Salmon & Bear Restaurant @ McCarthy Lodge

Had an amazing experience at Salmon and Bear Restaurant. They were hosting a special “beer” dinner in partnership with Midnight Sun Brewing. Food was very impressive and the servers were all beyond friendly. Special shout out to Steve aka “Sunshine”

We couldn’t believe finding a restaurant of this quality in this remote area. The dining room is filled with artifacts from mining days and very charming. We were welcomed by a very polite and friendly gentleman who promptly served cool, fresh water from a beautiful copper pitcher and informed us that dinner was a fixed 3 course menu for $44 with choices of soup or salad, then Copper River salmon grilled on a hot stone or a chicken dish, and dessert. The soup was very good and the salad wonderful. We both had the salmon served on a blueberry/wine/brown sugar gastrique; it was a delight. The chocolate/caramel/pistachio tart: scrumptious! The wine list was extensive and we chose a burgundy Pouilly Fuissé, reliably excellent. We were so pleased that we came back the next day and had a flank steak cooked to perfection. The service was impeccable too. The rapport quality/price is outstanding. ; we ate fish & chips for almost the same price in Homer or Kenai. We highly recommend this restaurant.

Dinner is a bit overrated but the only fine(ish) dining in town. Set menu, reservations only. Food was good and the chef definitely puts a lot into the dishes. Vibe was meh.

Extremely Disappointed. When making reservation, we were strongly encouraged to try the 5 course tasting menu for $150 per person. We have enjoyed many fine dining restaurants around the world and were really looking forward to this experience. Almost everything served was extremely disappointing. We got the strong feeling that we were served a lot of leftover food. The only bright spot of the evening was the good service and wine list.

The positives: excellent vibe and music. And our server was super nice!!! We came here with two new friends from Israel who we met while glacier hiking and she thought it was really cool that we came in after meeting new people. So all of that was truly memorable. That being said, my ribeye steak was very tough for ordering it medium rare, not a very fatty cut, and the Mac and cheese tasted powdery which was a bit off putting. On top of that, overpriced for what it is but I guess that’s the rule not the exception in AK. I would come and enjoy a drink here but probably wouldn’t recommend a full blown dinner here.

Clean comfortable and quiet hotel, good size rooms. Reasonable breakfast buffet, pool and gym. No room service, and in general service is reactive: eg you tell them there are no eggs - and they will bring more. But they do not check on their own. Bottom line - good, service level gets the lowest grade.

For old rustic charm alone, this hotel would get 5 stars. It's on the main street in McCarthy, the staff is super friendly and the rooms are clean and nicely decorated but very small. There's also no private bathroom in the rooms, there's a single occupant bathroom on the floor and it's well equipped with a toilet, sink and shower. I preferred staying at the Kennicott Lodge which is modern and luxurious.

This is about ambience, not luxury. Bang in the middle of McCarthy AK Is this jewel. The rooms are small, the bathrooms shared(clean and comfortable), the beds are doubles yey comfortable. We felt at home as soon as we arrived, the host was super friendly and helpful, dinner at the golden nugget across the street pleasing as was the breakfast at the bistro, all owned by the hotel. McCarthy is not easy to get to, cross a walking bridge at the end of a long and dusty dirt road and you reach what could be your nirvana. Basically no traffic except for a shuttle and friendly easy going atmosphere, as if the participants were an exclusive club of people in the know, coming together from all the corners of the world to enjoy this magnificent unspoiled corner.