Orange / Central Orange County
Orange has three restaurant settings that lease very differently. Old Towne, around the Plaza at Chapman Avenue and Glassell Street, has full-service and fast casual restaurants in historic storefronts, such as Citrus City Grille on North Glassell and Chipotle on East Maple. The arterials carry the chains: Chili's on West Katella, Lucille's on West Chapman, and In-N-Out on North Tustin Street, East Chapman and The City Drive. Since September 2025 a bona fide restaurant can serve beer, wine or spirits with meals by right under an Alcohol Exemption Permit, which comes with fixed hours and no bar area, so decide early whether the concept fits those conditions or needs a conditional use permit.
Population
138,266
Median HHI
$117,113
Median age
37.2
Homeownership
56.7%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Chapman Avenue · Tustin Street · Glassell Street · Katella Avenue · Main Street · La Veta Avenue
Specific shopping centers in Orange that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
Chapman Avenue at Glassell Street
Anchors / key tenants: historic downtown plaza, antique row, chef-driven dining
National Register historic district (listed 1997) with a walkable plaza around the famous Orange Circle. Antique row, chef-driven restaurants, coffee, boutiques, and Chapman University walk-up traffic. Strong visitor and student daypart.
20 City Boulevard West
Anchors / key tenants: AMC Theatres, Nike Factory Store, Saks OFF 5TH, Last Call by Neiman Marcus
Open-air outlet center (former Block at Orange) owned by Simon Property Group. National outlet/value retail plus a dining and entertainment ring serving the 5/22 freeway interchange. Strong regional pull from Anaheim and Garden Grove.
1500 East Village Way
Anchors / key tenants: Target, Burlington
Value-tilted center on Tustin Street. The enclosed mall portion closed on January 31, 2024 and the site is planned for residential redevelopment, so confirm which buildings remain before touring.
8440 East Chapman Avenue
Anchors / key tenants: neighborhood retail and grocery mix
East Orange neighborhood center serving the foothills and Anaheim Hills crossover. Daily-needs and service-retail oriented.
Chapman / La Veta corridor
Anchors / key tenants: neighborhood / service mix
West Orange / Tustin Street neighborhood centers serving daily-needs and medical-adjacent uses.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Orange rents. These are publicly visible restaurant space businesses currently trading in the market.
Citrus City Grille (Old Towne)
122 N. Glassell Street, Orange, CA 92866
Full-service restaurant with a daily happy hour and reservations, per its own site. On Glassell Street just north of the Plaza.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Old Towne Orange
112 E. Maple Avenue, Orange, CA 92866
Fast casual near Maple Avenue and Glassell Street, per Chipotle's store page.
Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
4050 W. Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA 92868
Full-service barbecue restaurant, per Lucille's own locations page. West Chapman Avenue.
Chili's Grill & Bar
1411 W. Katella Avenue, Orange, CA 92867
Full-service chain with a bar; Chili's own locator lists alcohol to go at this store.
In-N-Out Burger (three Orange stores)
2585 N. Tustin Street; 3501 E. Chapman Avenue; 250 The City Drive South, Orange, CA
All three have drive-thrus and dining rooms, per In-N-Out's locator data. The City Drive store opened July 26, 2024, the newest of the three.
01
Use and the new alcohol path: Table 17.13.030 (as adopted by Ord. 13-18 in 2018) lists Restaurants without alcoholic beverage sales as P in CP/C1, C-TR, C2, C3 and CR, C in OP and OTMU-15S, and P in OTMU-15, OTMU-24, NMU-24 and UMU. Restaurants with alcoholic beverage sales and restaurants with on-site brewing are C+ in CP/C1 through CR and in all five mixed use zones, and not permitted in OP. Ordinance 13-25 (September 9, 2025) added Section 17.13.040(III) and Section 17.30.025, which let a bona fide restaurant serving alcohol incidental to meals operate by right with an Alcohol Exemption Permit instead of a CUP.
02
Alcohol Exemption Permit conditions in Section 17.30.025: quarterly alcohol sales may not exceed food sales, indoor hours are limited to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and patios close at 10 p.m. There can be no bar or lounge area, no live entertainment, karaoke, DJ or dancing, no TVs or amplified sound outdoors, and no off-sale; the patio must be enclosed, and no outdoor alcohol service is allowed within 100 feet of homes, schools, parks or churches if the patio faces them. The permit also requires a security plan, a camera system keeping 30 days of footage, Alcohol Management Program training within 30 days of hire, and annual review by the Community Development Director and Police. It may not be converted to a Type 48 license.
03
When a CUP is still needed: a concept with a bar counter, later hours or entertainment falls under Section 17.30.030, where the Planning Commission hears any original on-sale restaurant license in CP, C1, C-TR, C2, C3, CR, M1 and M2 and must weigh undue concentration of alcohol licenses and nearness to homes, churches, schools and parks (Section 17.30.040). Upgrading beer and wine to a general license needs a new CUP unless AEP-eligible (Section 17.30.050), a restaurant-with-alcohol CUP lapses if the use stops for more than six months (Section 17.10.030(I)(3)), and entertainment establishments get Police Department review and conditions (Section 17.13.050(T)). ABC Type 41 and Type 47 both require a bona fide eating place with a kitchen and real meal sales, allow minors, and require RBS-certified servers and managers.
04
Parking: Table 17.34.060(B) sets a full-service restaurant at 5 spaces per 1,000 SF when restaurants are less than 30% of the center and 10 per 1,000 above 30% or when stand-alone (counter service 4 and 8), bars at 33 per 1,000 SF of assembly area, and drive-through restaurants at 13 per 1,000 of restaurant area plus stacking. A patio up to 25% of the indoor area (30% in mixed use zones) adds no parking. A 3,000 SF full-service restaurant needs 15 spaces in a center that is mostly retail and 30 in a food-heavy center, so ask the landlord what share of the center is already restaurants.
05
Old Towne: inside the eight-block Downtown Plaza District bounded by Maple, Grand, Almond and Lemon, Table 17.34.060(C) parks all nonresidential uses at 4 per 1,000, existing buildings are deemed to meet parking on a change of use (Section 17.34.025(D)), and added floor area or private outdoor dining can pay an in-lieu parking fee for up to 20 spaces. Outdoor eating with a permitted restaurant is an exception to the indoor-only rule in Section 17.18.080, but Old Towne work must follow the Historic Preservation Design Standards for Old Towne Orange (Sections 17.17.060 and 17.18.220), alterations to historic structures follow the State Historical Building Code (Section 17.17.070), and drive-through restaurants are not allowed in any Old Towne mixed use zone.
06
Kitchen and grease: the OC Health Care Agency Plan Check unit must approve plans for every new or remodeled food facility (Health and Safety Code 114380), with a menu and equipment specification sheets, before the health permit is issued at final inspection. OC San's Ordinance OCSD-25 requires each city that feeds its system to run its own FOG program for restaurants on local sewers, and exempts only limited food preparation (reheating, hot holding or assembly). The County's grease control bulletin says gravity grease interceptors go underground outdoors while hydromechanical units are generally installed indoors near the utensil sink, and that operators must check with the city building department or sanitary district before installing one. In an Old Towne storefront, confirm there is room for an outdoor interceptor before you sign.
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.