Eateries Near Denali

[masterdrago]

We have made a decision to eat at the Grape Tap in Wasilla after we pick up our rent car at Ted Stephens airport. Originally, we thought about getting a late lunch at Moose's Tooth Pup & Pizzeria 5 miles from the airport. What changed our mind was the fact that we will have eaten both Breakfast & lunch while making the air trek to Anchorage from SE Texas. Thinking was that a leisurely drive and sightseeing tour near Wasilla would work better with a supper in those parts.

What I'm looking for is some input on eateries nearer to the Denali area since we will be spending ~4 days traveling those regions. Still looking for good suggestions for eateries near Denali. I see Lynx Creek Pizza, Black Bear Coffee House, Prospectors Pizzeria & Alehouse. Up the road in Healy, I see The 49th State Brewing Company and Rose's Cafe. What has the CC crew liked?

[bindy1]

36 minutes ago, masterdrago said:

We have made a decision to eat at the Grape Tap in Wasilla after we pick up our rent car at Ted Stephens airport. Originally, we thought about getting a late lunch at Moose's Tooth Pup & Pizzeria 5 miles from the airport. What changed our mind was the fact that we will have eaten both Breakfast & lunch while making the air trek to Anchorage from SE Texas. Thinking was that a leisurely drive and sightseeing tour near Wasilla would work better with a supper in those parts.

What I'm looking for is some input on eateries nearer to the Denali area since we will be spending ~4 days traveling those regions. Still looking for good suggestions for eateries near Denali. I see Lynx Creek Pizza, Black Bear Coffee House, Prospectors Pizzeria & Alehouse. Up the road in Healy, I see The 49th State Brewing Company and Rose's Cafe. What has the CC crew liked?

We were not impressed with Moose's Tooth last year.  It was okay but did not live up to the hype.

In the immediate Denali area I highly recommend Moose AKa's.  Great freshly prepared food to order by the chef, his wife is the hostess, wonderful beer and wine menu and the service was excellent even though we were seated at the bar area.  Make reservations in advance, it is not very big inside.

Also we stayed at the McKinley Creekside Cabins.  Their onsite restaurant was excellent for breakfast and their sack lunches were great and worth every penny for our Eielson Bus trip in Denali. 

[masterdrago]

Thanks for the suggestion bindy 1. We are staying around the corner in Grand Denali Lodge and I see that Moose AKa's is in the same building complex as Prospector's Pizzaria & Alehouse. That looks like an excellent choice to suite both of us. The "wonderful beer and wine menu" ticks DWs check box! And the sack lunch idea is what we might consider for an all day adventure up to Taklat River although I would imagine that the Grand Denali Lodge does something similar.

[Northern Aurora]

One of the best restaurants in Alaska, at least in my opinion, is located south of the Denali National Park entrance.  It is named 229 Parks and is located at mile 229 on the George Parks Highway.  The owner and executive chef is Laura Cole.  She has been a James Beard Award semi-finalist on one occasion, and if my memory is correct, has been a semi-finalist more than that.

[masterdrago]

13 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

One of the best restaurants in Alaska, at least in my opinion, is located south of the Denali National Park entrance.  It is named 229 Parks and is located at mile 229 on the George Parks Highway.  The owner and executive chef is Laura Cole.  She has been a James Beard Award semi-finalist on one occasion, and if my memory is correct, has been a semi-finalist more than that.

If I read her web pages correctly, she does not begin service until mid June. I found that strange as there are many cruisetours offered by various cruise lines in May. Sorry that I forgot to mention when we will be there in the Denali area - May 17-20. We now have 5pm reservation on May 20th at Moose AKa's. And still exploring ways to avoid the lodge experience - Wanting the local fare and experience.

[AKfamily]

The Denali area itself is not a place that many locals live year-round. It is full of tourist places. The 49th State Brewing is good. If you take a little detour on the way, to Talkeetna, you can get a true local experience at the Talkeetna Roadhouse or the brewery across the street. We are Alaskan and huge fans of Moose’s Tooth. If we fly in and begin a road trip front Anchorage, we always stop for some pizza to go for the road. Another tip- get basics as far as groceries before leaving Anchorage. Snack food, fruit, quick breakfast stuff, etc. once you head north, these things get much more expensive. 

[masterdrago]

We have made a command decision. After flying in, spending most of the day in airports, eating airport food, we are not going to drive to Wasilla the first day/evening. We will check in near the airport (Lakefront Anchorage) then have a nice dinner at Simon & Seafort's just down the street overlooking Cook Inlet, Mount Susitna and the Alaska Range. They have been around for over 40 years and have a TripAdvisor rating of 4.5/5 with over 2,000 reviews. It just makes better sense to not spend another 2 hours driving just for a meal. We will spend the next day exploring the Wasilla area b4 doing the Bore Tide and trekking to Talkeetna.

[Glaciers]

I suppose if you’re used to a big city Simon & Seafort’s would be just down the street although it is 3.5 miles away downtown. Wonderful choice. Hopefully they will seat you next to the window.

 

It sounds as though you’ll drive to Wasilla and then down to Turnagain Arm for the bore tide and then back up to Talkeetna. I know you’ve researched this trip to death but this has you back tracking and driving 2.5 hours roundtrip from Wasilla just to see the bore tide. I mapped this from Wasilla to Bird Point which is the best spot for watching the bore tide as it’s where the standup paddle boarders catch the wave.

[masterdrago]

9 hours ago, Glaciers said:

I suppose if you’re used to a big city Simon & Seafort’s would be just down the street although it is 3.5 miles away downtown. Wonderful choice. Hopefully they will seat you next to the window.

 

 

 

It sounds as though you’ll drive to Wasilla and then down to Turnagain Arm for the bore tide and then back up to Talkeetna. I know you’ve researched this trip to death but this has you back tracking and driving 2.5 hours roundtrip from Wasilla just to see the bore tide. I mapped this from Wasilla to Bird Point which is the best spot for watching the bore tide as it’s where the standup paddle boarders catch the wave.

 

You're right about the day 2 travel.....  Thanks. It will be a long day but at least by eating near where we are staying, we get more rest on day 1. I just cannot find another way (or time) to take in the Wasilla/Palmer area along hwy 1 over towards Mantanuska Glacier. I understand from reading up, that is one of the scenic highways, so I do want to spend some time exploring east. And then, yes, the drive back to see a Bore Tide at 3pm @Bird Point. Something I have never had the chance to see. And then drive to our 2 day lodge reservations in Talkeetna (140 miles from Bird Point). We will want dinner there. It will most likely be after 6pm when we get there. A long day but I hope worth it. I wish I could come up with a way to reduce the driving but Alaska is rather long winded. There is a better Bore Tide on the 18, 19, & 20th but we will be in Talkeetna, then Denali.

[masterdrago]

On 5/4/2019 at 8:58 AM, bindy1 said:

In the immediate Denali area I highly recommend Moose AKa's.  Great freshly prepared food to order by the chef, his wife is the hostess, wonderful beer and wine menu and the service was excellent even though we were seated at the bar area.  Make reservations in advance, it is not very big inside.

We are going to eat at the Moose AKa's when they start serving the dinner menu at 5pm May 20th. That way, we can just walk next door for the 6:30 Denali Jeep Excursion from Cantwell on the Denali Hwy about 50 miles (to the Susitna River) towards Paxson. This will be most convenient.

[bindy1]

24 minutes ago, masterdrago said:

We are going to eat at the Moose AKa's when they start serving the dinner menu at 5pm May 20th. That way, we can just walk next door for the 6:30 Denali Jeep Excursion from Cantwell on the Denali Hwy about 50 miles (to the Susitna River) towards Paxson. This will be most convenient.

I hope you enjoy your dinner!  Moose AKa's made the top 3 places to eat for our family when we visited Alaska last year.  If you happen to be in the Seward area also check out The Cookery and Le Barn Appetit Creperie.  Both were excellent in different ways.  

 

We did the ATV excursion when we were in Denali.  It was kinda of blah.  We wish we would have done the Jeep Excursion you are doing instead.  The Jeep Excursion is on our list of to-do's the next time we are in Denali.  I would love to know what you think of the tour afterwards.  

[masterdrago]

6 minutes ago, bindy1 said:

I hope you enjoy your dinner!  Moose AKa's made the top 3 places to eat for our family when we visited Alaska last year.  If you happen to be in the Seward area also check out The Cookery and Le Barn Appetit Creperie.  Both were excellent in different ways.  

 

We did the ATV excursion when we were in Denali.  It was kinda of blah.  We wish we would have done the Jeep Excursion you are doing instead.  The Jeep Excursion is on our list of to-do's the next time we are in Denali.  I would love to know what you think of the tour afterwards.  

Thank you. We will look at those two eateries in Seward. I think that DW may have looked at the Cookery (it is in my browser history already). We do have the late evening Sidexside ATV Adventure booked with Black Diamond Resort the day prior to the jeep excursion. It includes a full service back country meal which looks pretty good. One of the places that DW has been looking is Ray's Waterfront Seward. Since our tour with Major Marine is done at 5p, it would be convenient since it is next door. I'll make sure to report in detail on the Jeep tour in our trip report that I've begun https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2660632-trip-report-may-24-2019-radiance-of-the-seas-seward-vancouver/