Many California visitors know Anaheim as the home of Disneyland Resort, which is a great reason to make the journey south from Los Angeles. However, as the locals will tell you, there’s plenty to see, eat and do outside of the park gates.
Once home to musicians such as Gwen Stefani, her No Doubt bandmates and Jeff Buckley, Anaheim still has quite the music scene, with local and touring artists bringing live shows back to the city as the country emerges from the pandemic. And, if you’re looking for eclectic eats to rival LA’s lauded dining scene – with less competition for a reservation – you’ve come to the right place.
1 Catch a game like a local at Angel Stadium
Sure, everyone knows the LA Dodgers, but did you know Anaheim has its very own Major League Baseball team? Angel Stadium, also known as Big A, has been home of the Los Angeles Angels since it opened in 1966.
Catch a Saturday night home game, grab an Angel Dog or some helmet nachos, and stay to enjoy the firework show afterwards.
Maybe you’re in the market for a history lesson? Public walking tours of Angel Stadium take place from June to September, offering visitors the chance to check out the field, press room, broadcast booth and other behind-the-scenes spots that you wouldn’t get to see on gameday.
2 Find the next big thing at House of Blues
If you love live music, look no further than House of Blues Anaheim, which has played host to everyone from Billy Idol to Tori Kelly to Korn. Whether you’re in the market for a legend or a new face, you’ll find them at this famous venue, which is also known for its Sunday gospel brunches.
Like other House of Blues locations across the US, the Anaheim outpost – housed in a former movie theatre – is filled with outsider and American folk art. Local artists on display include Audrey Kawasaki, whose Shine On mural takes over one of the walls, and Johnny Rodriguez, AKA KMNDZ, with his Robots and Bird Houses mural.
Didn’t get the chance to visit one of our recommended eateries before your show? Don’t worry; the in-house restaurant and bar is open on show nights, serving up southern favourites such as shrimp and grits, jambalaya, fried chicken and plenty more to keep you dancing all night long. Restaurant proceeds also help to support the House of Blues’ Music Forward Foundation, which helps young people gain access and insight into the music industry.
3 Eat (and drink) your way around Anaheim Packing District
Anaheim Packing District was once home to a Sunkist citrus packing house, but the 1919 building and its neighbours are now marking their own history on the area as a modern foodie’s paradise.
Home to more than 50 merchants, the Packing District is a perfect spot for indecisive groups, offering every visitor the chance to choose a different cuisine and still eat together with friends. Alternatively, you can make your own food tour, learning the stories of the different vendors as you sample their tasty treats and seeing how they embody that unique Californian spirit.
For instance, chef Shachi Mehra, co-owner of ADYA Fresh Indian Flavors with chef Sandeep Basrur, was on the path to medical school before she realised her heart belonged in the kitchen. “As soon as I stepped foot in my first professional kitchen, I knew that I had found my happy place,” says Mehra. “When the opportunity to move to Orange County came in the form of an executive chef position at the first US location of Michelin-starred Tamarind of London, I took it. I was able to open Tamarind to much fanfare and success, and eventually left in 2014 to open my own restaurant, ADYA.”
Mehra has been credited with bringing a new Indian experience to Orange County, using the fresh, sustainable ingredients that are plentiful in the region to make contemporary interpretations of Indian street foods, tandoori specialities and rich curries. “The response to the concept was something that I will never forget,” she says.
Mike Crea of Unsung Brewing Company, which is located in the Packing District, knows better than most how a huge lifestyle change can lead to your true calling.
“Before Unsung, I was in the financial advisory business,” says Crea, who is originally from the American Midwest. “I had a life-threatening heart condition that required open heart surgery and I had lots of time to contemplate my life. With that time, I started to homebrew. All I wanted was to make beer that I could get from the west coast. I started brewing almost every week, ended up winning a few competitions and it became an obsession.”
Crea and his wife, tired of the snow and already with a love of California, moved and he started learning about production brewing. “Next thing I knew, I was ordering equipment and signing leases.”
Combining his passion for beer with a childhood love of comic books and superheroes, Crea and his team began creating and naming characters to match each of his brews. “Each beer gets its own character and backstory,” he explains. “The backstory and illustration usually has something to do with me or my history, but – more importantly – directly correlates to the beer. Anthia, for example, is a rogue alien that kind of looks like a human hornet. She roams Earth pollinating the pineapple and mango groves. Her special powers are super strength and energy burst. The beer itself is an IPA, but we use tropical hops that really pop in the aroma.”
4 Fall in love at Poppy & Seed
While Poppy & Seed is situated in the aforementioned Anaheim Packing District, specifically in Farmers Park, it stands out as one of the city’s top dining destinations. Helmed by chef Michael Reed and his wife, co-owner Kwini Reed, Poppy & Seed’s greenhouse setting is the ideal spot for date night.
With a garden at his fingertips, Michael grows his own microgreens and all the finishings for Poppy & Seed, helping him to be able to control the quality of his food while changing the menu seasonally. He and Kwini work with Ashley Irene, a culinary gardener known as Heirloom Potager, to create the growing season. “It allows him to be a lot more creative when he gets to say: ‘I think it would be fun to work with this ingredient or to plant this and see what I can do with it,’” says Kwini. “Our mission is basically to get you to rethink food. Brussels sprouts are one of the things that stays constantly on the menu and changes with the seasons. Right now we’re serving them with pomegranate seeds and a little red vinaigrette wine, so they’re sweeter for the season. Then we’ll transition into serving them with fried caesar and parmesan.”
As well as being an ideal romantic destination, the restaurant’s very existence is something of a love story. “My husband had seen [the restaurant space] when it was up [for offer] the first time, when it was actually just the shell of the greenhouse,” explains Kwini. “We were a little bit too late.” Kwini and Michael focused their attention on their Downtown Los Angeles brunch spot, Poppy + Rose, which was going from strength to strength.
“Fast-forward to the end of 2020 and I was telling [Michael]: ‘You know, we’re actually doing really well considering everything that’s happening, so we have two options; we’re either going to grow the business or we’re going to buy a home.’ So he’s like: ‘Well let’s do another restaurant … Let me see if that greenhouse is available. I loved it. I always saw us doing a restaurant there and I’ve been dreaming about it.’ He looked it up and the landlords had listed it two days before we started looking. We went and walked it, and signed the lease, and now his dream has come true.”
5 Find new thrills at Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure Park
Even if you’ve been to Disneyland Resort before, some of the more recent additions make it worth another visit. For instance, the resort welcomed a brand new land in 2021, in the form of the Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure Park. Perfect for budding superheroes and Disney aficionados alike, Avengers Campus features the brand new family friendly attraction, WEB Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure. The interactive spectacle is the first Disney ride-through attraction to feature Spider-Man and sees fans team up with Spidey to capture out-of-control Spider-Bots using the WEB Slinger vehicle.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, which opened in 2017, is also contained in the Avengers Campus for the biggest thrill-seekers. Elsewhere in the new land, visitors might bump into Iron Man in his new armour, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and Thor.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Disneyland without some themed dining experiences, and Avengers Campus has several of them. Pym Test Kitchen takes inspiration from the Pym Particles in Ant-Man and The Wasp, which were used to grow and shrink things, and offers pretzels, plant-based meatballs and the “Pym-ini” panini in both giant and micro sizes. Shawarma Palace is decked out in Avengers memorabilia and offers chicken shawarma wraps, while Terran Treats has churro spirals for dessert.
disneyland.disney.go.com/destinations/disney-california-adventure/avengers-campus
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