Gwennie's Old Alaska Restaurant - Anchorage, Alaska

Tim Parker

It was good, not great. It's been 20 years since I last ate here, and maybe my memories were a bit more nostalgic than realistic. It's an icon of Anchorage, and hopefully never goes away. The food was OK, didn't live up to my memories, but I'm old too. The service was pretty good, just seemed lacking something. Again, maybe just me. The atmosphere is pure old school family dining and should never change. The old car is still out front, the bar is still small and quaint, almost a turn of the century feel to it. They still have plenty of tables and a few booths for you to relax at. The Chili is still very good! I had the cheeseburger "all the way". It was good. Just seemed like a smaller patty for some reason. Fries were frozen, not fresh. The portions were large, and I didn't leave hungry. This is DEFINITELY a place you need to visit when in Anchorage. I hope they are still around my next visit.

Karim

Great local place for breakfast or any meal. We went for breakfast and it was great! Short wait to be seated. The portions were on the bigger side. The omelet was 5 eggs and stuffed with bacon and tomatoes topped with cheese and served with homefries. The taste was great, and everything was cooked just right. The staff was super friendly and attentive despite being busy. I would highly recommend stopping in for a bite to eat if you're in the area or just passing through.

Alyssa Ferguson

First time here. Was recommended by so many people to come here. I just moved here so i’m trying out new restaurants and such and heard so many great things about this place and the food. I got bacon and eggs with grits and my husband got a french dip. First, we got sat right away upstairs, no wait which was nice. The service was good and our waiter was very nice. Food came within 10-15 minutes. The grits tasted funny, it usually my favorite breakfast food but i couldn’t eat more than a few bites. The eggs were ok, also had a weird taste and were a little rubbery. The bacon was amazing and i pretty much just stuck to eating that for breakfast. The french dip was stacked with meat but no cheese? Our fault though we probably should have asked for cheese on it because i’ve noticed some places just do plain unless asked for more. Overall the food was eh, service was good. But probably wouldn’t come again.

Michael McKenzie

What to say about Gwennie’s… from the building, to the atmosphere, to the food, there’s a whole lot of effort in looking spectacular while disappointing expectations.

Apparently this place is very popular with the locals and is part of tradition and lore among Alaskans and I think it’s gotten so used to being a staple that maybe their effort is now lacking.

When you com upon Gwennie’s the building is very exciting. There’s a lot of character and they have a cool model of an old car sitting out front. When you walk in it’s warm and inviting and there are trinkets and fun things to look at everywhere. The building is very visually stimulating on such a good way. It truly makes you want to come back again and again just to see all the unique and fun things in the place.

And that’s where the positive review ends.

We were seated on the second level and our food came to us in about 20 minutes. The staff weren’t unfriendly but they did seem like they were just going through the motions.

Then the food came. I can only give a solid review of my own meal but I will comment on how the other food looked. My buddy got the eggs Benedict and the hollandaise sauce broke. Some of the toast look burnt.

Another friend got the chili and the waiter said it was from a can. We thought it was a joke until the chili came out and we tried it. It was literally warmed Hormel chili. Another friend got halibut pieces and they were piping hot but lacked flavor which is disappointing for Alaska.

For my meal I got the reindeer sausage, eggs, and grits. The eggs were over medium and I think there may have been 4 or 5 of them, which is great. And these were cooked perfectly but had zero seasoning. The grits were cooked respectably but they were instant. Being a Texan I can say that no self respecting southerner uses instant grits. Again no seasoning.

But that sausage, oh my goodness. We don’t get reindeer sausage in the lower 48 but I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be overcooked and dry. Thank goodness for the runny yolk of the eggs. The flavor was amazing but dang they were dry. What made it more disappointing was that there was so much of it. It’s like they left it out overnight and wanted to use it up fast. With the proper salt and pepper I probably could’ve cleaned the plate but eating dried hard sausage bits isn’t too appetizing.

Some comments from the others in my group was that the food was entirely too oily or greasy and the flavor was seriously lacking.

The only thing going for this place is the atmosphere and that people know it exists. I’m giving it 2 stars because I won’t be going here again unless I’m really hungry and I happen to be at the Harley Davidson shop across the street. Even then I might look for something else nearby.

Go there if you want but if you don’t, you won’t be missing out.

Prof. Hector Holbrook

Extremely good.
Service & food is genuinely for the customer not just for profit.

Very ethically sound business in terms of quality & management.

Recommended.

Phillip Edds

This is a must. We stopped in for breakfast our last day of our trip, so glad we did. I had them make up a reindeer meat and bacon omelet with biscuits and gravy! Talk about completely satisfied!!!

amit dabholkar

The food is strictly ok.

Loved crabs Benedict. The flavor of crab was delicious.
The server missed on the fries / grits.

The mushroom and onion omelette was strictly ok nothing to rave about.
The grits were not well seasoned nor were the potatoes fully cooked.

The chocolate milk was delicious. Loved it.

The service was not great.
The server messed up the order.
Parking is easy to get.
The ambience is good.

Mattinmaryland

We really enjoyed our short time in Alaska. Our server was Keerissa and she made our breakfast outstanding.
I had the crab Benedict and thought it was outstanding. We also split a dessert that she recommended and it was Devine.