"I drive by that every day and try to determine if anything has changed." That line comes from a Reddit commenter quoted by CBS 8, and it was about the "coming soon" Lazy Dog at the corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Westview Parkway. Another commenter in the same story said the site comes up every time they drive by.
Two big restaurant projects on the boulevard have drawn most of the attention this year. One is Lazy Dog at the old Mimi's Cafe. The other is Chubby Cattle at the old Red Lobster. Neither one is serving yet. Over the same months, the places that did start feeding the neighborhood came in through smaller doors: a lunch menu inside a crab restaurant, a seafood-bowl counter in Suite 3, and a sando shop in Suite 108. Right now the boulevard's dining is changing at the suite level, and the big freestanding buildings are the slow part.
The old Mimi's is waiting on drawings and permits
Mimi's Cafe at 10788 Westview Parkway closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to CBS 8, the property sat empty for several years before a replacement structure went up. Construction then stalled for months, the new frame started to rust, and weeds grew across the lot.
The chain hasn't walked away. In March, a company representative told the Mira Mesa Community Planning Group that this project was delayed along with four other Lazy Dog locations around the country. The minutes, as CBS 8 summarized them, say the development team had changed and minor architectural revisions were being proposed. The project, PRJ-1072780, appeared as old business on the group's March 16, 2026 agenda.
The timeline presented in March was:
- About two months to finish drawings
- About four months for permitting
- Another three to four months of construction
Those steps add up to nine or ten months, and that assumes each one started on time and nothing ran long. CBS 8 described the wait as "about a year." Back in December 2025, the San Diego Union-Tribune called this the chain's second San Diego County location and said construction delays might push it into 2027. Lazy Dog's locations page still lists Mira Mesa as "coming soon." The best current read is 2027, and nobody has announced a date.
The old Red Lobster has a name on the landlord's plan
Chubby Cattle is a Japanese yakiniku chain, where diners grill premium wagyu at the table. It first surfaced for 8330 Mira Mesa Boulevard in March, when WhatNow quoted a company representative saying the location was "on Chubby Cattle's radar." The story said an opening was expected later in 2026.
Since then, the strongest sign is a line on the landlord's plan. Brixmor's site plan for Village at Mira Mesa, last updated October 1, 2026, lists "Chubby Cattle BBQ" among current tenants in a 9,000-square-foot space. That shows the space is committed. It doesn't give an opening date. Through the summer, the local roundup I Love Mira Mesa was still reporting "later 2026" with no firm date.
The same site plan shows how much room is still open. Two spaces are marked "Former Restaurant" and listed as available, at 1,841 and 4,560 square feet. A third, proposed pad is listed too.
| Site | Former use | Size | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10788 Westview Pkwy | Mimi's Cafe | Freestanding building | Lazy Dog planned. Estimates point to 2027 |
| 8330 Mira Mesa Blvd | Red Lobster | 9,000 sq ft | Chubby Cattle on the landlord's plan, no date |
| Village at Mira Mesa, space 06B | Restaurant | 1,841 sq ft | Available |
| Village at Mira Mesa, space 07 | Restaurant | 4,560 sq ft | Available |
A big building has to be fitted out for a full-service operator, and that takes time. The 9,000-square-foot Chubby Cattle space is about two and a half times the size of the Bafang Dumpling space in the same center, which is 3,080 square feet.
What opened came through smaller doors
The year's new food mostly showed up where a kitchen, a suite or a lease was already in place.
Pho Ga Go at Crab Hut, 8280 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite E. Crab Hut tested a pho lunch pop-up for about six months, and it worked. According to the Union-Tribune, the owners turned it into a permanent weekday lunch service with an expanded Northern Vietnamese menu, served at the Mira Mesa location only. The menu was created by Crab Hut and Kingfisher restaurateur Kim Phan. It includes pho, Hainanese chicken and rice, egg rolls, spring rolls, fish sauce chicken wings and a vermicelli egg roll bowl, plus house-pickled vegetables, peppers and jerky sold by the jar. Pho Ga Go runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The regular Crab Hut menu starts at 4 p.m. on weekdays, so the lunch service uses the same room during hours it used to sit dark. Eater San Diego covered the pop-up when it started in November 2025.
Don Maguro, 8155 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 3. This counter serves Japanese kaisen-don, which are seafood bowls over rice. Eater San Diego added it to its Best New Restaurants heatmap in the October 1, 2026 update. That list usually covers restaurants less than six months old.
Momo Sando & Omakase, 6755 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 108. Chef and owner Changjin Oh worked at Nobu locations, including on the opening team at Nobu Del Coronado, as WhatNow reported. His shop is a grab-and-go take on omakase, with sushi, sashimi, rolls and Japanese-style sandos. San Diego Magazine reported a January 5 grand opening. The restaurant's own site lists hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
None of these three needed a new building. Pho Ga Go added hours to a kitchen that was already running, and the other two each took a single suite in an existing center. That's why the boulevard has added new food this year while both freestanding sites are still waiting on permits.
Small doors close too
Turnover in small spaces runs both ways. Loving Hut at 9928 Mira Mesa Boulevard served vegan, Asian-inspired street food for 16 years. The team announced the closing on June 24, and the restaurant closed for good on July 3, 2026, as WhatNow reported. When a suite like that opens up, a new operator can often move in much faster than anyone can rebuild a freestanding restaurant pad.
The boulevard as it stands this week
Here's how the open places line up by time of day:
- Weekday lunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Pho Ga Go inside Crab Hut, 8280 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite E.
- Late morning through mid-afternoon, Monday through Saturday: Momo Sando & Omakase, 6755 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 108. It closes at 4 p.m., so plan for lunch.
- Seafood bowls: Don Maguro, 8155 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 3.
- Dinner: Crab Hut's regular menu, 4 to 10 p.m. weekdays and noon to 10 p.m. weekends.
- Around the future Chubby Cattle: Village at Mira Mesa's current tenants include Bafang Dumpling, Manna BBQ, Oii Sushi, Shawarma Guys, Cotixan and The Habit Burger Grill, next to Vons and Mira Mesa Lanes.
Construction fencing, permit filings and a new name on a site plan will tell you before any announcement that Lazy Dog or Chubby Cattle is getting close. Until then, most of the new food on Mira Mesa Boulevard is in the small suites.
Lani Bautista keeps track of changes like these along Mira Mesa Boulevard, from the old Mimi's corner to the Village at Mira Mesa. If you'd like to talk about what that means for a home nearby, Lani Bautista is glad to help. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you.
