Center Court in 2013, with tile work and Stucco from the mid-2002 renovation.|left
1980s In the late 1970s
May Centers bought the property from
the city of National City and had developed the mall over what was the site of a 18-hole golf course. The center opened in the fall of 1981 and is the
South Bay’s first and only indoor mall. When the shopping center opened, it housed
JCPenney,
Mervyn's,
Montgomery Ward, and the
May Company. The mall motif was inspired by fall tones. It had a brick interior and exterior, with many brown beige tones and fountains throughout the inside and main entrances. The original logo of the mall was a 3-toned rainbow which was red, orange, and yellow, and a font in
Dynamo displaying ‘plaza bonita’.
2000s In mid-2002, the mall went through several phases of renovations, in which the brick exterior and interior was plastered with stucco then painted and had new ceramic tile installed. Its food court had been renovated, and an Outback Steakhouse restaurant opened in the North-west parking lot, it was the second full restaurant to open after Applebee's (which opened in 1993). In mid-2006, the former Wards store, which had been the location of seasonal retailers (Halloween costumers and art shows) was stripped and gutted and a new plan was announced to the public that the south end of the mall would be demolished and rebuilt. The former location of the food court was also demolished in 2006 and converted into a
Forever 21 (in 2007). Also in 2006,
Robinsons-May had been acquired by
Federated Department Stores and all locations were rebranded to
Macy's. In 2008 the newly renovated part of the mall had opened with additional anchors including
Target,
Borders (which had moved from
Otay Ranch Town Center), and
AMC Theatres as well as close to 40+ new shops like
H&M, a new food court known as the Dining Terrace, as well as a three floor parking structure. On March 3, 2009, the
Jollibee Foods Corporation opened its first “Filipino food court” in the United States adjacent from Target, with bakery and restaurants
Red Ribbon Bakeshop,
Jollibee and
Chowking and also had a party room which allowed to seat 40 people. The first of the kind in the United States, which was followed by one at
Westfield Southcenter in Washington. However,
JFC shuttered the dining hall by 2011 (a Hooters later took its place but then closed in 2020.) Further,
Borders closed all locations in 2011 shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy.
2010s building at Westfield Plaza Bonita.The
John's Incredible Pizza Company opened its second mall location in 2010 on the first floor of the former
Mervyn's store following the location at
Buena Park Mall. In May 2011,
Nordstrom had announced in a press release that they would be opening its third
Nordstrom Rack location in
San Diego County at Plaza Bonita taking over the second floor of the former
Mervyn's location. Later, in August 2012
Crunch Fitness opened replacing
Borders old location.
2020s In May 2020,
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced the temporary closures of its centers nationwide during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Many non-essential stores had been affected by the pandemic such as
John's Incredible Pizza Company which did not reopen in the re-opening of Plaza Bonita in May 2021 and later was gutted by June 2021. In April 2022
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Plaza Bonita's owner and management had announced that the company would be selling all of its 24 U.S. properties by the end of 2024. In the summer of 2022, Japan's
Round 1 Bowling & Amusement planned to open its first San Diego location at
Westfield North County this later changed to Plaza Bonita in September when the
Round One Corporation website released the Plaza Bonita location would be 'coming soon', replacing the former
Johns Incredible Pizza's space.
Round 1 opened in June 2024. A month later a fire broke out outside Round 1 as when construction crews hit a gas line, causing a gas leak. In March 2025,
Forever 21 closed following the company’s second bankruptcy filing, which led to the shuttering of all remaining store locations nationwide. In May 2025,
Crunch Fitness abruptly ceased operations at the mall after failing to reach a lease renewal agreement with Westfield. ==See also==