Anchorage Pel’meni — Restaurant in Alaska

(EDIT 5/22/2025 Reply to business comment) - I saw 2 guys in a pop up tent, drove around the block and stopped to ask what they were selling and where I could park. The shorter guy told me what they had and said it was $9 for the dumplings and it only takes 5 minutes. He also said street parking. So he took the $10 bill I handed him and said 5 minutes it will be ready. I started my 5 minute timer and returned 7 minutes later. I assumed since he took the my $10 bill I would be handed the food the same way.

I’m self employed. I was in between doing scheduled visitor pick up and drop offs. The time he said fit my schedule and supporting 2 guys under a pop up tent felt great till it turned not so great.

When I returned, the tall guy approached my vehicle and said they couldn’t do business from the curb and I had to park. I said ok no problem,so I drove around the block again and parked. When I got to the tent I apologized and said I he didn’t tell me to park and pick up as well.

With all that time passed since the shorter guy took my $10 bill and said it would be ready in 5 minutes, the order was not ready. It was started when I walked up.

Basically, I was there to support what looked like 2 guys running a small local business to being talked to like trash by the tall guy after I parked and walked up to get my order. I also ended up being late for my next pickup.

I have video from my dash and on my cellphone. I also give recommendations to visitors daily. This establishment will NOT be on the go to list.

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Absolutely not. Worst experience today at their temporary pop up tent. The taller guy was terribly rude and I do not recommend anyone to go there. he was cocky, arrogant obnoxious, and should not be anywhere public. I will never ever order from this establishment again. There are other places that treat customers well and not in such a poor manner. It was so bad I will always make it a point to let people know...

The food is good, the price is right, the menu is simple, and they are open late. The service, however, was unbearably slow, and the cashier appeared to be adding many unnecessary steps like logging each order by hand, opening and closing clamshells before the order was actually complete (with toppings, bread, and a spoon), writing out the full word BEEF on clamshells with beef dumplings (one of the two options on the menu) and putting away the cilantro (one of their options for toppings) between orders while the restaurant was clearly busy. There also seemed to be no real workflow between taking the initial order and delivering it to the customer. By the time we left, one customer still waiting for his food cracked a joke to us about he'll never get outta here. I've known Alaskans to be a very patient bunch, and to see a crowd of Alaskans become continually more restless confirmed to me that I wasn't rushing or being a jerk for being irritated at the slow service. I really, really want to like this place, but the lack of urgency and organization makes me not want to come back. I'll probably end up giving it another shot because I really want this place to succeed, but something has got to give. With two menu options and and easy prep, an order should take about a...

It's a sweet little sunny place with lovely large windows and a great view of downtown activity. I love the vintage record collection and hi-fi system out for customers to enjoy.

The dumplings themselves were nice, we both had the beef filled option (the other is potato) and had all the toppings which are butter, hot sauce (a vinegar/Sriracha mix), cilantro, curry, and sour cream. But we both felt that the toppings were a little weak. If they'd had a curry sauce rather than just sprinkled curry powder, or a couple different sauces to choose from (after all, curry powder isn't exactly authentic for Russian dumplings so sky's the limit) it would have been so much better. Portions are very small for $10 (even though there is a strange piece of basic brown bread thrown in--a side dish? Not sure) and it's not enough for a meal out really.

But location is fun, service is good, give it a try and see what you think.

Overall it felt like a food truck experience at the state fair rather than a fun...