Best restaurant in Fairbanks

[kr9457]

Looking for a good recommendation for dinner while in Fairbanks. We will be staying at the Wedgewood Resort as part of our Celebrity cruisetour.

[Northern Aurora]

What types of meals do you enjoy? Are you looking for seafood? A casual atmosphere or more upscale? Will you be renting a car?

[kr9457]

will not be renting a car. I love seafood, husband does not really care for it. We like to eat at local specialty/favorites, not chains and food that we could eat anywhere.

[Budget Queen]

Without a car, the Pioneer Park has a very good salmon bake, does have other meat? (verify the current menu). IF there, I highly recommend the show at the Palace Theater. :)

[Taters]

Fairbanks is not a place that is famous for its restaurants. However, if you are in town, Lavelle's Bistro inside the Marriott downtown is pretty good! It is spendy, but their menu is varied and their chefs are well trained and inventive.

 

Our favorite place to eat has been the Turtle Club in Fox. It has been consistently good over the years. The best prime rib on the planet!

 

I LOVE living in Alaska, but do get excited about going to the Lower 48 to eat out!

 

Have fun!

 

Taters

[sr12345]

Chena Pump House

[rose91]

I had read about a homestyle Hawaiian restaurant. Any good?

[Northern Aurora]

I agree with Taters -- Fairbanks isn't known for a great number of excellent restaurants. That being said, we do have several very nice ones.

 

My favorite summer restaurant is Chena's Grill in the Rivers Edge resort. On a nice summer evening dinner on their deck is wonderful. Their dinners range in price from approximately $18.00 to $32.00, and the dinners include soup or salad in addition to the entree. They do great beef, but have wonderful seafood. Pay particular attention to their seafood special of the evening.

 

The Turtle Club is located in Fox (north of Fairbanks), but is very convenient for viewing the pipeline. Their specialty is prime rib with very limited other options. However, the prime rib is truly amazing.

 

We live on Chena Ridge, so the Pump House is our neighborhood hangout. They have recently modified their menu, and I am of the opinion the changes were for the better. I think their seafood offerings are better than their beef, but they currently have a very good schnitzel of the menu. It is a fun interior, and also is on the Chena River.

 

While a number of locals just love Pike's, I don't think they are as good as either Chena's or the Pump House. However, they have a wonderful deck and it is fun to sit outside on the deck beside the Chena River on a summer evening.

 

The Salmon Bake at Pioneer Park modified their menu last summer. Due to the incredible prices of halibut, they are now serving salmon, prime rib, and cod, with crab (no -- not king crab) on the weekends. They have some inside seating, but much of the seating is outside. This is a serve-yourself buffet, and while the salmon is good, the salads are from some food wholesale distributor. We haven't eaten there this summer, but in the past, in order to attract locals the Salmon Bake had a "local discount" with an Alaska driver's license. This is the only restaurant in Fairbanks to offer such a "local discount" which tells you that locals see this restaurant as overpriced. However, it is an "all you can eat" venue, and if you have a teenaged boy who is a bottomless pit it would be a good deal. Because of the buffet line and the size of this place, it is also frequented by motor coach tours.

[Cabunit]

If we had wheels we'd head straight for the Pump House. It's been a few years, but I seem to recall walking distance from the Wedgewood being predominantly fast food and chains.