Aleppo’s Kitchen
CITY GUIDES | CALIFORNIA | LOS ANGELES
Anaheim’s Best Restaurants Right Now
Standout spots for date nights, Little Arabia explorations, and some excellent tiki cocktails.
By Mei Chen | Jan. 19, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: Mei Chen has worked for nearly a dozen start-ups in as many years, taking her to several West Coast cities. While she’s sure her current day job is permanent, she also has her eye on Carmel.
My sister has a yearly Disney pass, which means I regularly find myself driving across town to Anaheim to do the same rides with my nieces. I love them, I love the spectacle, and I still refuse to eat theme park chicken fingers like I am serving a sentence. So I do what any rational adult does: I build a second itinerary around dinner, the part of the day where Anaheim actually shows off.
Sometimes that means a known favorite—strong cocktails at Strong Water, a table at The Ranch when someone wants to feel like an adult, or a bakery stop that turns into an accidental second meal. Other nights I use the Disney trip as cover to try something new: flatbreads in Little Arabia, Yemeni mandi meant for a group, or a Filipino breakfast that somehow becomes the plan.
If the question is where to eat in Anaheim right now, this is the list I keep in my head and update every time my sister texts, “We’re going tomorrow.” These are the best restaurants in Anaheim.
Adya
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Adya is stall inside the Anaheim Packing District food hall, which means dinner comes with built-in people-watching. Chef Shachi Mehra—born in India, raised in New Jersey, and long based in Southern California—built the menu around Indian street-food energy: pani puri and sev puri, samosa chaat with chickpeas plus tamarind and mint chutneys, and the kind of tandoori-and-curry lineup that makes “just grabbing a bite” turn into a new discovery.
Best for: Indian street-food cravings with a beer nearby
Aleppo’s Kitchen
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Chef Suher Masri cooks Syrian comfort food with the calm confidence of someone who knows the table will go quiet once the kibbeh arrives. I start with muhammara, then move to flaky cheese borak, then accept that a platter of crunchy housemade kibbeh is the reason I showed up. The dining room keeps things simple, because the food already has enough personality to carry the conversation.
Best for: A long, mezze-heavy table full of stars
Cortina’s Italian Market
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Cortina’s has been an Anaheim institution since 1946, and it still operates like a place that assumes a sandwich is a serious adult decision. The deli counter is the whole point: piles of cold cuts, hot meatball options, and that specific Italian-market smell that lets on that you are about to have a very good meatball sub.
Best for: A sandwich that makes lunch the main event
Forn Al Hara
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Forn Al Hara is the kind of bakery where the oven is the headline, and the scent does most of the marketing. The move is manakish: za’atar, cheese, and meat-topped flatbreads that come out hot enough to force patience. It feels like a neighborhood morning ritual that happens to be open to anyone smart enough to show up hungry.
Best for: Flatbread breakfast that actually counts as breakfast
House of Mandi
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
As the name suggests, this spot is built around Yemeni national dish of mandi, or slow-cooked meat with fragrant spiced rice. The house specialty comes as a hulking platter of rice with chicken and lamb stained gold with turmeric and saffron, which is the kind of dish that makes a table feel instantly communal. The room is straightforward and family-oriented, because the food already does the heavy lifting.
Best for: A centerpiece platter that feeds a group and a mood
Koftegi
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Koftegi is Turkish grill-and-bakery energy in Little Arabia, and it rewards anyone who looks past the usual kabobs and aims at the house specialties. Owner and Istanbul-born chef Mehmet Kaplan is known for ground-beef kofte and pide, those canoe-shaped flatbreads the restaurant calls “Turkish Boats,” which is accurate and also a little charming.
Best for: Pide and kofte when the table wants something hot and bready
Lola’s by MFK
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Chef-owner Henry Pineda’s Filipino-leaning brunch spot hits the sweet-salty zone hard—ube pancakes topped with toasted coconut, sizzling sisig made with flaky milkfish, and an adobo fried rice omelette that feels like the smartest order on the table. The room is casual and family-friendly, but the cooking is dialed-in enough to make the place feel like a destination.
Best for: Weekend breakfast that turns into a full-table feast
Ma’s House
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
A small SoCal chain, Ma’s House is an Islamic Chinese banquet hall in north Anaheim with a big dining room, big tables, and big groups that come to eat. The halal menu sprawls from kung pao chicken to dim sum, but the smart money goes on the house specialty stir-fried short ribs, a few of the cold appetizer plates, and the crispy scallion bread that shows up like it already knows it is getting finished.
Best for: Big-group Chinese that stays loud and satisfying
Okayama Kobo Bakery & Café
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Okayama Kobo is the rare bakery that feels both precise and genuinely cozy, like it was designed for people who notice crumb structure. The lineup is classic Japanese-bakery pleasure: melonpan, curry pan, and pillowy milk bread that makes everything else in the pastry case feel a little overdressed. The space stays busy for a reason: it turns “grab a coffee” into a plan.
Best for: Japanese bakery runs that mysteriously include five extra items
Strong Water
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Strong Water is the semi-secretive, shipwrecked tiki bar in downtown Anaheim where a waterfall cascades in the corner and the “rooms” have names like Captain’s Table and Captain’s Quarters. Owners Ying Chang and Robert Adamson run the kind of immersive place where cocktails show up inside tiki masks and under smoke, and the menu rotates enough that returning starts to feel like responsible research. Order the bourbon-based Cannon Fire, then add the crispy chicken wings and Japanese egg salad crostinis. Be sure to plan in advance, because reservations are not a suggestion here.
Best for: A theatrical cocktail night that also delivers on the food
The Ranch
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
The Ranch is Anaheim’s big-ticket steakhouse, the kind of place built for anniversaries, business wins, and people who believe a whiskey list is a personality trait. Executive chef Michael Rossi and the team lean into classic steakhouse power moves—prime rib, American wagyu, and a bar program that keeps rare whiskey in the conversation. The adjoining Saloon adds a country-dance heartbeat to the whole operation, which is either a feature or a plot twist depending on the night.
Best for: Steakhouse dinner with a side of spectacle
Zait & Zaatar
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Zait & Zaatar is part Lebanese restaurant, part bakery, and it treats manakish like a daily necessity rather than a novelty. The menu spans breakfast and lunch comfort—mini za’atar, mini lahm b’ajeen, kafta bowls, and sheesh tawook bowls—plus the kind of shawarma-and-fries combinations that turn into a habit. It is casual, fast-moving, and built for repeat visits, because the food is designed to be repeated.
Best for: Manakish, shawarma, and a quick return visit
Where to Eat Play, Shop, and Stay in Los Angeles
From the Hollywood Hills to the sand of Santa Monica, we’ve got you covered in our complete guide to the City of Angels.
Baltimore Michelin Guide: The Star-Worthy Restaurants in Charm City
If the Michelin Guide covered Baltimore, these are the restaurants that would earn stars and Bib Gourmands.
