Eagle River Restaurant and Ale House

Bar, Eatery

11901 Old Glenn Hwy
Eagle River, Alaska, 99577-7735
United States

(907) 696-3000 | map
er-alehouse.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.97
Reviews:
2
Ratings:
5
pDev:
13.1%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by Dok:
Photo of Dok
Reviewed by Dok from Alaska

3.65/5  rDev -8.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3
Good food and a solid selection of beers. Decor and feel definitely yuppie driven with unfinished ceilings and tall tables.

Food menu has a good selection with the usual fare of pizzas and numerous sandwiches. Also serves breakfast, but if you pull night shifts you can't stop in for a beer until after 10AM. No surprises on the menu although everything I have tried is good. But again, nothing out of the ordinary. It does deserve the $$$$ rating - you cant walk out of here after having a sandwich and two beers without dropping a $30 bill. The beer selection is very good - more than 50 brews available - by far the best selection in Eagle River, and better than most bars in Anchorage. As is the case for the food you will find nothing spectacular or exotic on the beer list, but there are a lot of them. Features both tap and bottles.

Overall, worth a visit if you are in town and don't mind fighting the crowd while paying the cost.
Feb 17, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.66 by rspauldi from Texas

Jun 14, 2016
 
Rated: 5 by ERAlehouse from Alaska

May 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by 31Sam13 from New Hampshire

Mar 13, 2015
Photo of juzy
Reviewed by juzy from Alaska

3.8/5  rDev -4.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Okay, it's really hard to review a place that has only been open for a matter of days, so there is no doubt that I will be back here at some point to edit this review.

Now, let's talk atmosphere. The place is very open and has a slight industrial feel to it. Music in the background. Huge screen projection tv on south wall and two flat screens above bar. This bodes well for the football crowd if they end up carrying NFL Sunday Ticket. They have directv, so it's a possibility.

Beer selection is pretty vast, focusing on pretty much just Pacific Northwest and local Alaskan brews. A few things from Stone and even a few offerings from my old neighborhood, better known as Shipyard. When I say neighborhood I don't mean in general. We literally lived a block away from the brewery back in the 80's. There are 32 draught selections, ranging in price from $5-$7.50/pint and $17-$23.50/pitcher.
Around 50 bottle selections ranging from $7.25-$26.75. Honestly? I think the bottles, all of them, are way overpriced. Stick to what's on draught. Also not sure why they have NO Midnight Sun Brewing on tap, only in bottles. That's a bit disappointing. Also there are no Belgian ales on tap or in bottles. There are a few Belgian-stlye ales made by American brewers either on tap or in bottles, but nothing actually from Belgium. I may have to work on remedying this.
For locals on tap they have Glacier Brewhouse, Alaskan, Kassik's, Denali, and Moose's Tooth. Glaringly obvious omissions here are Midnight Sun Brewing, Sleeping Lady Brewing, Kodiak Brewing (although it can be tough to come by anything from Kodiak, but it can be done), and Kenai River Brewing. I think there is just too much emphasis on Pacific Northwest stuff, and some of it rather monotonous. I think things like Stone Arrogant Bastard and IPA should be relegated to bottle status and they should put on some Midnight Sun anything and another local, preferably something in the Belgian-style. Okay, but this is all just my opinion and they did just open, so there is time for them to tweak their offerings. Just sayin'

Now food...really good. We had the Mediterranean pizza. 14 inch pizza for $20. A little steep for a pizza. But food is good. My son had a bacon cheeseburger and I had a bite. Very good burger, I must say, as far as burgers go. Okay, so this is why I give it the pricey value that I did. I thought things seemed overpriced, but quality is good. Pizzas remind me of a blend of Moose's Tooth and Pizzaman. They have some other fine offerings on the menu, wings looked good. In any case we'll have to go back a number of times to check it all out.

Service was not a strong point here on the first day of opening, but I did talk with the floor manager and she was quite pleasant and apologetic about the time it was taking for beer to get to my table. Pretty sure our server had never served before. Always have to cut slack when reviewing a brand new establishment. So the staff needs to learn about the beer they are serving, I could see that right off. Tempted to apply for a job there myself! I think in time, with some customer feedback, these little things will get worked out. But I'm sticking with my thoughts on how overpriced things seem to be.

Overall, it's great to have an actual ale house in Eagle River. No longer do I need to drive into town, fight traffic and parking to get a beer. I can enjoy right in my own little town. This place will be packed with us locals though, so try to visit during off hours. They are open for breakfast, but alcohol isn't served in Alaska until 10a. I'm thinking that slow times would be between 2 and 4. And since we have no other sort of night life in Eagle River, besides Homies, I'd expect it to always be packed after 5p until closing.
Aug 10, 2011
Eagle River Restaurant and Ale House in Eagle River, AK
Place rating: 3.97 out of 5 with 5 ratings