Talkeetna, Alaska: Climbing the Peaks of Deliciousness

This weekend we went to the town of Talkeetna. Talkeetna is a small historic town on the Susitna River north of Anchorage, and is the base for flying to Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. In May, you can see a lot of sunburned mountain climbers speaking German and Japanese, and all summer there are helicopters to take you on sightseeing tours of the McKinley and nearby glaciers. There is also great fishing, and you can go on your own or take a guided boat trip. The town has really taken advantage of the tourists, and it gets really busy in the summer. Like Virginia City, Nevada or Julian, California, it is a small historic town that is close enough to the city to be a popular day trip. The year round population is less than a thousand, but there are a couple dozen gift shops and art galleries, and several restaurants that survive on a combination of Anchorage visitors and cruise ship tourists. There is a small Historical Society Museum which is worth a trip to learn about the local history, and to pick up a walking guide to the town's many historic buildings, several of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On a sunny day like our visit, you can find an enthusiastic crowd watching a baseball game at the local ball field, and lots of people splashing around in the shallow parts of the Susitna River off the end of the historic airstrip. This last part was the highlight of our dog's trip to Talkeetna, for sure.

My husband and I have been to Talkeetna before, so we know some places that we like. We drove up in the morning and got there just in time for lunch at the West Rib, named for one of the routes to the top of Mt. McKinley. There is a patio which is great during the summer. It was warm and sunny today, but there are big umbrellas on the outside tables, which make it great even when it's raining (which happened to us last summer). This place is always busy, and it was featured on the Alaska episode of Man vs. Food, so it's well known. The menu item featured on that show was the "Seward's Folly" burger, which was an old nickname for the Territory of Alaska when it was first purchased by the United States. People thought the purchase was a bad decision, but then they found out that we had gold and copper and oil and salmon, and that shut them up. Anyway, the Seward's Folly is over four pounds, and has three layers of sourdough bread, two one-pound caribou meat patties, ham, bacon, Swiss cheese, American cheese, a concoction called "fat ass sauce" (which I think they make on the Man v. Food episode if you feel the need to learn more), and one pound of French fries.

Such a thing is waaaay too much for me, so we stuck with slightly more reasonable portions. I tend to get seafood there, since they make a point of getting fresh Alaskan fish and crab, and they also serve caribou. We got potato skins to start, and there were only three little skins, but they pack a lot into them, and we knew there was tons more coming, so it wasn't disappointing. The skins had caribou chili, cheese, and a black bean and corn salsa on them, and were delicious. I got the halibut chunks and chips as my main course, and they were fabulous. They make them with a beer batter, and the halibut was perfectly cooked and flaky, with a thin, crispy batter. These are honestly some of the best halibut fish and chips around. They came with garlic parmesan fries, which are totally just frozen shoestring fries, but surprisingly good gussied up with herbs, parmesan, and garlic. My halibut also came with a great coleslaw, which was topped with cashews for a nice crunch. Morgan got the black and blue burger, which had sauteed onions and bleu cheese, and also had the parmesan fries as an option. The only thing was that the cook seems to go a little rare, so you might want to ask for your burger darker than normal.

Other things on the menu that looked great but that we haven't had a chance to try are the caribou chili, seafood chowder, smoked salmon pate, and nachos topped with the caribou chili. They have lots of other seafood menu items, including a crab cake sandwich, and the Homer Split, which I got last time I was here- it has both salmon and halibut, for those of us who can't decide which they want. They also have tons of Alaskan microbrew beers, from breweries in Fox (near Fairbanks), Anchorage, Juneau, Kenai, and Soldotna. And if you picked someplace else for lunch, you can always stop by from 4-6 pm, when appetizers are half price. They're not the most environmentally friendly place, I'm sad to say, since they serve practically everything in plastic cups and with plastic silverware, but I'm willing to forgive them that since they make a point of only having fresh Alaskan, sustainable seafood that is in season, so you could say it cancels out.

The West Rib Cafe. The main entrance is on the right, but you can also go in through Nagley's Store.

We also usually stop by the Wake and Shake ice cream stand. They only ever have a few flavors, but they're always homemade. This time, Morgan got strawberry and I got apple pie, which is seriously like they took a small slice of apple pie and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and mashed it all up and served it to you. Yum.

The Wake and Shake ice cream stand. The chalkboard is being updated with today's freshly made flavors.

Now I have to discuss the Talkteetna Roadhouse. This place has been around since the 1910s, and is fantastic. If you are staying overnight in Talkeetna, even if you don't actually stay in the Roadhouse or one of their cabins, you have to eat breakfast there. Now, if you somehow don't know about sourdough, it is a type of starter, or leavening for bread, that miners brought with them to Alaska and the Klondike. You can feed it and cultivate it, and each batch takes on unique characteristics. The Roadhouse has been using a batch that was first brought to Alaska in 1902 and has been used since the Roadhouse first opened. You can buy freshly baked sourdough bread that is fantastic, or get either sourdough toast or sourdough hotcakes with your breakfast, served from 7 am to 2 pm. The main breakfast is the "Standard," which comes with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and homefries, and endless coffee. You can also get sourdough hotcakes, as I said, or biscuits and reindeer sausage gravy. I would highly recommend getting the half breakfast, which is still too much to finish, rather than gorging yourself on the full. You need to pace yourself in this town. They also have a menu called "Not Breakfast," which is served until 8 pm, and includes soups and sandwiches and things. I've never had anything off this menu, but if it's as good as the breakfast, it's worth a try. Their bakery is also worth a visit to pick up things to take home, because while there are lots of great smells coming out of the place, you're probably still stuffed from breakfast or lunch. You need to pick up some sourdough bread, but while you're there you can also get a slice of carrot cake or red velvet cake or chocolate cream pie, or one of three kinds of cinnamon rolls, or a couple of kinds of quiche, or some lasagna or mac and cheese. They also have cookies, brownies, bread pudding, and homemade peanut butter cups. We got a couple of cinnamon rolls to eat for breakfast the next morning. Oh, and did I mention they make their own pasties? They have a couple of more traditional ones, as well as a salmon one, all of which are really great. Of the things I just mentioned, I have eaten and can highly recommend the sourdough and honey wheat breads, the quiches, pasties, mac and cheese, bread pudding, and peanut butter cups. And as of this morning I can recommend the cinnamon rolls.

The Talkeetna Roadhouse. The older part of the Roadhouse is on the right. The one story addition on the left expanded the kitchen and bakery and added a few more seats.

As I said, there are several other restaurants in town to choose from, as well as a hot dog stand and a stand selling nothing but dumplings and smoothies. Seriously. A couple of the popular restaurants I haven't been to yet are the Wildflower Cafe and Mountain High Pizza Pie. Last summer we went to the Twister Creek Restaurant, which is also home to the Denali Brewing Company. It was good, but not our favorite, but as you can tell, there's a lot of competition for such a small town. If you're from Anchorage, or up here visiting, I really hope you'll go up to Talkeetna for a visit.