Donna's Restaurant - Oh, Donna!

It's a beautiful day in Juneau, AK and the wife and I just worked up an appetite hiking up Mt. Roberts.  We need some good food and we are in the valley...got it...let's go to Donna's.  I have never been disappointed, and today is no different.

In the past I have had breakfasts, grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, soup, etc.  Today, however, I feel like a burger and when in Donna's eat Donna's Burger.  Her signature burger is an incredibly juicy quarter pound patty with salami, ham, cheese, and all the fixings.  Pow!  What a great burger...and perfectly prepared.  I wolfed it down in no time flat.  I love the way the salami, ham, and the beef play off each other and taste perfect.

You don't need to climb a mountain to go...you will be happy either way.

Donna's Restaurant:

Address - 9131 Glacier Highway, Juneau, AK 99801

Phone - 907-789-1470

Website -  www.donnasrestaurant.com

Reservations - none needed, but you could call ahead to see if they are busy.

Overall Recommendation:  This is a very good little diner with good breakfasts and good burgers, if you are out near the airport, give it a try.

The Island Pub - the Douglas Dynamo

After a day of hiking and exploring the Juneau/Douglas area there is one place you can count on to really satisfy...The Island Pub on Douglas.  There is no better choice for pizza in the Juneau area.

My wife and I warm-up with the Pizza Skins.  The Island Pub makes it's own garlic infused oil and then coats some of their great pizza crust and tops it with grated Parmesan.  It is great on it's own, but you can also get some dipping sauce (marinara, BBQ, bleu cheese, ranch).  Try the ranch...it tastes fresh and homemade.

We then had some of the gourmet pizza they are famous for.  Each year The Island Pub holds a pizza recipe contest for it's patrons.  We had the Napolitano Alfredo, the 2005 Gourmet Pizza Contest winner, you can draw your own conclusions about the name of the pizza, but it is packed with flavor.  It starts with an Alfredo sauce base, it is then generously topped with house and Parmesan cheeses, basil, sun dried tomatoes, crimini mushrooms, pepperoni, and roasted garlic.  On top of that near perfect crust, you have a work of art.  I would add marinated artichoke hearts, but it is nearly perfect as is.

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices on the menu though.  The ingredients are fresh and put on each pizza with care.  Add a pitcher of your favorite brew and you will be in heaven.

The Island Pub:

Address - 1102 2nd Street, Douglas, AK 88824

Phone - 907-364-1595

Website - theislandpub.com

Reservations - I have been twice and not needed them, but with as good as the food is I might call for a Friday/Saturday night.

Overall Recommendation:  This is the best pizza in Juneau, and one of the best pizzas I have had.  Go for it!

Douglas Cafe - breakfast on the island

Some Juneau friends picked us up at the hotel and then took us across the bridge for breakfast at the Douglas Cafe.  It was definitely a good choice...always trust the locals.

They have a specials board, but I ordered off the menu.  The Douglas Deluxe had, in parenthesis, "the all time favorite).  By now, you probably know that this is the signal that I usually am looking for when looking at a menu.  Rule number one: Always give the house special a shot.

The Douglas Deluxe has fried potatoes, onions, & tomatoes, topped with fresh spinach, cheddar, and 2 eggs (I prefer over easy) and a delicious salsa.  It comes with a side of toast, but I added some link sausage into the mix.  I love breakfast food, and I love spinach...need I say more.  I broke open the yolks and mixed it all together...rich, savory, delicious.

If you are looking for a hole in the wall diner with good breakfast, this is the place.  They are also supposed to have good burgers...I will have to give them a try someday.

Douglas Cafe:

Address - 916 3rd Street, Juneau, AK 99824

Phone - 907-364-3307

Website - none, but they do have a Facebook page

Reservations:  none, and the dining room is small, so you may need to wait....do it, you will be happy you did.

Overall Recommendation:  Great for breakfast.  Give it a try.

The Hanger on the Wharf

The Hanger on the Wharf is a kind of institution in Juneau.  The building is literally on the water and was formerly home to Alaska Coastal Airlines in the 1940's, but the restaurant was established in 1996.  The beer selection is great, the waitstaff is very attentive, and the pub food is very good.  However, in addition to their pub food menu, the Hanger has a more ambitious dinner menu.  This evening I took a chance...only to be disappointed.

Let me preface the rest of my review by stating that I have eaten at the Hanger several times and enjoyed eating there, but those times I ate off the pub menu eating things like fish 'n chips and burgers.  In those previous visits, I have always left satisfied.

We started with scallops wrapped in bacon.  The scallops tasted fine, but they were criminally overcooked, as was the bacon.  The resulting texture resemble more of a savory miniature hockey puck. The appetizer was followed by seafood chowder.  I like my chowder to be somewhere between thin and runny and so thick your spoon could stand up in it.  This chowder had decent flavor, but was extremely thin.  If I have to add a packet of oyster crackers to thicken it up, it is too thin.

The dinner menu features steaks, seafood dishes, chicken, etc.  I decided to try the Black & Bleu New York Steak.  The steak is rolled in freshly cracked black pepper, charbroiled and then topped with bleu cheese crumbles.  It was not horrible but, perhaps because of my previous experiences, I was expecting something special.  The steak was not a prime cut....it was thin, tough, and not very juicy.  The peppercorn was actually pretty good, but the bleu cheese was far from transcendant.  In a word disappointing....definitely not worth the $42 price tag.

The saving grace for the dinner service was the very attentive wait staff.  My water glass was never empty, and I never had finished dishes sitting in front of me for more than a few seconds.

It is possible that I just got a disappointing dinner.  I suspect that the downtown Juneau merchants and restaurants are overwhelmed with the beginning of tourist season and the cruise ships.  Having said that, it is time to pick up your game, not let it slip away...like a cruis ship in the night.

The Hanger on the Wharf:

Address - 2 Marine Way #106, Juneau, AK 99801

Phone - 907-586-5018

Website - hangar.hangaronthewharf.com

Reservations - Recommended, especially on a Friday or Saturday night, or if there is a cruise ship in town.

Overall Recommendation:  Eat from the pub menu.  It has always been good for me in the past.  The prices are more reasonable than the dinner menu...and the food is much better.

Capital Cafe - Maybe not so capital

My wife and I are in Juneau, for a wedding, for the weekend.  We are staying at the Westmark Baranof Hotel and decided to eat at the in hotel restaurant, the Capital Cafe.  I am usually a bit wary of in hotel cafe type restaurants.  They are not usually unique fine dining experience, and the Capital Cafe definitely backed up my instincts.  Let's just say, I saw the "Grand Slam Breakfast" as one of the options the menu...not really a good sign.

However, I also saw Eggs Benedict which I love...so I ordered those.  They weren't inedible, but I am pretty sure the hollandaise came from a packet and was not made from scratch.  Not much flavor or richness and it needed salt.  The eggs themselves were actually poached almost perfectly, so the breakfast was not a complete loss.  Add a side of extra greasy hash-browns, and lets just say I was underwhelmed.

The waitstaff was friendly, but the restaurant was loud with silverware and plates being bussed and dumped into bins.  Not really a relaxing environment, which I would have been able to overlook with great food, so....no joy.

Capital Cafe:

Address - 127 N Franklin St, Juneau, AK 99801

Phone - 907-586-2660

Website - www.westmarkhotels.com/juneau-food.php

Reservations - probably not needed, but you could call ahead to see.

Overall Recommendation:  This not the worst hotel restaurant I have been to.  It serves an adequate variety of breakfast foods.  However, if you are looking for a great dining experience, look elsewhere.