Drive the shopping center at Lake Forest Drive and El Toro Road and it reads like any other Orange County strip mall. Starbucks anchors one end, Big-O Tires sits mid-block, and a Holiday Inn Express backs up to the parking lot. Nothing about the intersection announces itself. But look at the lease signings from the last year and a pattern shows up that most residents driving past have never noticed: this particular corner keeps getting picked first.
As WhatNow reported, Boban, the Vietnamese baguette concept backed by OneV Capital, opened its doors here in December 2025 as the flagship for the group's entire South Orange County push. OneV Capital also backs Nobibi, a dessert franchise, and Pho OneV, a newer concept the group is scaling fast, with plans to grow its combined brands past 50 locations. None of those other concepts opened here first. Boban did, and its Managing Partner Kim Bui was direct about why, calling Lake Forest the perfect launchpad for the company's South Orange County expansion, as WhatNow reported. The plan from there is seven Boban locations across the region, with Irvine named as the next stop.
Boban and Ono open in Lake Forest
That's the part of the story that doesn't show up in a scroll through restaurant listings. A Vietnamese baguette shop opening in a suburb isn't news on its own. What's worth noticing is that Boban opened its first South Orange County location at this specific plaza, with Irvine named as the next stop in its expansion plan. The One Stop Commercial Center has strong visibility from both I-5 and CA-241.
Ono Hawaiian BBQ opened its first South Orange County location in Lake Forest as its 119th restaurant. The chain has been operating since 2002. It marked the opening with a Grand Opening Luau last October, complete with Hawaiian performances and a buy-one-get-one deal.
Two blocks away, coffee and retail plans
Walk two blocks toward Rockfield Boulevard and the story shifts to coffee and retail. Klatch Coffee, the Southern California roaster that has won Micro Roaster of the Year and a Golden Bean Overall Championship, is building a café inside the Sprouts Farmers Market at 24332 Rockfield Blvd. It's part of an ongoing partnership that places Klatch buildouts inside existing Sprouts stores across the region, and the company's own rollout plan treats Los Angeles as phase one and Orange County as phase two. Lake Forest is where phase two starts.
Burlington, the off-price chain, is opening a new store at Hunter Court Shopping Center, 24372 Rockfield Boulevard, this fall, its 135th location in California and part of a national plan to open 110 net new stores in 2026. It has 1,242 stores across 47 states and generated $11.5 billion in net sales last fiscal year.
Put the two corridors side by side and the picture sharpens. Boban opened at Lake Forest Drive and El Toro Road, while Klatch is building a café and Burlington is opening a store on Rockfield Boulevard. These examples show restaurant, specialty coffee and retail activity along two Lake Forest corridors.
What this means if you already live here
For a resident, this isn't background noise. Several businesses are opening nearby, including concepts with plans to expand elsewhere in the region. Boban has named Irvine as its next stop, and Klatch is building a café at Sprouts.
It also means paying attention to a lease sign at a strip mall. A single new tenant at One Stop Commercial Center or Hunter Court Shopping Center isn't just a new place to grab dinner. It adds another business to the area.
What's already keeping locals busy this fall
Away from these commercial openings and plans, the weekend calendar in Lake Forest keeps moving. Here's what's on the books this September, plus a couple of recent nights out that give a sense of what a typical weekend already looks like:
- RC's Watering Hole hosts the Living in Stereo 90s Y2K Experience on September 12.
- The Rush Bar and Grill brings in Last Train to Juarez that same night, also September 12.
- Lake Forest Community Center hosts Rosa Roja, a night of love and music with Manuel Maria Ruiz, on September 18.
- Onyx Indoor Golf & Cafe runs Sip & Swing, an indoor golf and wine tasting experience, on September 26.
- Caspian Mediterranean Kitchen has been folding live music into its dinner service, including a recent set from Loukas Voice of the Gipsys.
- Dreams Banquet & Event Center hosted a Friday Salsa & Bachata Social in late August, the kind of standing-room social that tends to fill the calendar again once the weather cools.
None of this needs a reason to visit. It's simply what a Friday or Saturday looks like right now if you already call Lake Forest home.
The takeaway
The next time a new sign goes up at a Lake Forest shopping center, it's worth a second look. Boban has opened at Lake Forest Drive and El Toro Road; Klatch is building a café and Burlington is opening a store on Rockfield Boulevard. These projects show restaurant and retail activity in Lake Forest.
If you're weighing a move within Lake Forest, buying your first place here, or thinking about what a property near one of these corridors might be worth given how much commercial attention the area is drawing, Raul Vega has spent 20-plus years working these Orange County neighborhoods and is happy to talk through what it means for your specific situation. Let's Connect.
