Disneyland Area Dinner Only

[LeslieLou]

I am a WDW vet, but am traveling to the west coast this week for work .

I'm staying at the Hilton Anaheim (working in Fullerton) and will have 1 or 2 evenings to spend in the area. Unfortunately, I will not be able to visit a theme park (I go back in May and feel determined to spend the weekend disneylanding)

However, I'm hoping to get some dinner recommendations. I will be with work colleagues. Suggestions?

If anyone has any input about things to do near LAX, I'll be there for a couple of evenings as well.

TIA

 

[TNS_Tinkerbell]

I am a WDW vet, but am traveling to the west coast this week for work . I'm staying at the Hilton Anaheim (working in Fullerton) and will have 1 or 2 evenings to spend in the area. Unfortunately, I will not be able to visit a theme park (I go back in May and feel determined to spend the weekend disneylanding) However, I'm hoping to get some dinner recommendations. I will be with work colleagues. Suggestions? If anyone has any input about things to do near LAX, I'll be there for a couple of evenings as well. TIA

We love the Hilton Anaheim, make sure you got to the pool Bar there, I know you state working, but trust me they had an excellent food and drinks that were reasonable.

The other thing, is your hotel is walkable, 10 minutes to downtown disney where there are good restaurants... Like at the DL hotel, Trader Sams. Get the poke! Think Tiki room meets awesome bar and good food. Worth the adventure to find.

By far our favourite area restaurant, is. Trader Sams... You don't need a ticket to go and we took a cab back from the DL lobby after and it was less than 10.

You can find good places at the end of Katella, at the Garden Walk, but highly avoid Mimi's and the Denny's... The suck.

On our last trip we did take a cab down to the target and there where other big restaurant chains, away from the park. Roughly a 10-15 cab from hotel.

Good luck and have fun.

While LA see Venice Beach and venture down the walk of fame strip and see some classic Hollywood sights like the Chinesse Theater, El Capitan is across the street!

Cheers.

T

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Can you provide us with more information? How many in your party? Will this be a business dinner or a casual get together? Food preferences and/or food issues (e.g special dietary needs)? Walking distance or will you have a car/cab? Budget per person? Alcohol or no?

Just off the top of my head, I would suggest someplace in DtD or one of the on site hotels. That would give you a taste of the Disney magic with your meal. You might enjoy Steakhouse 55 in the DLH or Napa Rose in the GCH. Great service, good food -- just a different vibe depending on the location. For a fun, very casual meal, how about Trader Sam's at the DLH? Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen may work for your group -- and you might enjoy the live music in the piano bar area. Let us know what your needs are, and we can tailor the recs to suit you.

By the way, if you like the above suggestion to see Hollywood and the Walk of Fame, those are not near LAX. Again, will you have a car or will you be depending on public transportation/cabs? And what kind of things do you like to do (e.g. museums, theater, restaurants, shopping, etc.)?

 

[rentayenta]

Trader Sam's and Steakhouse 55 at the DLH, Uva Bar in DTD, Storyteller's Cafe and Napa Rose at the GCH. I guess it depends on the atmosphere you're looking for. Is it per diem? Casual? Will you be trying to conduct business during dinner?

If your colleagues are casual, Los Sanchez has amazing Mexican food.

 

[LeslieLou]

Thank you for the replies so far. Now I have some names to investigate!

A little more info: I will have a car, I'm not on per diem- the company pays for all reasonable expenses (a $40-50 dinner per person is fairly routine when out with a group). We will likely be a group of 5-6 and while we will likely discuss work, it will not be a formal working meal. Atmosphere preferred is casual enough for jeans and a polo but also business appropriate. We do prefer to do local favorites vs chain food wherever possible. I'm the only female in the group and we are a bunch of engineers and computer programmers (re: I'm a bit of a nerd). In LA ill be by myself, so don't know if I feel comfortable venturing too far in my evening alone.

I appreciate all PPs input! Any refined suggestions based on a bit more detail?

 

[got2travel]

My favorite in the area is Fire N Ice at Garden Walk. Fun atmosphere with good food, something for everyone. They call it Americanized Mongolian BBQ. You pick you meat, veggies, pasta/rice, and seasonings and they cook it on a huge round grill. There are tons of flavor combos, so it's not just Asian like a Mongolian BBQ. And it's all you can eat, so you can play around with different flavor profiles.

Also agree with everyone on Trader Sam's, great bar and great staff.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Since you will have a car, that opens your options. Check out Park Ave. and Il Garage in Stanton (about 20 minutes west of DLR). The Ranch in Anaheim (on Ball and East) might interest you (former head sommelier from Napa Rose is there now), and the Saloon next door has country dancing. For ethnic food, you have Thai Nakorn in Garden Grove (excellent Thai food and all servers speak English) and Little Saigon in Westminster (lots of choices there). GardenWalk on Katella has chain choices (in case you need something close): Cheescake Factory, McCormick & Schmick's, Roy's, California Pizza Kitchen. Catal in DtD might be a better choice over Uva Bar (UB is outside and can be quite noisy). Jagerhaus on Ball has fun German food. If you need to eat in Fullerton, try Fuoco Pizzeria (Neapolitan style), Rutabegorz, or Heroes (for a sports bar atmosphere). My first choices would be Steakhouse 55 or Napa Rose, because they meet your requirements of casual/nice atmosphere and they give you some Disney magic outside of the parks. Hope this helps!

As for your night out in L.A., you might like an evening at the Grove in Hollywood (Fairfax, south of Beverly). That is a very safe place, fun shopping, good food (the Farmer's Market is right next door with lots of choices), movies, etc. Parking is easy (not always a given in L.A.!). If you like museums, check the hours for the Getty Center for your dates. If the GC is open late, that is a lovely place to spend a few hours.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

For the LAX area, you might try one of the restaurants on Rosecrans (go south on Sepulveda) - there are a lot there: Houstons, Cozymel, Paul Martin, Flemings...

We recently ate at Manhattan Beach Post - this is a converted post office to restaurant - and really enjoyed it: http://eatmbpost.com/

Fishing With Dynamite is supposed to be really good, too, though I haven't eaten there.

In Venice, there is a restaurant called Salt Air on the street Abbott Kinney - it's a small restaurant, but the food is good. Bob Iger ate there earlier this year.

Another restaurant is Tin Roof Bistro. I like it. They have indoor or outdoor dining (if the weather holds up). It's right next to the Manhattan Village Mall, and there is also a Sees Candy store if you want to get some before going back.

El Segundo and Manhattan Beach have a lot of nice dining options.

 

[SMD]

Slater's 50/50, the patties are half bacon. Programmers love bacon.

 

[LeslieLou]

I really appreciate all the responses! We tried to go to Trader Joes but there was not a seat to be found. We ended up at the Jazz Kitchen and it was wonderful! Everyone really enjoyed their meals (fish, filet, gumbo & fried green tomatoes) We shared both bread puddings between 4 folks and it was a great end to dinner. We had a predinner drink at the bar and Mario had us cracking up. He was awesome! He was one of the best cms I've ever had the pleasure to meet!

Thank you again!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Glad to hear you had a great time! Hope this info comes in handy for your May trip. If you have any more questions, just ask!