Anchorage Pub Crawl

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One evening in Anchorage, the handsome hunk and I decided to do a little pub crawl. We stayed in a darling Airbnb that was only a couple blocks from right downtown. It was the basement apartment in a darling 1940’s duplex, near tons of restaurants, bars, and shops. And, the city mascot, Star the reindeer. It was perfect. We were sitting around and wondering about things to do in Anchorage. Turns out, there was a lot right out the door.

We wanted to spend an evening poking around and finding all the good things to do in Anchorage. Because we were staying at multiple locations on this trip, each destination we only spent a couple nights. So, we didn’t want spend the precious time we had going to one spot. We wanted to see them all! We wanted, a good old fashioned pub crawl. And, of course, document it, so that you can follow along too. The one problem with a pub crawl, is after a couple glasses of wine, apparently I forget about my camera. Apologies.

Glacier Brewhouse – The first stop of the night, it felt like a macro micro brewhouse. The food was all pretty basic, although delicious, and Tom, who has been to Anchorage for work, comes here again and again because it’s consistently good. The beer was solid, I has a seasonal raspberry wheat that was quite good, and was the perfect first stop of the night to get the evening going.

Orso – This place surprised me. From the outside, not knowing anything about it, I thought it was going to be a little stale and stuffy, but it wasn’t. The hostess and bartender we interacted with were much hipper than the look of the establishment, and the menu was really different and interesting. We had deviled eggs, which you might be thinking, Jane that sounds stale and boring, but they were so elevated and just plane delicious. The happy hour menu was perfect.

Crush Wine Bar – A super trendy and fun wine bar. I wanted to Instagram the whole place. But, by this time, I had enjoyed half a beer and a glass of wine, so I didn’t get as many pictures as I wish I had. The wallpaper, the art, everything is perfect. And, the wine was excellent. We grabbed a seat at the bar, shared a wine flight, and the best deviled eggs we’ve ever had. Yeah, I know, we had deviled eggs twice in one night. But, they were that good. Worth it.

Haute Grill – One of my favorite spots of the evening. It’s right in the middle of downtown, has a really laid back yet still cool vibe, and the halibut chunks were to die for good. Cooked to perfection. If for no other reason, go here for the halibut chunks.

Hard Rock Anchorage – Since it’s right downtown, and practically kitty corner to Haute Grill,  we decided to stop in the Hard Rock. If you have been to any other Hard Rock, according to Tom, it’s about the same. Going to college in Las Vegas, the only Hard Rock I’ve ever been to was the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Vegas. That is different. But, that place is amazing, and this Tom said was on par with any other Hard Rock. We got to catch up on the golf tournament going on that day and have a been in a laid back environment.

49th State Brewing – We went to their other location in Healey at Mt Denali so we were excited to go back. It is packed! If you want rooftop seating, be prepared to wait. Like, a long time. We were content to sit ourselves in the bar, we found a great table, next to the window, split some amazing crab stuffed jalapenos and a seasonal beer. It was fun being somewhere with that many other people, al enjoying the buzz.

The Gaslight Bar – If you stop here, make it the last bar of the night. If you don’t like dive bars, skip it. But, in all honesty, this ended up being one of the funnest stops of the night. Maybe it’s because by this point we had had a few too many, but it’s a fun place to hang out. The place isn’t clean, there is a stripper pole in the corner, that luckily wasn’t being used. There was a mechanical bull in the middle of the room, a vending machine for cigarettes, and a very worn out pool table. The bar was full of semi cranky looking old men, who just wanted a beer, but warmed to Tom, as they swapped war stories. We rode the bull, played pool with a local fella who was pretty down on his luck, and just had a really good time. I also could see this being the kind of place you could get into a bar fight. So, you’ve been warned, proceed with caution.

And there are so many places that looked amazing that we just couldn’t get to, and still be able to walk home at the end of the evening.