Good eats in Alaska

Good ol Fairbanks. I used to hitch out to the Howling Dog. Always thought it was cool how most of the downtown stores linked to the stores behind them so you didn't have to walk outside to get there. I'll never forget all those geese in the hay flats in the spring, what a noise! There was like a billion of them.

As Tony mentioned the Polaris Hotel, in Fairbanks, it had two bars in it as I remember. The Polaris Lounge was on the ground floor and the Tiki Cove was on the top or ninth floor. A real sky scraper for Fairbanks. The Tike Cove start out in the basement of the Mecca Bar down on Two Street ( real name is Second Avenue but locals have always referred to it as Two Street. LOL. We used to fly into Fairbanks from the bush, taxi to the Nordale Hotel ( which burned in the early 70s) which was within walking distance of all the drinking/eating establishments mentioned.
Unless someone comes up with some way to make a dollar with the Polaris building, I would guess it will be demolished in the near future sometime. Last I checked it was set up as apartments. It is steam heated with steam purchased from the city's coal fired power plant, located a few blocks west on the banks of the Chena River. I considered buying the Polaris building, years ago but could never make the numbers work out for what I had to have to make it profitable.

But when you get your RV parked in or near Fairbanks, go park your toad or take a taxi, to downtown and walk the length of Two Street, and soak in some of the history of the town, which is what Fairbanks is all about. It is not very much of a tourist place, as you have to search out your own entertainment, ride the riverboat, photo the oil pipeline north of town, pan for gold, visit Alaska Land (now called Pioneer Land, I think), stop in at the Malemute Saloon in Ester, drive out to Chena Hot Springs early in the morning, usually lots of wildlife to photo.
Good eating available at the Pump House on the Chena River, that Turtle Club in Fox, and the Three Rivers on Chena Rd. if you enjoy quirky bars, and I do, stop in at the Howling Dog Saloon, also in Fox(north side of Fairbanks). There is a good eating place owned by the same people that own the a Rivers Edge RV Park, located in walking distance of the campground.

Thoughts:

- Double Muskie was indeed better in days gone by. Perhaps a bit of sailing on a rep, perhaps a bit of going with what works for certain clientele, but while it is still good, it was better food in days gone by.

- Simons....same thing: Still good, still dependable, but your socks stay on versus the knock-your-socks off service, food, ambiance, and views from 20 years ago. Views haven't changed.

- Villa Nova: Was last there 2 years ago. Still excellent food, but the location and the structure along with the services and attention has definitely gone down hill.

- Crows Nest: Had a formal celebration dinner there about 10 months ago. Depending on the seating, best views in Anchorage. Service was still top notch. Arguably (although pushing the limits of my knowledge) best sommelier and wine staff in Los Anchorage. Food was very good, seemed not to have the "wow" factor it has in years past.

- Fu-do: Outstanding food up until 3 years ago...may still be outstanding but the last time I went there, the crowd gathered in the parking lot was just a bit too much into thuggery and street strutting for me to feel comfortable taking the DIL and GD there..so instead of parking, we just drove by and left. I think the crowd was part of the general section of Tudor, not unique to Fu-Do.

Best bars are in Squarebanks? I'd probably have to agree on that one. In the legendary days gone by, I spent too much time in Chilkoots, FBN Club, Midnight Excess, and the Pioneer. None of those are the same anymore (quite a few don't exist) and they haven't been replaced by the same sort of establishments. "Bars" in Anchorage (IMNSHO) tend to either fall into the "populated by poseurs" camp or are real dive bars. The places I've visited in Fairbanks on the past few infrequent trips are much preferable.

There's a Chinese place on Tudor called Fudo. I don't know how it is now, but when it was run by Helen Ma it had to be the best Chinese this side of Hong Kong. The fresh Kim Chi was amazing. Course Helen was Korean....

Villa Nova, at least back in the 80's was the best Italian in the northwest. You'd never have known it to look at the place, but the food was to die for.

Anchorage does have really good food!

Fairbanks has the best bars though. The Savoy, French Quarter, whatever the bar in the Polaris Hotel is... Spent way too much time in those places back in the late 70's

joe b. wrote:
Steak or sea food - simon & Seaforts - prime rib is great. For a great view of town and excellent food - Crowsnest atop the Capt Cook Hotel . . .

Japan Airlines does about 65 crew changes a week in Anchorage, of their over the pole flights, from Europe to Asia and visa versa. Most of these crew members live in Anchorage with their families. The airlines even runs a school, in Japanese, for the crew members children.

I definitely second both Simon & Seafort's and the Crowsnest. We make sure to go to Simon & Seafort's each time we are in Anchorage. But I first went to the Double Muskie in the 1970's and, IMHO, thought it was better then than now.

Those Japanese crews and Japanese tourists have been coming to Alaska for a long time too. Imagine my surprise when, in the early '70's, I went to the restroom in a very remote lodge on the Denali Highway and saw "Men" on the door in only two languages--English and Japanese!

Islandman wrote:
Not noted for steaks, but we enjoyed The Bus in Hyder which sits next to Stewart down in BC. Not much of a place to look at, but the seafood is fresh and cooked just right!

We also ate at that place, the sea food was great!

In Anchorage, for steaks give Club Paris a try - never had a bad meal there
Steak or sea food - simon & Seaforts - prime rib is great
For a great view of town and excellent food - Crowsnest atop the Capt Cook Hotel

Where I feel Anchorage really shines, is with the large number of high quality Asian restaurants - Most all the Asian countries are represented with fine eating establishments, some mom and pop places, others much larger.

Anchorage has a very diverse population and many of the residents of the city consider their heritage to be from Asia. Japan Airlines does about 65 crew changes a week in Anchorage, of their over the pole flights, from Europe to Asia and visa versa. Most of these crew members live in Anchorage with their families. The airlines even runs a school, in Japanese, for the crew members children.

Anchorage has over 1,000 listed restaurants, so the choice is yours, for all tastes. The Arctic Roadrunner for burgers, is a guaranteed hit, take them and a blanket out to Lake Hood and watch the float planes take off and land while you picnic.

alaska dennis wrote:
Captain Patties on the spit in Homer.

Second that. We were there a couple of weeks ago. They just opened a new enclosed outdoor seating area on the beach side. It's like you're sitting right on the beach!

Not noted for steaks, but we enjoyed The Bus in Hyder which sits next to Stewart down in BC. Not much of a place to look at, but the seafood is fresh and cooked just right!

Jack Sprat in Girdwood.
Cosmic Kitchen in Homer.

And for the best whole wheat sourdough bread anywhere, Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop in Anchorage.