Good Eats in Juneau, Alaska

For a relatively small town (population approximately 33,000), Juneau has a surprisingly good number of excellent dining options packed in its small downtown. Whether you find yourself tired of your cruise ship's dining options, or just want to "eat like the Alaskan's do", here are some of your best bets to savor Juneau's flavor.

Breakfast

The newest addition to Juneau's breakfast scene is the Sandpiper Café, located at 429 Willoughby Avenue. Open for breakfast and lunch, the Sandpiper offers a daily menu of burgers and gourmet sandwiches, as well as a variety of breakfast options, from pancakes to omelets to several twists on French toast, including a mascarpone stuffed version; try the sampler platter if you can't decide which one to order. Homemade biscuits and gravy and corned beef hash are two other good, hearty options to fill you up for a day of sightseeing.

Another good option is Capital Café, located at 127 South Franklin Street in the lobby of the historic Baranof Hotel, which became notorious in recent years as the site where several Alaska state legislators were caught on audio tape accepting bribes from oil companies. Also open for breakfast and lunch, Capital Café serves a variety of omelets (the Denver is particularly good), Belgian waffles with seasonal fresh fruit, and sourdough pancakes from its own sourdough starter. Add a side of reindeer sausage to any order for an authentic Alaskan experience.

Lunch

Juneau has a number of small lunch spots which offer a sophisticated take on the regular sandwich. Paradise Café, located in the heart of downtown on Egan, is one of those options. The menu rotates on a regular basis, and includes a daily soup special, made from scratch in-house, gourmet sandwiches, homemade croissants and savory options including quiche. Paradise Café also offers a variety of cookies, muffins and dessert bars.

Another local favorite is Valentine's Coffeehouse, located on Seward Street next to the downtown Juneau Drug. Valentine's boasts a variety of hot sandwiches made on homemade foccacia (the pesto chicken sandwich is a local favorite) and cold sandwiches on your choice of break. In addition to the sandwiches, Valentine's offers a variety of New York size pizza slices, calzones large enough to share, and homemade soups and salads in a comfortable, laid back atmosphere.

Afternoon Pick Me Ups

If chocolate is what you crave, head over to the Alaska Fudge Company. With two locations on South Franklin in downtown Juneau - just follow your nose to the intoxicating smell of chocolate - you're sure to find a flavor to fit your fudge needs. Homemade on the premises daily, the Alaska Fudge Company's 19 flavors of fudge use Alaska landmarks as inspiration. Flavors include Mendenhall Mudd (chocolate, marshmallow and pecans), Klondike Walnut Semi-Sweet (a dark chocolate with walnuts) and the Motherlode Maple (maple pecan). There's also a variety of cookies, ice cream and other homemade candies to satisfy your sweet tooth. And if you just can't decide, you can buy fudge in 1, 1 ½ and 3 pound boxes to snack on when you return to your cabin.

If it's unseasonably warm and you need to cool off, stop by one of the two Heritage Coffee locations, on South Franklin Street or across from Wells Fargo on Second Street, for homemade gelato at Southeast Alaska's only gelateria. With more than 10 flavors made fresh daily, order a cup of Heritage's signature roasted coffee, take a seat and imagine you're walking the streets of Venice.

The Silverbow Inn, located on the corner 2nd and Main Streets, is home to the best homemade bagels in Juneau. There are the standard bagels - salt, plain, cinnamon raisin - the more adventurous - jalapeno, sun-dried tomato and hippie-dippie - as well as seasonal bagels. Try the cranberry and walnut bagel, available in the fall. Fresh baked breads also rotate daily - the popular Challah, made every Friday, typically sells out. Cookies include a dense coconut macaroon, which comes dipped in chocolate or plain, a half-chocolate frosted peanut butter cookie, snicker doodles, and biscotti. They also have brownies and fruit flavored crumb bars.

If sweets aren't your thing - or if you're saving your pennies for a king crab dinner - there are two great options for a free sample of some of Juneau's finest homegrown tastes.

At the Alaskan Brewing Company, located halfway between downtown and the Mendenhall Valley, you can sample award winning, locally brewed beer. The Alaskan Brewing Company has been locally owned and operated since 1986, when it became Alaska's only operating brewery, and has won more than 33 major medals and awards, including "Best Beer in the Nation" in the Great American American Beer Festival's consumer preference poll. Known for its use of Alaska's flora and fauna - the Winter Ale, brewed using the tips of the Sitka Spruce, Alaska's state tree, a highly anticipated fall release - the Alaskan Brewing Company is continuously experimenting and releasing limited edition beers. There's a tour of the small brewery, and visitors can sample one or more of the six beers on tap, which include amber, pale ale and stout.

On the edge of downtown next to the popular Twisted Fish restaurant is Taku Smokeries, one of several fish processing plants in Juneau. If you arrive early, you can watch as fishermen unload their catch on the dock; a walk through the smokery lets you take a peek as the fish are quickly and expertly gutted, filleted and packaged. Afterward, look through the frozen and refrigerated cases, and sample fresh smoked halibut and salmon, salmon jerky and canned salmon, before deciding what to take home. Items can also be shipped.

Dinner

No trip to Alaska is complete without a sampling of fresh, locally caught fish. Two great options are the Twisted Fish and Tracy's Crab Shack.

The Twisted Fish Company, located on the edge of downtown next to Taku Smokeries, offers a variety of seafood options to meet everybody's tastes, including non-fish items for the land-lubbers. Try the halibut or salmon tacos - lightly battered and fried fish, stuffed with homemade cole slaw into a corn tortilla. Or try any one of the halibut burgers - the wild berry and parmesan are two popular ones. New on the menu is a king crab tail burger, showcasing a most unheard part of the king crab. Served with a side of seasoned twisty fries and a slice of watermelon, these are no ordinary fish burgers. If you want to try an equally delicious, yet underrated, Alaskan fish specialty, try the black cod sauté or rockfish plate. The Twisted Fish also serves burgers, including a buffalo burger, gourmet pizzas and pastas, and steak.

If you don't mind getting messy (and are willing to brave the often chilly temperatures) try Tracy's King Crab Shack, which opened in summer 2006. Located in an outdoor shack behind the downtown library, Tracy's serves up one thing and one thing only - the prize of Alaska's waters, fresh caught king and Dungeness crab. Choose from crab legs, a bucket of clusters, or the recently added crab cakes, crab sandwiches and crab chowder. The crab, which is fresh-frozen, is thrown into one of several boiling pots of water when you order. Although I don't know if there any benefits to a crab facial, the feel of the warm steam on your face mingling with the aroma of freshly cooked crab helps build up an appetite. Served with deliciously warm butter-parmesan rolls, plenty of butter for dipping and a pair of crab hammers, it could only get fresher if you pulled the crab out of Alaska's icy waters yourself.