At the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce Networking Breakfast on Thursday, Aug. 13, District Two Councilman Ben Wong spent his time on Main Street business. Partway through, he pointed at the stage inside O'Malley's. "This community likes music," he said.
The stage was standing in for a larger point. Wong called the Main Street Specific Plan, the document that governs what can open on the street, "a bit constricted" and later outdated. "It's almost 30 years old now," he said of a plan that dates to around 1996. Main Street isn't in his district. "Now, Main Street might not be specifically my area, my district, but we're still all Seal Beach, right?"
That breakfast is a useful place to start, because the storefronts are already changing. Over the past year, most of the new arrivals on Main Street have been places to eat. They're concentrated on the 200 block. And the city has started clearing a path for them instead of waiting for tenants to find their own way through the rules.
The Count Has Been Moving Since Last Summer
The Seal Beach Sun has been counting empty commercial spaces on Main for more than a year. In August 2025, it found nine. By Saturday, Feb. 28, the count was seven. It fell to five after Seal Beach Vintage opened on the 200 block, selling vintage clothing and vinyl records, and Cozy Bear pet grooming opened on the 100 block.
The June 2026 inventory put the number at six. That small rise came partly from better counting: 214 Main is set back from the street and had been missed in earlier tallies. For scale, Chad Berlinghieri of Seal Beach City Rotary counted 136 active businesses on Main. A half-dozen empty storefronts on a street that size is a short list. Which spaces are on that list matters more than the total.
The count also stopped including Walt's Wharf. The restaurant reopened Sept. 2, 2025, after a fire-related closure.
The 200 Block Is Turning Into a Dining Block
The changes stack up when you walk the 200 block address by address.
| Address | What was there | What's happening now |
|---|---|---|
| 208 Main | Bank of America | Demolition underway for a restaurant conversion. No tenant named yet |
| 210 Main | Osteria Mare Blu | Solera Kitchen + Wine Bar, open since June 2026 |
| 214 and 214A Main | Vacant | Both listed as unoccupied in the June count |
| 226 Main | Christian Science Reading Room | POM Waffles, Belgian waffles and ice cream, listed as coming soon |
| 246 Main | Vacant | Seal Beach Vintage |
Solera was the first of the new places to open. It had a soft opening June 15 and a grand opening June 29, with a ribbon-cutting alongside the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce. According to the restaurant's July announcement, it served more than 1,200 guests in its first 15 days. Certified sommelier Brandon Martini and entrepreneur Todd Wohrman co-founded it. Executive Chef Michael Droma runs the kitchen, and his résumé includes The Bazaar by José Andrés, Sotto, Cantinetta Luca and Sugo Social. The menu is built on a sommelier-selected wine list, a seasonal from-scratch kitchen and charcuterie made in-house.
"People come to Seal Beach and they want to slow down," Martini said in the announcement.
Two doors up, the old Bank of America building at 208 Main took longer to get started. Converting a bank into a restaurant needed a conditional-use permit locally, with Scott Levitt applying for 208 Main Street LLC. Because Main Street sits in the coastal zone, it also needed approval from the California Coastal Commission, which came on Oct. 9, 2025. By August 2026, the Sun reported a demolition crew at work inside. City and state permits had been issued, and the report named no restaurant.
POM Waffles is the newest name on the block. Georges Hoebrechts is the applicant, and the shop will go into the former Christian Science Reading Room space. That reading room hasn't left the street; it moved to another address on Main. The Sun's June inventory listed the shop at 216 Main. The permit story and POM's own website both say 226 Main. POM's site still reads "Coming soon," and its opening schedule says "TBD."
The Waffle Shop Got Through Planning in Six Weeks
The speed of that approval is the clearest sign that the city's approach has changed. At the August breakfast, Wong said POM's owner got through planning permits in six weeks. He credited Jennifer Robles, the city's management analyst and business concierge, with moving it along.
Robles and Community Development Director Shaun Temple also tracked down the owner of the former Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf building at the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway. Wong said the owners want a long-term tenant, and the city suggested a bagel shop. No tenant has been confirmed. The suggestion itself tells you what City Hall has in mind for the corner where most people turn onto Main.
Behind the staff work is the Citizen-Council Business First Advisory Ad-Hoc Committee, made up of two council members and five at-large members. By Feb. 24, the city had received nine applications for it. The committee is expected to take up Main Street beautification and the Specific Plan. Ideas from the city's strategic planning session included washing sidewalks more often, improving street lighting and possibly replacing the trees along Main.
The 100 Block Is Getting a Bakery Too
Food is filling in at the ocean end of Main as well. Chaupain Artisan Bakery is remodeling the former Old Town Café space at 137 Main, and its logo is already up. Temple confirmed in a July email that the bakery is replacing Old Town Café. In June, the owners announced on Facebook that they were breaking ground on their fifth location, in Seal Beach. As of today, Chaupain's locations page lists Seal Beach as "COMING SOON!" Patch reported Aug. 31 that the bakery expected to open in late 2026.
Elsewhere on the block, the new arrivals lean toward pets. Cozy Bear does grooming, and a newer shop at 128 Main sells items for dogs and their owners. The Sun reported 127 Main still empty, with a window poster announcing a pet grooming store "opening fall of 2025." That poster went up before fall 2025 and was still there.
Up at 327 Main, Zaine Ashton Boys Collection was scheduled to open June 3, 2026. A few existing businesses have hiring signs out, including Charo Chicken and Launder Pet.
Parking Is the Rule Still Under Review
Every new dining room on Main brings more people looking for a parking spot, and that question is still open. Curb parking on Main Street stayed free after the City Council's 4–1 vote on April 13, 2026. That vote modernized the parking code and did not add a charge on Main. For now, the city charges in three lots: 120 Main, 300 East Main and 301 West Main.
The Business First committee discussed paid parking on Tuesday, June 30. Julie Dixon of Dixon Resources Unlimited, who has long recommended paid parking on Main, gave a presentation in favor. The committee made no recommendation. Temple told the room that staff would take the input under consideration, and that members wanted to talk with business owners before possibly bringing the issue back. Any change to the Specific Plan has to go through the Planning Commission and the City Council. Any parking change also goes to the California Coastal Commission.
The committee meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, except in July, when it meets on the fifth Wednesday. Those meetings are where the next round of decisions about Main will start.
What's Still Empty, and What's on the Calendar
Here's what to watch on the street this fall:
- 208 Main: a restaurant building under construction with no tenant announced yet
- 214 and 214A Main: both unoccupied as of the June count
- The former Coffee Bean corner at Main and PCH: the owners want a long-term tenant, and the city has suggested a bagel shop
- 137 Main and 226 Main: Chaupain and POM Waffles, both listed as coming soon
Main Street also has a busy few weeks ahead. The Chamber calendar lists Halloween Trick or Treat on Main Street for Oct. 30. The city lists its Trunk or Treat for Oct. 31 in the municipal lots on Main Street and Electric Avenue. The two listings give different dates, and the city's own listing shows two different time windows, so check with the organizers before you go. The Chamber's Christmas Tree Lighting is Nov. 21, 4 to 7 p.m., at the base of the Pier, with Santa, children's activities, sledding and refreshments.
If you own a home or a storefront near the Main Street restaurants, how the street fills in affects you directly. At Doug Merlino and BeachPointe Properties, we track these openings block by block, and we're happy to talk through what they could mean for your property. Get your instant home valuation to start the conversation.
