I have a two part question. First, I am traveling with my husband for business and we are staying in Anaheim. My birthday is the first day we arrive (May 4) and I would like to find a nice/romantic restaurant in the area (less than $200 for the two of us). Second, we are spending the rest of the weekend in CA and would like to know the best beach town to spend a few days, but not too far of a drive from Anaheim. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mr. Stox is an Anaheim institution, if such a thing exists near the Rathole-- er, Disneyland. Club/steak house ambience, great food. I've heard good things about Cava in the Downtown Disney area, but the "romantic" quotient is an unknown. If you take it easy on the liquor, $200 for the both of you is easily doable.

Best beach town not too far from Anaheim? Laguna Beach. No question. Newport Beach would be my second choice.

I would ask this question on www.chowhound.com

A restaurant close to Disney that gets good reviews is The Whitehouse

www.anaheimwhitehouse.com

The White House looks really nice. Thanks for the help.

We love the Hobbit, which is a fixed menu restaurant with a huge (expensive) wine cellar that you don't have to take advantage of, and it is located in a quaint little house in Garden Grove (not too far, at least in SoCal terms). Check http://www.hobbitrestaurant.com/ if you are interested.

The Hobbit looks like a great little place. We're even staying in Garden Grove so it might be in contention. Thanks

I love Napa Rose at Disney Grand Californian Hotel. It is wonderful.

www.lagunariviera.com

I second Napa Rose which is in the Grand Californian Hotel and Downtown Disney. You can definitely keep it under $200 if you order modestly from the wine list.

Also at Downtown Disney the restaurant Catal is nice and the food is good (Patina chain). Maybe that is what RJW means by Cava? Not sure that I remember anything by that name at Downtown Disney.

mlgb: Catal! That's it! I had Spanish sparkling wine on the brain (called "cava", of course) or something and drew a blank on the real name of the place. Catal! Thank you!

I had a bad brain cramp there...!

Its about 9 miles away from Disneyland, check out http://www.theorangehillrestaurant.com/

I have suggestion!!!!

My boyfriend and I had dinner at this ocean-view restaurant in Laguna Beach.
It's called Las Brisas... it's so beautiful... We went there at night.. and we'd like to go back during the day so we could see the awesome view. It's about 30-45 minutes from Anaheim but it's WORTH it.

http://www.lasbrisaslagunabeach.com/

Thanks again to everyone. SO many great ideas. Thanks for the Laguna Beach idea. I think we will head down that way during the weekend and we'll definately look up the restaurant. Chicago is going to be miserable next week, so I am really looking forward to this trip. Any last minute ideas? Thanks so much