Buena Park means "the beautiful park" in Spanish and is a small city on the edge of Orange County and bordering LA County.
It is primarily a residential area with single-family homes, but its claim to fame is the entertainment zone that includes Knott’s Berry Farm amusement parks, Pirates Dinner Adventure, Medieval Times, and a few upscale restaurants.
Let’s start with Buena Park’s E-Zone.
The Entertainment Zone
Knott’s Berry Farm
It all started as a berries stand beside a family farm in Orange County, CA. Soon, the Knott family added preserves and pies, then the famous Mrs. Knott’s chicken restaurant. To keep customers waiting to be seated entertained, the Knott’s added shops and attractions and later built a ghost town.
A major entertainment company now owns the property and has grown into a major theme park with several themed towns and many rides to satisfy every taste.
On our recent visit to Knott’s, the kids and I had a blast. We went on a Friday and were lucky that the park was not crowded. We went on many rides, and we could ride more than once on some of the popular ones.
Bigfoot Rapids, Pony Express, Ghost Rider, and the Silver Bullet are some of the most popular rides.
There is also an area dedicated to the younger kids.
You can read the whole of Knott’s guide here.
8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA
Pirates Dinner Adventure
The name says it all—a great place to watch a pirate show and enjoy dinner.
The show was excellent and performed mostly on a huge 18th-century Spanish galleon anchored in a 250,000-gallon indoor lagoon.
It was also interactive, with my wife and two kids selected to participate in one of the races. Many other children were chosen from other activities, and they were thrilled to be pirates for a day.
The three-course meal served with the show was very good and filling.
You can read more about Pirates Dinner Adventure here
7600 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA
Medieval Times
Going to Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament feels like stepping back in time to an age of castles, kings, knights and stallions, battles of honor and chivalry, and great duels to the death.
If you enjoy movies like The Sword in the Stone or shows like Merlin, then you will feel at home in this medieval 11th-century castle.
The show is a big production with as many as 75 actors, 20 horses, many weapons, and a large arena.
During the tournament, you witness awesome sword fights, jousting matches, and a falconer showing off the grace and obedience of her Falcon.
As for the food, when we decided to visit Medieval Times, we weren’t expecting a gourmet meal, but we were pleasantly surprised with a good and filling meal.
Read more about Medieval Times here.
7662 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA
Outdoor Recreation
The city of Buena Park has several open spaces for outdoor activities, including the Ralph B. Clark Regional Park – a large space with lakes, picnic areas, playgrounds, and hiking trails.
Ralph B. Clark Regional Park
The parklands range from large open grass areas to gently rolling hills of native plants to sheer sandstone cliffs to the north.
For sports enthusiasts, the park offers sand volleyball courts, three softball fields, and a baseball diamond and tennis courts.
The park also has an interactive center that allows the visitors to explore the prehistoric history of Orange County through displays, programs, and guided tours.
8800 Rosecrans Ave, Buena Park, CA
Dining
Dining in Buena Park is an adventure where you can discover cuisines from around the world. You can enjoy dinner and show, upscale restaurants, hole-in-the-wall places, and, of course, fast food if that is your desire.
Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong (Korean Bbq)
Orange County is full of Korean BBQ restaurants, so it is hard to decide where to go.
But I think I found the perfect place to try Korean BBQ.
Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong is located inside a mostly Korean strip mall in Buena Park.
Every table in this place has a grill in the middle. As you are seated, you will notice that the table is already full of appetizers and condiments around the grill.
The best way to experience this place is to order a combo of meats for the whole table.
For the two of us, we ordered the beef combo, which came with Thinly Sliced Brisket, Prime Marinated Beef, Prime Boneless Short Rib, Soybean Paste, and Kimchi Stew.
The best thing about this experience is that the waiter will grill the meat for you to perfection. Of course, you can do the grilling yourself if you are so inclined.
We devoured our beef with a large selection of sides, including kimchi, boiled potato slicked with sugar and soy, fish cake noodles, sheets of rice paper, and a bean sprout salad.
The meal was satisfying, the service excellent, and the price very reasonable.
The restaurant we visited is in Buena Park, but they also have a location in Los Angeles.
5171 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90621
Ozen Sushi
A little shack in a residential area is hard to miss, but if you love Sushi, you must stop here.
Ozen offers a large selection of rolls, Sushi, Sashimi, and hand-rolls – ala-cart and all-you-can-eat. Everything is fresh and tasty.
We usually get the all-you-can-eat option and try new things along with our favorites. We tried the Ozen roll, Crunch roll, Rainbow roll, and salmon and tuna sushi during our last visit. We also had crunch and spicy tuna hand-rolls. All came out as expected and mouth-watering.
For dessert, we enjoyed several flavors of their ice cream macarons. Our favorites were green tea and mango.
While visiting, you can also try their selection of Japanese beers and Saki.
If you prefer, you can order from the extensive menu with Bento boxes and non-sushi items. All bento boxes come with rolls, tempura, and miso soup.
7185 Lincoln Ave, Buena Park, CA 90620Outback Steakhouse
Steak lovers can’t miss this American Cuisine restaurant. The steaks are cooked just right, and the service is excellent.
For starters, we ordered their famous bloomin’ onion and coconut shrimp. Both were very tasty.
We tried steak with unlimited shrimp, baby-back ribs, halibut, and the Philly cheesesteak sandwich for our main courses.
We completed our meal with the “Chocolate Thunder from Down Under” – a delight of pecan brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.
7575 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620Claim Jumper
This place is for you if you love traditional American cuisine, especially steak and potato.
It was difficult to find a table here due to long waits, but recently, they started to take reservations.
Some of the delicious selections here are classic cheeseburger, chicken pot pie, meatloaf & mashed potatoes, BBQ baby back ribs, and prime center-cut filet.
On a recent visit, we tried the ribs, chicken Pot Pie, and the Country Fried Steak. We loved every choice.
The service was also excellent. Our waiter was friendly and attentive. He made us feel welcome.
We ended our meal with a scrumptious Berry Butter Cake.
School Food
Usually, whenever I hear “School Food,” I cringe. It mostly brings back bad memories. But this Korean restaurant changed my mind. I wonder if Korean kids actually eat this food at school.
The place offers tasty dishes like Spicy Ramen, Soup Topokki, Spam Rolls, Kimchi Fried Rice, and Mari Special Rolls. If you are very hungry or ordering for a group, try the Combo Roll.
This restaurant is located on the 3rd floor of the newest mall in OC – The Source.
6940 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90621Shopping
Until recently, the Buena Park Mall was the only shopping area worth mentioning. However several new hot spots opened up with unique shopping and entertainment offerings.
Buena Park Mall and Krikorian Theaters
This place used to be the hob of shopping and fun in Buena Park and still offers a lot of great places.
You have the two main anchor stores, Sears and Walmart, with many unique shops in between.
Several restaurants are located inside the mall and around, offering many dining options.
You can visit Buffalo Wild Wings, Aburi Sushi, and John’s Incredible Pizza (and arcade) in the mall.
Around the mall, you can dine at places like Olive Garden, Chillies, and Asia Buffet.
Krikorian Multiplex, with 18 theaters, is always showing the latest movies, comfortable reclining seats, and great sound.
8390 La Palma Ave, Buena Park, CA
The Source
The source is the newest addition to Buena Park’s shopping experience. The multilevel mall has shops and restaurants with a primarily Korean feel. They even have a K-Pop music store with album sales and merchandise.
CGV cinema shows the latest mainstream movies along with foreign films. You can enjoy some movies while experiencing 4DX.
The 4DX experience allows films to be augmented with various practical effects, including motion seats, wind, strobe lights, simulated snow, and scents.
6940 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA
Beach Galleria Mall
This mini-mall has a unique collection of stores and restaurants. You must visit this place if you love Japanese and Korean cuisine and merchandise.
Some of the great places here are 85-degree Bakery, Baekjeong Korean Bbq, Sup Noodle Bar, H Mart, and Daiso Japan (Variety).
Note: South La Mirada Rd splits the mall into two sections. The stores mentioned here are in the north section.
5171 County Hwy N8, Buena Park, CA