House of Blues Anaheim Birthday Dinner + OMD Concert Recap!

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Post written by me for House of Blues. All opinions are my own.

My husband and I both have birthdays in April. We are about a week apart so we often blow out our candles together. One of our favorite celebrations this year was at a Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) concert at the House of Blues in Anaheim. They’re one of our favorite 80’s band, and they still sound good after all this time! They performed mostly their greatest hits and some of their new songs. It was nostalgic, and we would love to see them again live if they ever come back!

Dinner Before the Concert

Before the concert, we came early to have dinner. I don’t know if you know this but I was born in New Orleans and I’m always looking for good Cajun food. The food there did not disappoint! Everything we tried was great! For starters, their Voodoo Shrimp is the only item from the original menu from 1992! It is consisted of sauteed shrimp in an Abita Amber beer reduction sauce over jalapeno cheese cornbread. Wow! Another one of our favorite dishes of the night were their Shrimp and Grits. It has sauteed shrimp in chipotle cream sauce over a crispy grit cake – It is very delicious! Their Blackened Salmon is lightly dusted with blackening spice served with cucumber tomato salad – Yummy! Need a vegetarian option? Their Foothills flatbread has roasted mushrooms, sweet corn, caramelized onion, cilantro pesto and feta. Last but not least, I would highly recommend their popular dessert, the Bourbon Bread Pudding which is topped with toffee sauce and bourbon butter. Making it a la mode is perfection!

Another thing is, I like the Rock-N-Roll vibe. There is live entertainment during dinner too! A reservation is highly recommended. There is also seating at the bar if you are lucky.

Fun Facts

In March, the House of Blue’s in Anaheim celebrated their one year anniversary. Some fun facts include –

The roof top is from the original House of Blues.

The pillar’s artwork at the bar has recycled mardi beads and took the artist, Anna Walton from New Orleans, 1,100 hours!

A beautiful artwork from Audrey Kawasaki is also displaying in the dining room.

OMD Concert

After dinner, we walked over to the venue which is in the same building just around the corner. We were worried about missing the show because of the line, but we had plenty of time. We haven’t been out in so long that we forgot that they always have an opening act and the main performer comes on an hour later. They also offered us front of the line passes for dining there. (Has additional fee. Might be worth it if you don’t want to rush dinner). Our tickets were general admissions which were standing room only, but we had space to move around and dance if we wanted to. The venue is beautiful and modern. Yes, of course, if you want to be up front, then yes, head over there as soon as possible. The line was already building when we arrived for dinner.

My husband and I ran into friends as we were walking in so we stayed with them. We stood in the middle and still had a great time! Just FYI – There are flat screens at the bar so you don’t feel like you are missing anything. We knew almost of all of their songs, and they have so many good albums. I think most people know this one – “If You Leave” from the Pretty in Pink movie. My favorite album is Sugar Tax, because that’s the one I used to listen to when my husband and I were dating in high school. So this year for our birthdays, my husband and I bought matching t-shirts, and we love them and our night out. We didn’t want it to end.

Thank you, House of Blues Anaheim, for a wonderful evening out for our birthdays! For more information, please visit their website.

House of Blues Anaheim (at GardenWalk)

400 West Disney Way, Suite 337
Anaheim, CA
(714) 778-2583
www.houseofblues.com/anaheim

Free parking available at GardenWalk for first hour. Make sure to validate for an additional free hour. TIP: Diners get skip the line tickets into the show for an additional fee!