Restaurants outside Disneyland for my husband's 40th Birthday Dinner

[mickeyhereicome]

Let me start by saying I know dining is always subjective. I am planning a surprise 40th birthday trip for my husband. His birthday is in April 2021. My fingers are crossed super tight that Covid19 is over and won't impact my plans. He has always talked about going to Coachella so we are doing Coachella (already have tickets) and then Disneyland. We will be a party of 8. My family of 4 with 2 well behaved adventurous eating boys (12 and 11 at the time), my in laws and my Sister in law and her husband and their two boys (22 months old at the time). I will be picking between Steakhouse 55 and Napa Rose for an onsite option but I was thinking of maybe also doing a dinner some where around Disneyland. By around I am willing to travel (let's say an hour one way) if there is a must try. We are from the East Coast so not familiar with many restaurants in CA except for the very popular named ones. We have done a ton of Signature dining at DW including Chef's table at V&A (minus the kids of course). I am open to places that are known to be pricey and will have to decide for myself based on reviews and menu if it would be worth it for us. We like all sorts of cuisine. TIA

 

[Chupaca bruh]

We did The White House on our last trip and really enjoyed it and it is very close to Disneyland. It is a bit pretentiously ornate but service was great. I am sure there are much better places within an hours drive but if you want something easy to get to this fits the bill.
https://anaheimwhitehouse.com/

 

[hiroMYhero]

Lawry’s Prime Rib in Beverly Hills is classic and impressive. I still remember the cart being brought over and the chef slicing the exact cuts that everyone in our party requested.

https://www.lawrysonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8599-BH-Reopen-Dinner-Menu-14x8.5.pdf
Maggianos at The Grove is really nice...plus you can explore The Grove and look for celebrities.
https://locations.maggianos.com/california/los-angeles/189-the-grove-dr./

 

[mentos]

It’s a chain, but if you were thinking close, there’s a Roy’s at Anaheim GardenWalk.

 

[dieumeye]

If you want somewhere with a unique Disney connection, consider the Tam O'Shanter.

It’s about 30 minutes from Disneyland without traffic (and could easily be an hour with traffic), but it’s a simple drive as it’s mostly interstate the whole way.

It was a favorite of Walt Disney and imagineers. You can even request to sit at Walt’s table. Look it up online for more info.

https://www.lawrysonline.com/tam-o-shanter/

 

[Nonsuch]

Let me start by saying I know dining is always subjective. I am planning a surprise 40th birthday trip for my husband. His birthday is in April 2021. My fingers are crossed super tight that Covid19 is over and won't impact my plans. He has always talked about going to Coachella so we are doing Coachella (already have tickets) and then Disneyland. We will be a party of 8. My family of 4 with 2 well behaved adventurous eating boys (12 and 11 at the time), my in laws and my Sister in law and her husband and their two boys (22 months old at the time). I will be picking between Steakhouse 55 and Napa Rose for an onsite option but I was thinking of maybe also doing a dinner some where around Disneyland. By around I am willing to travel (let's say an hour one way) if there is a must try. We are from the East Coast so not familiar with many restaurants in CA except for the very popular named ones. We have done a ton of Signature dining at DW including Chef's table at V&A (minus the kids of course). I am open to places that are known to be pricey and will have to decide for myself based on reviews and menu if it would be worth it for us. We like all sorts of cuisine. TIA

I have also dined at the V&A Chef's Table, but Disneyland has an even more exclusive dining experience: 21 Royal
Click the link and watch the video (which cannot be embedded in this post)

There are many online articles and food blogs about 21 Royal, but this trip report (not mine) gives the most details:
Matt's Fall, 2019 adventure with Club 33 and 21 Royal

 

[MillauFr]

I would second the White House.

 

[wowsmom]

We actually enjoy dining at Ruth's Chris. We've had great food, service and drinks at the Anaheim location.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

The Ranch on Ball Rd. is a very nice steakhouse with a great wine list. Michael Jordan (used to be the head sommelier at NR and started the F&W Festival at DCA) is there now. The Saloon next to it has live bands and country dancing. Very fun.
OP: Realistically, there will be off site restaurants that won't survive the current economic challenges. Please check before your trip to make sure that whichever restaurant you choose is still open for dining in.

 

[ParkHopper1]

I would stick with Napa Rose or Steakhouse 55 personally.

 

[Iceman93]

I haven't been back to the Anaheim White House since they reopened after a tragic fire, but it was great back then.

But when I read your post, I immediately thought of The Hobbit (https://hobbitrestaurant.com/). We're locals, and The Hobbit is where we go for special milestone meals. I guarantee you it is different from any chain restaurant experience. And since you seem open to "fancy" food and spending a little coin, you'll absolutely enjoy it.

 

[VandVsmama]

If you want somewhere with a unique Disney connection, consider the Tam O'Shanter.

It’s about 30 minutes from Disneyland without traffic (and could easily be an hour with traffic), but it’s a simple drive as it’s mostly interstate the whole way.

It was a favorite of Walt Disney and imagineers. You can even request to sit at Walt’s table. Look it up online for more info.

https://www.lawrysonline.com/tam-o-shanter/

Another vote for Tam O'Shanter.

 

[Epicnemesis]

If you feel like going into LA I strongly suggest Crustacean for a unique meal. You‘ll definitely want to get a specialty dish that comes with their famous garlic noodles. I’m partial to the tiger prawn dish. I think they have another restaurant with a different name in Orange County if you don’t want to go that far for dinner.

If you want something EXTREMELY unique and really hard to get into, try finding a way to go to the magic castle in Hollywood. We were able to get a reservation through our credit card concierge service. I think any of the high end credit cards should have to pull to get a table (we went through Amex platinum for ours, that was like 8 years ago I think.)

Other unique restaurant ideas are:
WP24
Forma
Madeo’s if you are trying to spot celebrities.

I don’t really go to steak houses much these days because I cook a better steak than most, but popular ones are:
Cut
Mastros
Wolfgang
Ruth’s Cris
Meat (I really liked this one as a meat guy because you can choose your steak by dry age date and by ranch, also their dry age room is made out of glass so you see all these huge racks of beef)

 

[Katie Count]

We are going to Disneyland July 24-30 for my husband's 40th birthday

We are going to do lunch/dinner in one of the parks and I am leaning towards either Lamplight Lounge or Blue Bayou, unless of course someone wants to sprinkle some pixie dust and give us access to Club 33 on July 25th...wink wink

We've never been to DL, only WDW. Any other suggestions would be great! We lean towards the meat/seafood cuisine and have a nine year old daughter.

Just waiting for dining reservations to open up...

 

[mouschievous]

We're supposed to be in DLR for my parents' 50th anniversary in September. We opted to stay super close just to make it easy on everyone and are having our meal at the Jazz Kitchen in DTD. I did look at several of the places mentioned in this thread, but for us the expense and travel wasn't going to work - however, we were looking at a party of 20-25 people, not 8 or so.

Not sure if you're aware, but Carthay Circle has the Premiere Room, a private room that seats up to 12 and has lots of great historical Disney photos. We looked at that as an option before we knew our party would be too large to fit. It's a $1000 minimum, if I remember correctly.

@Katie Count, I am a HUGE fan of Blue Bayou. Some think it's not worth the expense, but H and I loved our meal there and the atmosphere was fantastic. I dreamed of eating there since I was 7 and realized there was a restaurant in a ride, and at 38 that dream was realized and it was everything I'd hoped for.

 

[Epicnemesis]

Blue Bayou hasn’t been the same since the cookie boat.