Where to take a client out for lunch? So many choices, so little gastrointestinal room.
If you've been around Anchorage very much, you've surely heard of the usual lunchable suspects: Harry's, Simon and Seafort's, Southside Bistro and a handful of others.
Alaska, and Anchorage in particular, has a range of good restaurants. In my opinion, the important things to think about when taking a client or coworker to lunch are what we'll call the "Four Goods": Good service, good food, good price and good bathrooms.
A good, clean bathroom is about the best indicator of a clean kitchen (restaurant owners often frown on customers walking into the kitchen themselves). Good food at a good price is obvious. But good service is paramount to my ever returning to any eating establishment.
Nearly a decade ago, I was horrified when a manager degraded a customer in the middle of the dining area, then laughed about it with some people sitting in a nearby booth. I've boycotted that "family dining" place for life, despite an apology from the regional manager (I wrote a scathing letter complaining) and coupons for several free dinners.
I personally frequent the restaurants listed below. I can vouch for the food, the service and the bathrooms.
Bon appetit.
Downtown
The downtown area is ripe with good restaurants that will impress clients. While Sacks Cafe, Glacier Brewhouse and Orso are popular favorites, the Snow Goose Restaurant and Brewery is also a great choice.
While it's a bit pricey, the food is good and, at least in the warmer periods, you can't find a better view of the inlet by sitting on the outdoor patio. Try the Delta Burger, a buffalo burger topped with Swiss cheese. The Last Frontier Chicken Fajita Burger is also good.
The Snow Goose also brews several award-winning beers. If you're a beer lover, ask for their samplers for just a taste.
The restaurant, open since 1996, sits atop the Elks Lodge.
Snow Goose Restaurant and Brewery
Corner of Third Avenue and
G Street
www.alaskabeers.com
(907) 277-7727
Midtown
Don't let the name fool you, Pizza Plaza offers a wide range of Greek and Italian dishes in addition to some of the city's best pizzas.
The lunch menu is extensive, but doesn't offer several of the restaurant's well-known seafood dishes, so keep in mind that you can order all day from the dinner menu.
One of the plaza's most notable seafood dishes is the Milano Stuffed Shrimp, featuring five jumbo shrimp stuffed with bay shrimp, lobster, scallops and crab, all wrapped in bacon and then oven broiled. It's served with steamed broccoli and pasta. Don't worry, to-go boxes are available.
If you like sauces, find something on the menu featuring Pizza Plaza's Di'Roma sauce. This creamy white sauce is perfect on fettucini or even with mozzarella sticks.
For lighter fare, try the chicken gyro, stuffed into fresh-baked pocket bread, or the French dip sandwich topped with mozzarella cheese. Salad lovers should try the Greek Special Salad, a meal in itself.
Breads and pizza crusts are all homemade.
Steve Mataragas, of Greece, opened his restaurant in 1971. It's located on Northern Lights, in a strip mall across from the Mall at Sears. It offers elegant dining with few entrees priced at less than $10.
Pizza Plaza
601 E. Northern Lights
(907) 274-1735
South Anchorage
Need to put a little spice into your meeting? Try Little New Orleans, near the corner of the Old Seward Highway and Dimond Boulevard.
Little New Orleans offers authentic Cajun- and New Orleans-style foods, from its po-boys to its jambalaya. Owner and chef Johnny Duplantis hails from Houma, La., and is a certified food manager. He opened the restaurant a year ago because he missed real New Orleans food.
Items on the menu are done the old-fashion way, by hand and from scratch. Duplantis nixes the easy route to a roux, skipping a pre-mixed powder base for his gumbo and jambalaya dishes and opting instead to mix it up fresh right in his own kitchen. Duplantis said he's sold more than 10,000 bowls of gumbo in the past year.
"People not used to real New Orleans food say that's not real jambalaya, it's not soupy," Duplantis said. "We really have to explain to them that it's not supposed to be soupy, it's supposed to be that thick."
If you go, try the spicy New Orleans Shrimp Po-boy with a side of red beans and rice. Or try the Spicy Louisiana Crawfish Po-boy; tastes like baby lobster on a bun. You can request spicy or mild with most dishes.
Leave room for beignets, or Louisiana doughnuts. Better than Krispy Kremes, Little New Orleans beignets melt in your mouth. Duplantis uses his own special recipe. Each beignet batch takes three hours to make. The dough is hand-rolled and cut, and then is placed in a special beignet fryer brought up from New Orleans.
Little New Orleans is not the place to go for the fancy, cloth-linen lunch. Cajun or jazz music plays in the background, so there is some ambient noise. But the staff is good, the place is clean and the food is the real deal.
Little New Orleans
8201 Old Seward Highway
www.littleneworleans.com
(907) 646-2226
East Anchorage
Catfish Haven is also not the place to go for fancy ambiance. But for good, down-home soul food, you won't find a better place in town.
Owners Kern Jones and George and Deborah Todd have run the indelible Catfish Haven for the past decade. Top lunch sellers are the catfish baskets, four pieces of breaded catfish strips that comes with beans and rice, slaw or fries.
"I see what people here like," he said. "They get enough salmon and halibut. I give them the best catfish there is."
Jones figures the restaurant goes through about 30 pounds of catfish a week. It's brought up from Louisiana. "It's a good, Southern recipe."
Catfish Haven
360 Boniface Parkway
(907) 337-2868
Going out of town? It's been a while since I've personally gone to some of these restaurants, but friends in the areas vouch for their continued quality.
Eagle River
Chepo's Mexican Restaurant, behind the popular North Slope Restaurant, is a good choice. Chepo's has big portions, good food and great service.
Chepo's Mexican Restaurant
11535 Market St., Eagle River
(907) 694-5882
Wasilla
The restaurant at the Best Western Lake Lucille Inn is among the city's finest establishments. The food is good, though a bit pricey, but the view is serene.
Western Lake Lucille Inn
1300 W. Lake Lucille, Wasilla
(907) 373-1776
Or try Evangelo's Restaurant.
Mile 40, Parks Highway
(907) 376-1212
Fairbanks
Gambardella's Pasta Bella, besides having a cool name, is "the best Italian food you've ever eaten," according to one food connoisseur. Another says you can't miss with anything on the menu.
Gambardella's Pasta Bella
706 Second Ave., Fairbanks
www.nvo.com/gambardellas/do
-or/
(907) 457-4992
Also try:
Pike's Landing
4438 Airport Way, Fairbanks
(907) 479-6500
Just outside of town is the Thai Cuisine Restaurant. Don't plan a weekend lunch, however, as it doesn't open until 3 p.m.
Thai Cuisine Restuarant
537 A St. Nicholas Drive,
North Pole
(907) 488-8260
Juneau
The Hangar on the Wharf is always a good choice for lunch, and it's open year-round, something to consider when traveling to Juneau as the legislative sessions and tourist seasons end. It's got a great view, good food and service, and offers more than 100 micro-brews.
Merchants Wharf Mall
2 Marine Way, Suite 106,
Juneau
(907) 586-5018
Also try:
The Fiddlehead Restaurant
429 W. Willoughby Ave., Juneau
www.thefiddlehead.com
(907) 586-3150
