Eating your way from Fairbanks to Seward

[dwd01]

Leaving next week for a pre-cruise week, traveling from Fairbanks to Seward. What are your favorite places to eat along the way... Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward and points in between? Doesn't have to be fine dining, just good solid food..... Thanks for the suggestions.

[AKStafford]

Leaving next week for a pre-cruise week, traveling from Fairbanks to Seward. What are your favorite places to eat along the way... Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward and points in between? Doesn't have to be fine dining, just good solid food..... Thanks for the suggestions.

Will you have your own vehicle or will you be on a prepackage cruisetour?

[dwd01]

we'll be driving our own car, to Anchorage, then, train to Seward

[AKStafford]

Denali: 49th State Brewery in Healy.

Between Denali and Anchorage: There's some great places in Talkeetna. Twister Creek is my favorite. Palmer also has good places. Humdingers Pizza, Palmer Ale House, Inn Cafe & Steakhouse.

Anchorage: F Street Station or Suite 100.

[diesel1973]

I second the F St. Station. Best Halibut sandwich ever! Glacier Brewhouse is also good,Seafood Fettucini is awesome! Mooses Tooth for Pizza.Try the "Santas Little Helper". The reindeer sausage on it is great. These are all in Anchorage. Enjoy!

[Northern Aurora]

Oooooh - food! One of my favorite topics!

 

In Fairbanks, consider Brewsters (we have two) for a casual lunch; in addition to wrap sandwiches and so forth they have several entree salad options with a number of salad dressing options (the number of salad dressings available varies from day to day but at times they have twenty options available). The same couple who own Brewsters also owns Geraldos (on College Road) which is another popular casual option.

 

For nice dinners the Turtle Club is renowned for prime rib and their prime rib is a good value. Wolf Run has new owners and this restaurant has been transformed from a desert and coffee venue to a nice restaurant emphasizing middle East flavors; Wolf Run also has a nice lunch buffet during the week days. While I used to recommend Chena's Bar and Grill (located at the River's Edge Resort) the past two summers they have just been lousy (despite having the same executive chef). But Zachs' (at the Sophie Station Hotel) has actually improved quite a bit and this summer we've had some lovely dinners there.

 

In the Denali area consider Parks 229. It is located several miles south of the entrance to the national park, and may be the best restaurant in Alaska. They are so good that despite their location they actually stay open in the winter (limited days).

 

In Seward both Ray's Waterfront and Chinooks are good for seafood. But a more casual option is the Seward Brewing Company. They offer a nice selection of craft beers and casual bistro type food. They are very close to the SeaLife Center.

 

While I haven't checked each one I suspect all of these restaurants have their menus posted on their respective websites.

[Assateague Island Princes]

Northern Aurora - thanx ever so much for those recommendations for dining in Fairbanks. We'll be touching down in your 'fair' city (pun intended;)) in a little over a week and it is a great help to get a local's take on some casual dining restaurants.

 

We'll be renting a car and driving up to Healy to spend two nights in a rental cabin so we can visit DNP again (to see the park in all its autumnal glory this time!), then we head back to Fairbanks area, where we've rented the Moose Walk Cabin (off Carrie Lynn Drive near North Pole ,do you know it?) for a glorious week! Woo-hoo! Hoping and praying for a chance to see the Northern Lights (so if you have ANY pull with the weather gods, would you mind putting in a request for clear, dark skies starting Sept. 2nd? Thanks:D!)

 

While we'll be preparing many of our meals at the cabin, we hope to try some local restaurants for lunch or dinner occassionally, so your post is very timely. Appreciate the advice!

 

Sorry OP, for the thread drift - back to your regular programming....

Edited August 25, 2015 by Assateague Island Princes
spelling

[dwd01]

Not a problem, a worthwhile hijack, and as long as you are praying for good weather during that week, I welcome the help to blow the rain and clouds away........ But good food is good food, rain or shine

[Orlando Vic]

Leaving next week for a pre-cruise week, traveling from Fairbanks to Seward. What are your favorite places to eat along the way... Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward and points in between? Doesn't have to be fine dining, just good solid food.....

 

Denali: (Healy) Black Diamond Grill

 

Anchorage: Ginger, Southside Bistro, Orlso, Glacier Brewhouse is good too but very noisy and reservations are a must. Snow City Cafe for breakfast but reservations are also a must.

 

Seward: Ray's Waterfront

[loeytalldog]

Anchorage: Mooses Tooth and Glacier Brewhouse were our favorites!

[treesah]

Ray's Waterfront in Seward had the best crab cakes I have ever eaten. Their key lime pie was delicious. In Talkeetna we ate at the Mountain High Pizza. Very good.

[Northern Aurora]

Northern Aurora - thanx ever so much for those recommendations for dining in Fairbanks. We'll be touching down in your 'fair' city (pun intended;)) in a little over a week and it is a great help to get a local's take on some casual dining restaurants.

 

We'll be renting a car and driving up to Healy to spend two nights in a rental cabin so we can visit DNP again (to see the park in all its autumnal glory this time!), then we head back to Fairbanks area, where we've rented the Moose Walk Cabin (off Carrie Lynn Drive near North Pole ,do you know it?) for a glorious week! Woo-hoo! Hoping and praying for a chance to see the Northern Lights (so if you have ANY pull with the weather gods, would you mind putting in a request for clear, dark skies starting Sept. 2nd? Thanks:D!)

 

....

 

AIP: I really wish I had some pull with the weather gods right now -- Fairbanks is having a major storm pass over us with incredible rain and a high wind warning until 10 PM tomorrow night. The Brooks Range (north of Fairbanks) is expected to have snow and some passes in the eastern Alaska Range could also experience some snow. We are also experiencing much colder than normal temps for this time of the year, and today in Fairbanks it feels like mid-October. But the weather should be much nicer next week. We can only hope.

 

Regarding the aurora, we had a forecast for moderate auroral activity last Monday night, but with the clouds associated with our present storm moving in when I checked the sky about 11:30 PM I saw no stars. But be sure to check the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Website (http://www.gi.alaska.edu) when you are here. We are losing about six minutes of day light each day now so don't have the deep dark velvety sky we have in the winter, but we are dark enough for some contrast.

 

We don't live in the North Pole area, so have no info regarding your cabin. But you will be near the Elf's Den; I have never set foot inside this longstanding North Pole institution so have absolutely no information about it but, if my memory is correct, think it was one of the places featured in the Food Network Guy Fieri show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" filmed in Fairbanks several years ago. The Pagoda Restaurant is also in North Pole, and again, if my memory is correct, it was also in that Guy Fieri show; the Pagoda has both its fans and its detractors. We had a meal there once a number of years ago and it didn't do much for me.

 

Regarding more casual dining options in Fairbanks, anyone planning to drop by the Farmer's Market, the Fairbanks version of Pike Place Market in Seattle, on College Road (Wednesdays and Fridays) might try one of the food vendors there.

 

And located on College Road closer to the university is one of Fairbanks' institutions -- Bun on the Run. Bun on the Run was opened a number of years ago by two sisters (one is a friend) who no longer own it, but when it opened the idea of a food operation in a trailer was quite the novelty. Great scones.

 

Across from the Bun is the summer Hot Licks ice cream stand; Hot Licks is made here and is our answer to Ben and Jerry's. Some local restaurants feature Hot Licks on their menus, and it is also sold in our local Fred Meyers.

 

Also close to the university is my favorite coffee house -- Alaska Coffee Roasting Company. The owner Michael thought that Fairbanks didn't have good coffee so started this business about twenty years ago and still owns it. The coffee is air roasted on premises, and the food is variable in offerings but generally very good (I did have a chicken pot pie several years ago which was poor). What they offer for food and baked goods is what their bakers feel like doing that day, so it ranges from salads, sandwiches, wood oven baked flat breads, soups, quiches and so forth. They also have free wi-fi.

 

Fairbanks has a number of Thai restaurants. We LOVE Thai food here (a couple of years ago I counted ten in the city limits), but have no decent tex-mex places. The best Thai restaurant is probably the Thai House downtown, but since we live on Chena Ridge we seem to gravitate to the Lemon Grass as it is a convenient location for us. I think that both the Thai House and Lemon Grass have been in business for about thirty years.

 

Lavelles' Bistro is most likely the best restaurant in Fairbanks, but wouldn't be classified as casual due to their prices. They also have the best wine list in Fairbanks.

 

The Pump House prices also wouldn't classify them as a casual dining option. Given where we live we dine there frequently in the winter. The Pump House actually alters their menu somewhat in the winter and I think that the winter menu is much stronger than their summer one. I've always meant of ask the owners Bill and Vivian why they do this, but never remember when talking with them.

 

And I didn't mention Anchorage in my first post on this thread. But I love Orso, and prefer it over the Glacier Brewhouse. In the past the same folks owned both restaurants; if ownership has changed one of the Anchorage posters will update me. I think that Fletchers (ground level of the Captain Cook Hotel) is often under rated; it offers a casual bistro menu. But one of my favorite Anchorage restaurants is the family owned Aladdin's which features middle eastern flavors.