"AMC pulls in good traffic, so people come downstairs to us from the movie theater and from the rest of the mall." John Patrick Lopez, co-owner of Wanderlust Creamery, said that to KTLA in May 2026. At the time, his ice cream counter was one of the few still open in a food hall that was mostly dark.
His explanation for why the shop survived has turned into the plan for what comes next. Topanga Social is reopening at Westfield Topanga, the Warner Center mall that sits on the line between Woodland Hills and Canoga Park. The businesses moving in look much more like Wanderlust than like the original lineup.
How the First Version Was Built
Topanga Social opened in May 2023 in the old Sears space. It had 27 food and drink options, including Fat Sal's, Mini Kabob, Burrata House, Poke Me, Shrimp Daddy and Temaki by Seaweed Handroll Bar. It also had two indoor bars, live music and DJs. Guests ordered at large touchscreens that showed every menu in the hall, then picked up their food at each restaurant's counter.
The business arrangement behind the counters was less common. Many of the restaurants did not lease their spaces. They signed licensing agreements with a separate company that ran Topanga Social and handled staffing and supplies. Abtin Hashemian, whose businesses include Poke Me, compared the model to airports, amusement parks and university campuses. Under it, a brand's name is on the counter but a different team runs the back of the house each day.
Then there was parking. The lot next to the food hall has about 65 spaces, and KTLA described it as less visible and harder to reach than other parts of the mall. That small lot serves a building with more than 200 shops and restaurants and a busy AMC two floors up. Hashemian said parking was the problem that kept coming up.
The decline came in stages:
- November 2023: Pinstripes opens a 28,000-square-foot bowling alley, bar and restaurant next to the hall.
- September 2025: Pinstripes closes.
- February 2026: Topanga Social's management files a WARN notice saying 131 employees will be laid off in two months.
- Early April 2026: As Poke Me neared the end of its three-year agreement, management offered it a lease in place of the license. Poke Me declined and moved out, along with many other businesses.
- May 2026: KTLA finds the hall mostly vacant and both bars closed.
Hashemian still called the location a success for Poke Me. He said it was busier than many restaurants in the hall, and the revenue came at no cost to the business. As he described it, most of the traffic came on weekends and around the holidays.
What Lasted
Two businesses outlasted the collapse, and both are places people visit on purpose. Wanderlust Creamery now leases its space. Lopez credits its survival to being a dessert destination instead of one restaurant among dozens. Red Door Escape Room also carried over from the original concept.
Neither is a quick lunch stop. Both work best for someone already at the mall for a movie, a birthday or an evening out. The second version of Topanga Social is built around that kind of visit.
The Second Lineup
On August 31, 2026, KTLA reported that Westfield Topanga had launched what it calls "the next chapter" of Topanga Social, and that most of the empty stalls had new tenants. KTLA didn't give opening days for the new food hall tenants, so most entries in the table below show what was operating by late August. Chain is the exception, with a Sept. 2 opening date announced by Eater LA.
| Name | What it is | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Umari Hand Roll Bar | Hand rolls | Operating by late August |
| Kabob Social | Kabobs | Operating by late August |
| Cilantro Lime | Restaurant counter | Operating by late August |
| Pompadour Cafe | Cafe | Photographed in the hall Aug. 29 |
| Ozzy's Apizza | Pizza | Operating by late August |
| Mr. Chubby | Local Asian food chain | Operating by late August |
| Chubby Cove and Chubby Social | The hall's two bars, reopened | Operating by late August |
| Hole in One Mini Golf | Mini golf | Operating by late August |
| The Loop | Pop-up anime retailer | Operating by late August |
| Red Door Escape Room | Escape room | Carried over from the original hall |
| Wanderlust Creamery | Ice cream | Carried over, now on a lease |
| Chain | Six-month chef residency | Announced for Sept. 2; Westfield lists it as open |
| Kura Revolving Sushi Bar | Conveyor sushi | Coming soon |
| Big Game Show | Interactive game show | Coming soon |
| Din Tai Fung | Dumplings and noodles | Expected in 2027 |
Entertainment now takes up a much larger share of the hall. Mini golf, an escape room, an anime pop-up and an interactive game show sit next to the restaurants. Chain is a former pop-up whose menu reworks familiar fast-food and chain-restaurant dishes. Its residency features cooking from four chefs and a menu of snacks and desserts made with General Mills cereals. The residency is scheduled to run six months, which from a Sept. 2 opening means about early March 2027. Nicholas Kraft, Chain's chief creative officer, told Eater LA he doesn't rule out an extension.
Octavio Luna, a spokesperson for the Chubby Group, described the appeal as "a destination where great food, entertainment, and hospitality all come together." Kura Revolving Sushi Bar adds another chain with a following. KTLA notes that its Westfield Fashion Square location in Sherman Oaks and its Glendale Galleria location are both busy.
One big space is still empty. No plans have been announced for the 28,000 square feet that Pinstripes used.
Dates for This Season
The new lineup arrives just before the busiest part of the year, and that timing helps. Under the old setup, traffic came mostly on weekends and around the holidays. The next few months bring several events with set dates:
- Oct. 7 and 8: Westfield's events calendar lists a launch party for the Great Big Game Show.
- Nov. 20, 2026 through Jan. 11, 2027: Ice at Canoga Park, the West Valley's outdoor ice rink, returns to Westfield Topanga.
- December 2026: Bread Head is scheduled to open across the street at The Village.
- Around early March 2027: Chain's initial six-month residency is set to end unless it's extended.
Across Topanga Canyon Boulevard
The Village at Westfield Topanga is also filling empty spaces, and its new tenants likewise come with a following. Bread Head is a sandwich shop founded by chefs Alex Williams and Jordan Snyder. It is taking over the former Veggie Grill at 6316 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Suite 1180. This will be its fourth location after Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Westwood.
A few doors away, Boulevard Hospitality Group plans to open Casa Luna, a Mexican restaurant near Alfred's Coffee. It will take Suite 1110, the former XOC space that had been expected to go to the group's Durango concept. When the plan was still for Durango, CEO Freddy Braidi said the group was aiming to open in Woodland Hills in early 2027. No date has been confirmed for Casa Luna.
Two more openings have been announced for the mall itself, both without dates. Cache 58 is a fine Mexican restaurant with handcrafted cocktails, led by chef Ruben Barragan, who is known for Ay Mi Pa in Northridge. The Escape Game has announced a location at 6344 Topanga Canyon Boulevard but hasn't shared an opening date. With Red Door Escape Room downstairs, the mall will soon have two escape-room operators.
The Lot That Sets the Pace
All of this is opening in buildings that already exist. A few blocks away, the former Promenade mall has been torn down to make way for Rams Village at Warner Center, a proposed 52-acre development anchored by the team's permanent headquarters and training facility. As of September 23, 2026, the project was in Project Permit Compliance review at the Los Angeles Planning Department, and no building permits had been issued for it. If the city approves the plan, construction is projected to start in 2027, and full completion is expected to take about a decade.
For at least the next several years, Warner Center's dining and evening activity will happen in spaces that are already standing. That means the stalls under the AMC, the suites at The Village, and the empty Pinstripes space that no one has claimed yet. The ice rink opens on November 20, and Bread Head is due in December.
At Getzels Group, we follow how projects like Topanga Social and Rams Village shape daily life around Warner Center, because buyers and sellers in Woodland Hills ask us about both. If you'd like to talk through what these changes could mean for your home, we're glad to have a private conversation. Work With Us.