Good resonable price restaurants around DL area?

I%26#39;m staying at Anaheim Hilton with my bf for 4 night 5 days, going to DL and univeral stuido. We are young couple and wanna try out funky and local stuff. Don%26#39;t wanna eat fast-food all the time. Any good suggestions as to what and where to eat, around those places I mentioned above? A mix of cheap and pricy would be great.

I%26#39;m not sure what would be a good budget for food. Would $300 in total enough for both of us to have some reasonable meals? like not McD all the time.

Thank you!

Good resonable price restaurants around DL area?

This website provides menus for Disneyland, Disney%26#39;s California Adventure, the three resort hotels, Downtown Disney and some of the restaurants around the resort. It can be found at:

www.dlresortinfo.com

I don%26#39;t think it is necessarily up to date but it gives you an idea.

There is also some restaurants in Garden Grove which is a suburb? of Anaheim which has many hotels that people stay in who are going to Disneyland. These restaurants include Red Robin(which we have) Outback Steakhouse, Outback Steakhouse, Buca di Beppo and Joe%26#39;s Crabshack.

They all have websites of their own.

It sounds like the restaurants in Downtown Disney may suit you although they are not cheap.

I cannot provide you with any local stuff because as you see, I am from where you are but hopefully some more local people will respond.

Good resonable price restaurants around DL area?

Thank so much for your info!

Any suggestions for good interesting restaurants in Downtown Disneyland? below $30?

Try Downtown Disney:

Ralph Brennan%26#39;s Jazz Kitchen ( musicians play in the Flambeaux Room, so ask for that)

ESPN Zone Sports Bar/Restaurant

As mentioned, Joe%26#39;s Crab Shack. It%26#39;s a chain, but definitely different. It is south of DLR on Harbor in Garden Grove, a city that borders Anaheim on Harbor Blvd.

Also, across from DLR on Harbor is Mimi%26#39;s. This is a chain restaurant, but has a sort of New Orleans theme so I guess you could call it funky. Their menu is extensive and reasonably priced and the food is very good. It is a family restaurant.

I suggested Mrs. Knott%26#39;s Chicken Dinner Restaurant to you in another thread. The chicken dinner is anywhere from $10 to $15, depending on whether you go for lunch or dinner and whether you order all white meat or not. Truthfully, all white is better but the meal is so big that way that it is hard to finish!

If you go to Newport Beach, The Rusty Pelican is a nice seafood restaurant.

I think your budget is probably kind of low, especially if you would like to have some beer and wine. I%26#39;m looking at 3 meals a day for 5 days times 2 people. With $300 total that would mean each meal would total $10. Sales tax in Orange County (where Anaheim is) is 7.75% and in Los Angeles County it is 8%. For table service you would tip 15 -20% on the total of your bill. So you would actually have to purchase a meal that was much less than $10. If you were only interested in filling up your tummies at McD or similiar fast food, that might work. But, that%26#39;s no fun and not really healthy. Plan inside DLR, although reasonably priced IMHO, it could cost you an average of $12 - $15 for a meal.

If you want to budget on the low end, figure $20 a meal for each person. If your hotel stay does not come with breakfast, but the room has a small fridge, you could save by taking some dry cereal and buying some milk when you get here. (I did that on a Hawaii trip). If you like big breakfasts, though, that may seem like a sacrifice. Another thing you can consider is splitting some meals if you agree on a meal and neither one of you is a big eater. I would suggest that at Mrs. Knott%26#39;s since the meals are big if you order all white meat.

Sorry, I didn%26#39;t see your ';Below 30'; for DTD!

At Ralph Brennan%26#39;s you would need to order the cheapest thing on the menu or not order wine. You know, I am figuring alcohol in because I am a wine drinker. When I went there in 2002, I ordered something inexpensive and I think my total was $26 with tip (one glass of wine). If you want to stick to water or coffee you have a better choice. This restaurant will keep bread coming if you ask, so that helps. I would ask them if you can split a meal if you both see something really good you both like. There is usually a smalll charge for that, of course.

ESPN Zone, I am not sure. I have just heard lots of good things.

Sorry for so many posts. A good tip for inside DL is The French Market. This is cafeteria service, so no tips. There are large meals, with small salads and rolls. You can really feel full after a meal there and not have to eat for hours. Sodas at The French Market are refillable (well, at least no one seems to stop anyone!). Bottle water sells for almost $3 there, but around the corner is a nice faucet for refilling your existing water bottles. Or maybe you can purchase a cup at a low price to fill with water? Think I will try that next time and see what they say.

Thanks so much redlandsredhead! I really appreicate all your great tips and I%26#39;m gonna trust you and go venture out these restaurants! It%26#39;s my 1st time to LA and little tips like this are the most helpful than anything.

I doubt abt having a fidge in Hilton, bu I was thinking of saving on breakfast by bringing instants noodles or soup or bagels since I think we have coffee maker (can still make hot water out of it). Then we can spend a bit more on lunch/ dinner. And we probably can put up with McD food once or twice.

Having said so, should i still move up my budget a little? may be $400? Thanks for reminding me that I%26#39;m also a wine drinker

!

You%26#39;re welcome.

If you aren%26#39;t already locked into the Anaheim Hilton, something else you can that will possibly save on breakfast is to change to the Embassy Suites where a full breakfast is provided with each day of your stay. The room rates may or may not be the same. I didn%26#39;t check. Also, there is a less fancy and possibly less expensive hotel, I think it is the Anabella (I would have to check), that serves a full breakfast - although not as good. Embassy Suites is a not really, really close to DLR, but does provide a free shuttle.

I think a cup of noodles or a bagel, or even a bowl of cereal as I suggested, is not going to give you the energy you need for a morning at DLR. However, it does make sense to eat an early lunch (11 am is about the time the restaurants begin serving lunch) to beat the lunch crowd.

Another good option, at least for a couple of days, is eating breakfast at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street because they may have lower prices than a hotel on say, pancakes and sausage, and it%26#39;s good for people watching and soaking up the atmosphere.

Truthfully, for 5 days and 2 people I would plan on at least $600 total for food. That is $20 per meal per person. If you are doing a mixture of fast food and table service with wine, and grabbing a bagel at breakfast as well as having a good breakfast, then it will probably all even out and come to a total of $600. But it could be more. There are snacks at DLR that can be very tempting and I would say they are on average $3 a pop. Gibson Girl ice cream on Main Street. Dole Pineapple Whips in Adventureland. Fritters in New Orleans Square. Churros. If you want to try some of these things, you should consider that in your budget.

Can%26#39;t remember if you are going to Knott%26#39;s, but they have lots of tempting snacks too, like funnel cakes. (Of course, you can also get those at the International Pancake House across from DLR.)

If you can, it%26#39;s probably better to budget more than you think you will need.

Thanks for your info!

But sorry it%26#39;s a sillly questions. What (or where) is Carnation Cafe on Main Street. is it in DL?

and unforunately I%26#39;m already locked into Hitlon. It%26#39;s both the 1st time for me and my bf going to DL in LA, so as we were booking flights and hotel, my bf just pick on whatever looks nice on the brochure. =.=';..... (should have done all the reserach before booking)

btw is International Pancake House = IHOP?

if so we have it in Canada too and they taste VERY gross to me. I%26#39;ve only been there once but I swear I would never go there again. HAHA..

I%26#39;m sure the Anaheim Hilton will be nice.

Yes, it is IHOP. I actually typed the name backwards! I don’t care much for IHOP either, but I know some people like it. I went to a local one close to where I live about a year ago because someone asked me to and I was disappointed. I think the funnel cakes at Knott’s have to be better! Plus, it’s kind of cool to watch them make it as you stand at the window. Also, they use their own pancake batter. They also sell Indian Fry Bread at some of the windows at Knott’s. I never tried that.

Carnation Café is almost in the middle of Main Street in Disneyland Park. Main Street is one of the “lands” in Disneyland. You will walk up Main Street to get to the other lands. You can also take a ride on one of the vehicles that go up Main Street, such as the Horse Drawn Trolley. As you are walking up Main Street you will see on your left an outside café with table service, just past the Emporium and other stores. It used to be a full indoor/outdoor restaurant with servers in “turn of the century” (or around 1910) dresses. It was also an ice cream parlor inside, sort of like a soda shop with a counter. It was remodeled 10 years or more back. So now all the seating is outside with a view of Main Street. The inside part was turned into a bakery/coffee shop that you might like too. And then next to that is the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Shop. All the ice cream at DL used to be Carnation, so that is where the name for the restaurant came from. I think the Carnation Café still sells the special sundaes, like the Snow White with peppermint ice cream.

A little bit of trivia. One of Disney’s “Imagineers” started out his career at DL working in the Carnation Café, scooping ice cream. His name is Tony Baxter. He got his college degree while working at DL and, after showing some of his designs to Walt Disney Imagineering was hired to work on rides. One of the rides he “imagineered” was Big Thunder Railroad. Now he is a Vice President for the company.

Do you have a map of DL? If you look on the Visions Fantastic website they have an overview of each land in DL and there is a map of where everything is in each land. You can even view the menu for the Carnation Café. It’s a really cool website. You may also want to visit some more fan based websites, such as Intercot and Mouse Planet just for fun and to ask questions. Of course, we are happy to answer your questions here at TripAdvisor too!

www.visionsfantastic.com/main.php…

intercot.com/discussion/forumdisplay.php?f=29