Best Anniversary Restaurants in Laguna Beach (2026)
Published · Updated
The Laguna Beach anniversary pick for 2026 is Broadway by Amar Santana — the town's best kitchen, Top Chef finalist Amar Santana cooking inventive small plates one block from the Pacific. Runners-up: Driftwood Kitchen, Las Brisas, Oak, Nick's, Lumberyard.
An anniversary in Laguna Beach is usually sold on the ocean view — but the best one is sold on the cooking, and Amar Santana out-plates every room with a sunset. Six tables, ranked for the milestone, not the postcard.
Six Laguna Beach Tables for an Anniversary
The best kitchen in Laguna, and the anniversary that is actually about dinner. Top Chef finalist Amar Santana has cooked inventive seasonal small plates at 328 Glenneyre Street since 2012, a block off the sand, where sharing is the format and every course earns conversation. The food is the gift here, not the backdrop. Book it for a couple who would rather talk about the meal than the view.
The anniversary with the Pacific literally under the glass. Driftwood Kitchen sits over the sand at the Pacific Edge Hotel, 619 Sleepy Hollow Lane, where executive chef Scott Brandon plates day-boat Chilean sea bass and hand-shucked oysters behind floor-to-ceiling ocean windows. The sunset does half the work. Book a window table at golden hour for the view-first anniversary — and accept that you are paying for the glass as much as the plate.
The cliffside anniversary Laguna has run for four decades. Las Brisas holds the bluff above Heisler Park at 361 Cliff Drive, a coastal-Mexican institution that marked its fortieth year with a full menu revamp — housemade tortillas, slow-braised meats and the widest ocean view on this list. The terrace is the reason to come. Book it for a celebratory anniversary lunch that wants margaritas and a horizon, not a hushed dinner.
The sleeper anniversary, hiding on a second floor. Oak occupies the upper level of the Village Faire building at 1100 South Coast Highway, a rustic-modern room with an ocean-view patio and a farm-to-table kitchen — the Wagyu burger and Chilean seabass quietly outperform the address. It is the value pick that still feels special. Book the patio for an anniversary that wants charm and a view without the marquee-name bill.
The reliable anniversary, and the one with the dessert worth the trip. Nick's runs a refined-casual New American room at 440 South Coast Highway, top sirloin and Scottish salmon on the menu but the warm butter cake the thing couples come back for. It is consistent rather than thrilling. Book it for an easy anniversary dinner downtown where you already know the food will land.
The casual anniversary for a couple that hates ceremony. Lumberyard fills the historic Lumberyard building at 384 Forest Avenue downtown, chef Armando Ortega turning out rotisserie chicken, ribs and seafood in a room with no pretension. It is comfort, not occasion. Book it for a low-key anniversary that wants a great roast chicken and a patio table over a tasting menu.
How to Book
Broadway by Amar Santana is the hardest anniversary table here — book one to two weeks out for a weekend, especially for a window seat. Driftwood Kitchen's sunset window tables go first, so reserve golden hour early; Oak, Nick's and Lumberyard downtown take a few days' notice for Friday or Saturday.
Driftwood Kitchen and Las Brisas sit on the water — Driftwood over the sand at the Pacific Edge Hotel, Las Brisas on the Cliff Drive bluff above Heisler Park. Broadway is downtown on Glenneyre, Lumberyard on Forest Avenue, and Oak and Nick's south on Coast Highway.
Frequently Asked Questions
For 2026 the pick is Broadway by Amar Santana, the downtown room where Top Chef finalist Amar Santana cooks Laguna's most inventive seasonal small plates a block from the ocean. For a view-first anniversary, Driftwood Kitchen, set over the sand at the Pacific Edge Hotel, is the strongest alternative.
Driftwood Kitchen puts the Pacific directly under floor-to-ceiling glass over the sand, the closest you can sit to the water at dinner. Las Brisas, perched on the Cliff Drive bluff above Heisler Park, offers the widest panoramic view and is the better pick for a celebratory daytime anniversary.
Oak, on the second floor of the Village Faire building on South Coast Highway, delivers an ocean-view patio and a farm-to-table kitchen at a gentler price than the marquee names. Its Wagyu burger and Chilean seabass make it the value anniversary that still feels like an occasion.
Book Broadway by Amar Santana one to two weeks ahead for a weekend, and reserve Driftwood Kitchen's sunset window tables as early as possible, since golden-hour seats sell out first. Downtown rooms like Oak, Nick's and Lumberyard usually need only a few days' notice for a Friday or Saturday.