shared appetizer we did not want to get the sandwich on menu. The employee taking our order was quick to solve our problem by deconstructing the sandwich into a caprese salad. And… it truly hit the spot. We shared the salad, sitting in the beautiful outdoor courtyard discussing our next venue and of course the kids; because parents, you know how that always ends up happening. But, we were excited to see Mendocino Farms had a “kid’s eat free” option every Thursday with the purchase of any sandwich or salad on menu. And if you know us, you know that is a great find. A place that offers kid’s eat free is always somewhere we are likely to return.

After a small debate about where to eat next, Slapfish came out the winner. You probably want to be a seafood lover to go here, and if you are, you will be happy you did (P.S. they too do kid’s eat free, every single day right now).

This place was so unique, and gave us one of the best burgers ever! A surf and turf burger. Imagine beef and lobster smothered in cheese, caramelized onions, and awesome sauce. And boy was that sauce awesome! I have truly never had anything like this before. It was rich, hearty, and filling! Even sharing that burger was more than enough food for me and I could have ended our culinary quest right then and there completely and utterly satisfied. But, alas we were on a mission to try as many of these amazing restaurants as we could; so, I sucked it up, unbuttoned my pants, and we continued on our date night food journey.

To Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern. The ambiance of this place was great! And since we just happened to be there at sunset, we were able to sit on the beautifully lit patio and watch the sun sink behind the art installation in the masterfully built plaza as the lights twinkled in the trees, and the sound of the fountain could be heard as our next amazing entree was delivered to our table. Let’s just talk about the french dip sandwich and garlic fries we indulged ourselves on there. If you are a french dip lover (I totally am) you will be into this! It was tender, and juicy and had crunchy onions on it. I have never had crunchy onions on a french dip, but you can bet your life I will from now on. It completely elevated that sandwich for me! I can also say the service there was absolutely flawless.

We needed a break after all this food (before finding dessert) so we found soft outdoor furniture near a fire-pit where we sat and enjoyed the sunset. We watched children throw pennies into the fountain, students utilizing the free WiFi to study in a quiet corner, a group of women celebrating an upcoming baby, a Pilates instructor conducting an outdoor class (while the indoor studio is closed), and friends and family (all masked) enjoy food, and each others company at the beautiful plaza all at a perfectly planned distance from one another. The set up of this courtyard was perfect for social distancing.

To finish our night we went in and were overwhelmed and awed with the 2-story Whole Foods. This was our first time in one of these stores, and besides the fact that it had everything (including a coffee shop, cafe, and book store), the interior was beautiful and the counter of fresh foods provided the best fruit tart pastry… In fact, my mouth is literally watering as I write this. We bought our dessert, and some fresh flowers, because flowers make me happy and it was a dang good deal; then headed back to the courtyard to eat and enjoy the last of the sunlight. I was not sad watching the sun leave the sky because the twinkling fairy lights came on all around us, and nothing makes me happier than a warm summer night under lights.

This was the perfect destination for a night to decompress. And I truly can’t wait to go back to do and experience more, especially once everything is open and goes back to normal business hours. I may just have to get my nails done while my husband gets a hair cut and then we may just have to try all the places we weren’t able to get to this time. And I will definitely be getting that fruit tart again!