Day Trip: Anaheim Packing House

I'm going to cheat a little here and tell you what the 99-year-old Anaheim Packing District has to say about itself: "Nestled in the heart of Anaheim, the Packing District encompasses three historic landmarks and the urban green of Farmers Park. The main ingredient of the district is the Anaheim Packing House, one of the last remaining citrus packing warehouses, which has been historically preserved and retrofitted as one of the great original American food halls."

How often can you say you ate at a Great American Food Hall? Well, technically I still can't say that, but many people now can! After a wonderful day at Disneyland and a stay at the magical Paradise Pier Hotel my friend Jason and I got up early to head out for breakfast and ended up at the Packing House... which wasn't open yet. The hall itself was open and various vendors were busy preparing for the day, but no food was being offered for consumption just yet. However, that gave us the perfect opportunity to explore without the crowds. Silver lining!

There were stalls for Vietnamese food, Indian food, and Syrian food. We saw a grilled cheese bar, a Hong Kong bbq, and what is called "Mexican gastronomy & mixology". There were Japanese crepes, bubble teas, and handcrafted gelato on a stick. Of course, we could only see these things in photographs or in the earliest stages of preparation, but they were tantalizing nonetheless. As our mouths watered we pointed out places we would like to eat if we ever came back during business hours. I myself was especially curious to find out what a Japanese crepe actually was.

We walked all around, taking pictures, and admiring the way each merchant had themed their particular piece of real estate. It was like walking around inside a giant artisanal charcuterie board.

As with any good road trip, the unknown is part of the fun. Sure, we could have checked out the hours before driving over, but then we wouldn't have had the place to ourselves to appreciate its unusual beauty. I mean, it also would have saved us from eating the most disgusting fast food hamburger known to man fifteen minutes later too, but that's life on the road.