Cheap-but-good in Fairbanks AK

[AnneInMpls]

Besides Hot Licks, where should I go for inexpensive and delicious food in Fairbanks next week? (No "fine dining" for us - our pennies won't stretch that far.)

For example, Frommers.com says The Bakery is good - is it worth a trip?

And I found some old recommendations here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/258427 - are any of these places still good? (Wolf's Den, Lemongrass, Sourdough Sam's, Bun on the Run, etc.)

Thanks,
Anne

[AnneInMpls]

As a trip report, we found nice food, great food, good food, and really awful food in Fairbanks.

The nice food was at the Second Story Cafe, upstairs from Gulliver's Books. So-so soup (pot roast soup the day we were there), a nice bagel with cream cheese, and great turkey-and-stuffing wrap.

The great food was at Hot Licks (of course). The Alaskan Blueberry ice cream was FABULOUS!!!!!! So was the malt chip ice cream. Y'all are so lucky to have this place in town.

The really good food was at the Thai House downtown. I had #27 (seafood with zucchini and peas in coconut and green curry - medium) and I loved it. My mom had some really nice pad thai.

The stinker of a meal was at the Pumphouse. Horrible service (our server ignored us for 25 minutes, in an not-too-full restaurant - then treated us like we were a huge inconvenience), and even worse food. I had overcooked halibut, gluey lukewarm potatoes-with-cheese, and cooked-to-absolute-mush snow peas with the strings still on. My mom, who has leather tastebuds and likes anything, wouldn't eat her tomato-"basil" soup and warm spinach salad (more like limp cold spinach in dressing soup). I've had better food on an airplane. And it was really expensive. YUCK!

Luckily, the rest of our time in Fairbanks made up for the awful food at the Pumphouse. We should have just had more ice cream at Hot Licks...

Anne

[AnneInMpls]

My husband says I always talk to myself - I guess it's true, and I reply to myself as well!

I found this list of "best restaurants" on the web site of a Fairbanks B&B near the university. It seems to line up well with previous chowhound recommendations.

- Lavelle's Bistro
- Chena Pump House
- College Town Pizza
- Lemon Grass (Thai food)
- Ichibod Noodle Shop
- Gambardella's (Italian food)
- Gulliver's Books (wraps and salads)
- Lulu's Bread and Bagels

I hope that Gulliver's is still around - I love bookstore-cafes!

Anne

[repete]

Keep your expectations low in Fairbanks. Not a great food town. Kind of the Mankato of the north ...