Brea / North Orange County
Brea has three restaurant settings. Downtown Brea on Brea Boulevard and Birch Street is where the bars, full-service dining and late evening trade sit, next to Edwards Theatre 12 and The Improv, and the City's Mixed-Use I zone covers it. Birch Street south of the mall has the sit-down and ethnic restaurants of Brea Marketplace (Stonefire Grill, Kabuki, Taal) and BJ's on Brea Mall Drive. Imperial Highway carries fast casual and quick service: Shake Shack, Cava and Panda Express at Brea Gateway, and a dense row of small operators at Brea Union Plaza near Kraemer Boulevard.
Population
47,469
Median HHI
$131,129
Median age
39.7
Homeownership
59.7%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Imperial Highway · Brea Boulevard · State College Boulevard · Birch Street · Lambert Road
Specific shopping centers in Brea that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
Brea Boulevard at Birch Street
Anchors / key tenants: walkable downtown dining and entertainment
Walkable, eclectic downtown shopping and dining district with entertainment options. Cultural and chef-driven concept fit; resident-and-visitor crossover.
835 East Birch Street
Anchors / key tenants: big-box and grocery anchored community center
Big-box and value-tier daily-needs community center on Birch Street serving North OC residents.
Imperial Highway / Brea Boulevard area
Anchors / key tenants: Brixmor-owned daily-needs and service mix
Brixmor community center with daily-needs and service-retail tenancy.
1065 Brea Mall
Anchors / key tenants: Macy's, Macy's Men's & Home, JCPenney, Nordstrom, Dick's Sporting Goods
Simon-owned regional mall along the north side of SR-57 on Imperial Highway. 175+ boutiques and specialty stores plus a food court. The former Sears anchor was demolished in 2023 for a redevelopment that brought Dick's Sporting Goods as the replacement anchor. Pulls from Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Placentia, La Habra, and North OC.
Imperial Highway corridor
Anchors / key tenants: neighborhood retail and service mix
Smaller neighborhood plazas along Imperial — daily-needs and service-retail oriented.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Brea rents. These are publicly visible restaurant space businesses currently trading in the market.
Downtown Brea restaurant row (Yard House, Reunion Kitchen + Drink, Old Brea Chop House, Macallan's Pub and Restaurant, Finney's Crafthouse)
160 S. Brea Blvd (Yard House); 180 S. Brea Blvd (Reunion Kitchen + Drink, Old Brea Chop House); 330 W. Birch St (Macallan's); 215 S. Brea Blvd (Finney's Crafthouse), Brea, CA 92821
All on the Brea Downtown directory, which lists 24 food and drink businesses along Brea Boulevard and Birch Street. The same directory shows Benihana (260 S. Brea Blvd), Karma Lounge and The Boiling Crab as coming soon, and Edwards Theatre 12 (155 W. Birch) and The Improv (180 S. Brea Blvd) as the evening draws.
BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse
600 Brea Mall Drive, Brea, CA 92821
On BJ's own Brea location page. A full-service chain with a bar, on the Brea Mall ring road.
Stonefire Grill, Kabuki Japanese Restaurant and Taal Cultural Cuisine of India (Brea Marketplace)
Brea Marketplace, 835 E. Birch Street, suites 32, 29 and 24, Brea, CA 92821
Regency Centers' roster shows Stonefire Grill in 6,500 sq ft, Kabuki in 3,740 sq ft and Taal in 2,815 sq ft, with Fire Wings (3,492 sq ft), Bushfire Kitchen (2,000 sq ft) and Jersey Mike's (1,165 sq ft). Stonefire's own locator gives its address as 935 E. Birch Street.
Brea Gateway fast casual (Shake Shack, Cava, Panda Express, Tous les Jours, Maui Hawaiian BBQ)
Brea Gateway, 305 Imperial Hwy, spaces 103C, 103B, 101G, 101E and 105C, Brea, CA 92821
Brixmor's roster shows Shake Shack in 3,740 sq ft, Cava in 2,675 sq ft, Panda Express in 2,145 sq ft, Tous les Jours in 3,813 sq ft and Maui Hawaiian BBQ in 2,250 sq ft, in a 181,819 sq ft Ralphs center. Space 203C (4,550 sq ft) and a proposed pad (OPO 1) are listed as available.
Brea Union Plaza dining (On The Hook Seafood Grill, 365 Korean BBQ, L & L Hawaiian Barbeque, Mountain Mike's Pizza, McDonald's)
2435 to 2525 E. Imperial Hwy, Brea, CA 92821
Fourteen food and drink businesses on the center's own dining directory at Imperial Highway and Kraemer Boulevard, mostly counter service and small sit-down.
01
Alcohol permit level: Table 20.11.020.A lets on-sale alcohol in C-N, C-C, C-G, C-M and the three mixed-use zones go through a minor conditional use permit when it is accessory to a restaurant with no bar area open to patrons; a restaurant with an open bar needs a full CUP. Under Section 20.408.030 a minor CUP is a Director decision with no hearing, after mailed notice to owners within 300 feet at least 10 days before the decision, while a full CUP goes to a Planning Commission hearing. Decide early whether the floor plan has a bar counter, because it changes the approval path.
02
ABC license type: California ABC issues Type 41 (beer and wine) and Type 47 (general) to bona fide eating places with suitable kitchens and real meal sales, and minors are allowed on both. A Type 48 bar license excludes minors, and Brea's 'Bars and nightclubs' use (any public premises license) is allowed only in MU-I, MU-II and MU-III, with a CUP. In practice a bar concept is a downtown (MU-I) deal. Where state law requires a public convenience or necessity finding, Section 20.408.060 has the Director make it for minor CUP on-sale uses and the Planning Commission for the rest.
03
Parking (Table 20.08.040.D): sit-down restaurants need at least 10 spaces, or 1 per 100 sq ft up to 6,000 sq ft plus 1 per 75 sq ft above that, or 1 per 3 seats, whichever is greater; quick service is 1 per 150 sq ft. A patio under 300 sq ft or under 20 seats adds nothing, and above that a sit-down patio adds 1 space per 100 sq ft over 300 or 1 per 3 seats over 20. Section 20.08.040.B.1 requires added stalls when a space changes to a category that needs more, so a retail-to-restaurant conversion in a center parked at the 5.5 per 1,000 shopping center rate needs a parking count. Downtown, Section 20.08.040.B.2.a lets the Community Development Director reduce the requirement when a City-owned lot is within 400 feet of the front door.
04
Drive-thru and entertainment: drive-through facilities need a Planning Commission CUP in C-N, C-C, C-G, MU-II and MU-III and are not listed for MU-I, so downtown Brea is not a drive-thru location. Restaurant lanes need 160 feet of stacking from the pickup window. Entertainment venues are permitted in C-C, C-G and C-RC and need a CUP in MU-I and MU-II, which matters for comedy, music or large-screen concepts downtown.
05
Kitchen and grease: OC Health Care Agency Plan Check must approve plans for any new or remodeled food facility before construction (Health and Safety Code 114380), with up to two preliminary inspections at about 80% completion and the health permit before final. Brea's Standard Plan 214-0 calls for grease interceptors designed to Uniform Plumbing Code Appendix H with a 750 gallon minimum and a sampling box. OC San's FOG Ordinance OCSD-25 relies on cities to run their FOG programs, so ask Brea Public Works whether the existing interceptor in a second-generation space meets the current standard.
06
Permit timing and history: a CUP or minor CUP expires if not exercised within two years (Section 20.408.030.E), and uses already operating under a CUP continue under its conditions but need a new permit to expand (Section 20.24.110). For a second-generation restaurant in Brea Marketplace or Brea Gateway (for example Brixmor's 4,550 sq ft space 203C), get the prior operator's CUP resolution and ask the Planning Division whether its conditions (hours, alcohol, patio) carry over before signing.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.