Gathering a small group together for dinner on Friday, and I’m drawing a blank since it’s been so long. Need a well-rounded place that can make everyone happy. The Ranch is fully committed for the evening but has put me on the wait list in case of cancellation.
Thanks!
Not a lot of great options in Anaheim. Napa Rose is closed. Playground 1.9 is fully booked but they have openings for Saturday at 6:30pm.
I’d probably go towards Buena Park but not sure if your friends want Korean.
I’m not sure if the folks will be up for Korean.
Poppy + Seed, from the Poppy + Rose team, is opening for dinner service this weekend. I am only concerned about opening weekend jitters there.
Roy’s is another back-up, but that’s only if all other choices fail.
I don’t know whose rolling for dinner but I would totally go to Benihana. Haha. I still love it. Except that place gets really crowded.
Catal is open, though I have not been in years, as is the Anaheim White House.
How about Jav’s BBQ or Cortina’s?
BBQ and Italian can pretty much make even the most basic eaters happy
If it’s Cortinas I would double fist a Rocky Balboa in one hand and a meatball in the other lol
All the Downtown Disney places are fully booked for Friday. I checked those immediately after The Ranch.
Looking for cocktails so needing a full bar program. Cortina’s and Jav’s is out.
Anaheim White House requires more than my casual Friday dress.
Benihana might not be a bad idea if dinner comes with the show. I love a good volcano fire! Just checked. No reservations at Benihana…and what kind of animals go there?! They had a dress code that reminded me of high school.
I know these are not in Anaheim but fairly close to The Ranch with full bars. Anepalco by the Outlets and the newly opened Bosscat in Orange.
Go to Benihana and you might better understand why that dress code exists.
We usually frequent the one in City of Industry. It’s pretty tame there. Went to the Downey location once when it opened…also okay.
Need cocktails and food?
Blind Rabbit
90-120 minute maximum. And also booked. No leisurely dinner here. Especially if one of the folks is late coming from Burbank.
Anaheim White House?
Have you considered Chaak in Tustin? Yucatecan so some stuff may sound unfamiliar but in SoCal I think Mexican food is always a crowd pleaser. Nice place too*, with cocktails.
*pre-pandemic at least
My wife said her and her GFs really like Chaak. I still haven’t been.
I like Chaak, really nice place, food was good. I’ve only been for lunch pre pandemic but i ended up going there a lot.
I’m going to take this list and go to all the new places myself. Chaak in Tustin sounds like a great time.
Update. The Ranch opened up and found me at reservation.
So I was outvoted and we ended up at Poppy + Seed next to the Anaheim Packing House and Umami Burger instead of The Ranch.
It was opening weekend and while the staff and team were extraordinarily friendly, there were a few mishaps during our meal. Namely, drinks from the bar are SLOW to come to you. I think I had 2 different people check for my cocktail order 4 times and it still arrived about 30 minutes after I ordered it. We had someone order a vodka cranberry and that, too, took about 20 minutes for them to get. It was not booked to capacity…I cannot even imagine how that would have backed up the bar had it been packed to allowable capacity.
The setting was lovely. Like a former glass house converted to a restaurant with a lovely outdoor area. This outdoor area is going to be popular once people catch on.
The food was thoughtfully prepared. Brussels sprouts were fried to perfection and tossed in a bowl atop a nice Caesar dressing. Prawns were split and grilled head-on…some of them had delicious roe in them. I had the pan-roasted seabass garnished with a delightful 3-bean salad. The skin on the seabass was crispier than a potato chip. There were no complaints about the roasted duck breast and the 3-cheese house-made ravioli.
We chose their house cookies for dessert…which the snickerdoodle being leagues better than the chocolate chip.
It’s nice to see restaurants like Poppy + Seed popping up in Anaheim. Our meal was enjoyable even with the hiccups in bar service. Sorry no photos because i was with colleagues from work.
Sounds promising if they can fix some of the service issues. The LA Poppy + Rose is still open so that’s probably a good sign. We’ll make a visit soon.
Angel Stadium:
The pros? Still reasonably priced
The cons? The Angel offense might be better than the food
I went two nights in a row, and parked in a stadium lot ($10 each night).
First night up in the 400 level I purchased chicken tenders with fries; garlic fries; peanuts;a bottle of water; modelo (24 oz can). None of it great, but all together right around $55 so cool. The beer was chilled but not COLD and all was purchased from the same vendor - and on that level there were very few walking around vendors.
Second night out in left field, lower level different vendor and I purchased Angel dog, veggie dog, chicken Andouille sausage, peanuts, water, and a 16 oz can of Bud. This time the ca was COLD and I was really happy to purchase it at $4.50. The Angel dog was passible, and the chicken Andouille sausage was pretty okay! The veggie dog was dreadful. (I purchased it as my dining companion isn’t a big meat eater adn I like to support non-meat options when I see them.)
I didn’t try any of the veggie dog but it was rough going.
Down on the 100 level there were frequent walking around vendors but I didn’t try any.
Angel Stadium allows for you to bring in outside food, and I would encourage anyone going to manage their time better than I, and get food from almost anywhere outside of the stadium.