The Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria is one of the most popular places in town. If you are from out of town, or are living in a cave in Anchorage and have never been there, they are on the Old Seward Highway just north of 36th, on a leftover little spur that they cut off in order to build the New Seward Highway. It is named after a mountain in the Alaska Range near Mt. McKinley that looks just like a moose's tooth, and if you don't believe me they have a photo of it in the front of the restaurant. They make their own beer, which is great and comes in many many varieties, and new ones with clever names are being constantly invented. You can take some home in either a keg or a growler. If I have to tell you what a growler is, you need to upgrade the type of beer you have been drinking. As you can probably guess from the name of the place and the title of this post, they also make many delicious kinds of pizza. They also host a lot of concerts, and their First Tap parties are especially popular. Posters from previous First Taps and other concerts line the walls of the restaurant.
My husband and I are on a quest to eat every pizza on the menu at the Moose's Tooth. Arguably a less noble quest than, say, the search for the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth, but far more satisfying. The first problem with this quest is that the place is so popular that it can be pretty hard to get in. They don't take reservations, and they're so busy that you pretty much always have to wait for a table. If you're with a small group you get there between 2 and 4 pm on a weekday, you're pretty good. Later than 4:00 on any night, though, and it's a matter of how long you will have to wait, not if you will have to wait. This weekend we went for lunch at 1:00, and only had to wait ten minutes. If you have to wait and the weather is good, you can order a beer at the bar and go sit in the beer garden. There have been many occasions when we drive up to the Moose's Tooth, see the crowd (mob) of people waiting outside, and turn around and start thinking of somewhere else to go. If we could have gotten a table all those Friday nights at 6:00 when we had a craving for pizza, we would be much farther along on our quest.
The second problem is that they have so many kinds of pizza to choose from, and every week they have a new special pizza, which is usually pretty good, so we can go a few times in a row and never make any headway on the main menu. There are currently 39 pizzas on the menu. The problem of agreeing on a pizza has been solved by a family rule: my husband and I alternate choosing the pizza with 100% discretion. The person who doesn't get to choose the pizza gets to choose the appetizer or salad. They have several great, fresh salads (no iceberg lettuce here), and they have other good appetizers, too, including hummus, mozzarella breadsticks, chips and salsa, smoked salmon pate, and roasted garlic, which comes with bread, a head of roasted garlic, and with this creamy cheese spread that is super delicious. They also have really good soups, which also rotate. They always have Hungarian Mushroom plus a couple of other kinds. On our last visit we had the tomato and roasted garlic soup, which was fantastic.
We have currently only tried 12 of the pizzas on the menu, plus all the specials we get distracted by. I don't think I could ever pick a favorite, but some of the amazing pizzas they have are the Wild Mushroom pizza (portabella mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, mozzarella, provolone, and Denali Sauce (spinach and ricotta puree)), the Solstice pizza (roasted chicken, portabella mushrooms, roasted garlic, sundried tomatoes, oregano, mozzarella, provolone, parsley, and marinara sauce), and the Five Cheese pizza (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, gruyere, and gorgonzola).
For two people, if you get a salad or appetizer and beer, you really only need a small pizza. If you eat a lot or you want leftovers, get the medium. The other great thing about the Moose's Tooth is that it is cheap. Two people can get an appetizer, small pizza, and dessert for under $30, so it's a great place to go with your family or a big group of friends and not spend a lot of money.
They have also recently overhauled their dessert menu, if you have any room left after your pizza and beer. They have a cheesecake of the month, and a pie called "Death by Peanut Butter," which is so amazingly creamy and peanut-buttery you won't believe it. They also have a couple of chocolate options, including a delicious "melt away brownie," a flourless chocolate cake which is only average, and my favorite, the Pipeline Stout Chocolate cake. I think they make it like a coca-cola cake, so that the bubbles and the moisture give the cake a little extra something, but I really don't know. I just know that it is ever so good. When we get desserts we usually end up taking part home.
Speaking of taking things home, the Moose's Tooth is also relatively eco-friendly, packing all leftovers in 100% recycled paper boxes and never styrofoam, and only selling beer to take away in reusable growlers or kegs. Oh, and you can also get any of the pizzas with whole wheat crust or a gluten-free crust. Don't ask me how they make a gluten-free pizza crust, since I thought that the whole reason pizza dough becomes pizza dough is, you know, because of gluten.
So basically, everyone in town will tell you how great the Moose's Tooth is, but a lot of them also don't go there very often because there are usually a hundred people in front of them in line when they get there. But it is the best pizza in town, and a contender for the best beer, so really, Anchorage residents just have good taste.
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