Evelyn Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Does anyone have any recommendations for dining? I will be staying downtown. Thanks. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SLBunge Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'll be in Anchorage and Juneau for a few days this summer and am looking for restaurant recommendations. Has anyone been there recently? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 It's been 15 years since I lived there, and about eight since I've been back to visit, but I do keep up with a few friends. They tell me that in Anchorage, the Club Paris is still the favorite for locals to get a steak, and Simon & Seafort's is still number one with tourists, primarily because of the location overlooking Cook Inlet. The food is really quite good, too. Special evenings out are still celebrated at the Crow's Nest - atop the Captain Cook - with good food and panoramic views of sea, sky and mountain. But for local color, you can't go wrong with the New Sagaya Market downtown. It's a small grocery store, kind of like an Alaskan mini version of the Whole Foods thing - with regular groceries, and a deli where you can buy stuff and eat it there. It's very popular with townsfolk that stop in for breakfast, lunch, quick snacks, or to pick up stuff for a picnic or road trip. In Juneau, I love the Alaskan Hotel and that funky bar so much that I'm still considering applying for a job slinging brewskies there. If you'll tell me a little more about your trip - just short stops on a cruise or tour, for example, or extended visit with a rental car - I can give you more ideas and tips. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Evelyn Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 It's been 15 years since I lived there, and about eight since I've been back to visit, but I do keep up with a few friends. They tell me that in Anchorage, the Club Paris is still the favorite for locals to get a steak, and Simon & Seafort's is still number one with tourists, primarily because of the location overlooking Cook Inlet. The food is really quite good, too. Special evenings out are still celebrated at the Crow's Nest - atop the Captain Cook - with good food and panoramic views of sea, sky and mountain. But for local color, you can't go wrong with the New Sagaya Market downtown. It's a small grocery store, kind of like an Alaskan mini version of the Whole Foods thing - with regular groceries, and a deli where you can buy stuff and eat it there. It's very popular with townsfolk that stop in for breakfast, lunch, quick snacks, or to pick up stuff for a picnic or road trip north. In Juneau, I love the Alaska Hotel and that funky bar so much that I'm still considering applying for a job slinging brewskies there. If you'll tell me a little more about your trip - just short stops on a cruise or tour, for example, or extended visit with a rental car - I can give you more ideas and tips. When I was there, the dining possibilities were pretty poor. I ate at the Crow's Nest when I was there. It was the best meal I had. Unfortunately, that isn't saying much . But, I think if you go for the view and stick to the 'simple' dishes, you'll do okay. I also went to a prewpub while I was there which had pretty good beers and decent apps. I'll see if I can dig up the name. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 It's been 15 years since I lived there, and about eight since I've been back to visit, but I do keep up with a few friends. They tell me that in Anchorage, the Club Paris is still the favorite for locals to get a steak, and Simon & Seafort's is still number one with tourists, primarily because of the location overlooking Cook Inlet. The food is really quite good, too. Special evenings out are still celebrated at the Crow's Nest - atop the Captain Cook - with good food and panoramic views of sea, sky and mountain. But for local color, you can't go wrong with the New Sagaya Market downtown. It's a small grocery store, kind of like an Alaskan mini version of the Whole Foods thing - with regular groceries, and a deli where you can buy stuff and eat it there. It's very popular with townsfolk that stop in for breakfast, lunch, quick snacks, or to pick up stuff for a picnic or road trip north. In Juneau, I love the Alaskan Hotel and that funky bar so much that I'm still considering applying for a job slinging brewskies there. If you'll tell me a little more about your trip - just short stops on a cruise or tour, for example, or extended visit with a rental car - I can give you more ideas and tips. When I was there, the dining possibilities were pretty poor. I ate at the Crow's Nest when I was there. It was the best meal I had. Unfortunately, that isn't saying much . But, I think if you go for the view and stick to the 'simple' dishes, you'll do okay. I also went to a prewpub while I was there which had pretty good beers and decent apps. I'll see if I can dig up the name. There's good food to be had in Alaska restaurants, for sure, but probably not great. The best eating up there is in people's homes, where you can feast on just-caught salmon (or home-smoked), fluffy-white pillows of deep-fried halibut, steamed crab. And in August, the fabulous berries that ripen all over the state. Still, there's no question that the reason why folks travel there is not for the food. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tighe Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 My experiences are way out of date, but I enjoyed my meals at Seven Glaciers at Alyeska and at Marx Brothers Cafe. Nothing revolutionary, but both places managed to do justice to the local seafood. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SLBunge Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 If you'll tell me a little more about your trip - just short stops on a cruise or tour, for example, or extended visit with a rental car - I can give you more ideas and tips. The trip is a sort of cobbled-together tour with my family (12 people). So, we will be staying in a hotel in Anchorage for a total of three nights and in Juneau for the same number of nights. Day trips to Seward and Skagway. A few nights in Denali. I'm not looking for fine dining. More interested in decent, informal cooking and/or a spot for some really good local seafood. I like the market idea... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tighe Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I'm not looking for fine dining. More interested in decent, informal cooking and/or a spot for some really good local seafood. I like the market idea... Given the availability of great, fresh seafood, you'd think there would be a bunch of casual places serving up simple, well-prepared stuff. For some reason, there doesn't seem to be. In fact, the casual places I ate at tended to massacre the fish. I don't claim any kind of exhaustive knowledge of restaurants in Anchorage, but I tried a bunch of places over multiple years and never found any place that could even just produce a good halibut and chips at a reasonable price. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 If you'll tell me a little more about your trip - just short stops on a cruise or tour, for example, or extended visit with a rental car - I can give you more ideas and tips. The trip is a sort of cobbled-together tour with my family (12 people). So, we will be staying in a hotel in Anchorage for a total of three nights and in Juneau for the same number of nights. Day trips to Seward and Skagway. A few nights in Denali. I'm not looking for fine dining. More interested in decent, informal cooking and/or a spot for some really good local seafood. I like the market idea... Not sure why good seafood is hard to get in the restaurants. Maybe it's because all the locals, and I do mean ALL the locals, have freezers full of it and invariably order something else when dining out. Although it's probably an exaggeration, it seemed to me like every single party I went to while we lived there featured two platters on the appetizer table: one with a big salmon, and another with a big halibut, each garnished with lemon slices, a plate of crackers alongside. You took a fork and flaked off some fish, and put it on your cracker. Yes, it was absolutely delicious, but I remember saying to somebody that one thing I was looking forward to when we moved back to the Lower 48 would be parties where I wouldn't feel like somebody's big house cat. Definitely do go to the New Sagaya Market (it's downtown) to pack up for your road trips. I'll think some more, and get back with you. I will say here that I am not a particular fan of Skagway. I like Haines, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, etc., in fact every southeast town, better, but the train up the White Pass & Yukon is absolutely spectacular. A real "do not miss." I suppose that would be my recommendation for Skagway. Not particularly helpful, I guess, but I'd suggest you "do" Skagway quickly, and then hop on that train. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 Here's a link to a piece I wrote some years back as a feature travel article for a central Texas publication. It was reprinted on eG: Alaska Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SLBunge Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I will say here that I am not a particular fan of Skagway. I like Haines, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, etc., in fact every southeast town, better, but the train up the White Pass & Yukon is absolutely spectacular. A real "do not miss." I suppose that would be my recommendation for Skagway. Not particularly helpful, I guess, but I'd suggest you "do" Skagway quickly, and then hop on that train. We are flying to Skagway to do that White Pass train ride. We won't really be spending any time puttering around the town. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 So, we will be staying in a hotel in Anchorage for a total of three nights and in Juneau for the same number of nights. Day trips to Seward.... As far as the day trip to Seward... If you're doing that just because you want to drive the Kenai, I'd strongly recommend Homer over Seward. Homer is one of my very, very most favorite towns in all of Alaska. I love it there. Plus, you get to drive through Soldotna, another wonderful and picturesque and interesting town, where the highway crosses the Kenai River, and if the salmon are running, you get a nice view of what the locals call "combat fishing." Homer, Alaska Combat fishing on the Kenai Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SLBunge Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 So, we will be staying in a hotel in Anchorage for a total of three nights and in Juneau for the same number of nights. Day trips to Seward.... As far as the day trip to Seward... If you're doing that just because you want to drive the Kenai, I'd strongly recommend Homer over Seward. Homer is one of my very, very most favorite towns in all of Alaska. I love it there. Homer, Alaska We're going to Seward for a boat trip. A friend of a friend lives in Homer and I've heard very good things about it. I'm a little bit disappointed that we aren't going there. My parents are celebrating their 50th Anniversary by taking the family to Alaska to show us some of their favorite spots. My mom planned the whole thing so I have limited input into where we are going. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymes Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 We're going to Seward for a boat trip. Well, then, you might get a kick out of the fact that in these little fishing towns, like Homer and Seward, the locals call the tourists that they take out on the boats "pukers." As in, "I've got a load of pukers to take out this afternoon, so I'll have to see you later." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
splinky Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 when i left anchorage, i took all the fine dining with me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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