Northern Lights Pizzeria — Restaurant in Alaska

I was in Skagway Monday, September 18 2023 after doing the White Pass Scenic Railway thing. I was pretty hungry and ready to get out of the cold, though it was actually only in the 40's. As I was wandering through town with parents, I saw Northern Lights after passing so many people and full restaurants (two large cruise ships at the pier).

I immediately liked the name of the place because I have always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis other than from an airplane. Also the town brought back memories of the stupid television show Northern Exposure. As we entered, most tables and booths were full but there was some availability. We were seated pretty quickly and received menus. I was impressed with the extensiveness of the menu that included some of everything including burgers, Italian entrees, pizza and much more. I decided I wanted pizza and a Coke. My parents went along with that with the exception that they wanted a salad in addition. I ordered a large sausage, pepperoni and fresh mushroom pizza to share.

The food arrived quickly and my well-done pizza was there for the eating. The crust was crisp on the bottom but soft in the middle. There was a good amount of sauce and cheese. There was also a decent amount of sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms. The flavor was very good especially with a little added oregano.

The atmosphere was nice and this was definitely family-friendly. Food was tasty and the waitstaff was friendly, outgoing and helpful. It was a little pricy but I am sure that was secondary to being in Skagway, kind of the middle of nowhere, but I felt that it was worth it. I would eat there again, if I find myself in Skagway and I would recommend it.

As a side note, Skagway is a beautiful, isolated little town and reminds me of the television version of a 'wild west' town with paved streets and cars. There are similar type buildings as the 'wild west' and even elevated wooden boardwalk-type sidewalks. The town is at the base of mountains on a small harbor. Picturesque is the correct description of the town.

(By the way, I was one of at least a couple of thousand people from cruise ships, who had descended on the town of only...

We were so excited to have fresh salmon and visited this restaurant. Upon entering, we noted a musty smell and the decor was “homey” aka older styled. Our server kept pressing us about whether we were “local,” which we found strange. We were vacationing. Both of us ordered salmon and chips (fries) and it was -meh- about equivalent to what a vintage pizza joint might offer. Sad, because we were expecting great salmon while in Alaska. Even worse, was when we received our bill, we noted an 18% gratuity had been to it. We noticed on our menus that it said a mandatory gratuity of 18% would be added for parties of six or more, but we were just a table of TWO. When we asked the hostess about this, she argued that everyone has that charge, even though we said the menu stated otherwise. She quickly pulled out a menu near her in which the portion of the sentence regarding parties of six or more had been whited-out. It appears that this establishment routinely does this to tourists- so watch out! The hostess did give back part of the gratuity- in an aggressive manner- and all in small coins. Highly suggest going elsewhere for a more pleasant...

I was served by one of the most unsanitary servers I have ever seen in my life here. She was very busy, and the only front of house employee on the floor for a good sized lunch rush, but being busy is not a valid reason to skip washing your hands.

I started paying attention to her work ethic when I saw her grab three dirty cups by sticking her fingers inside them. This itself is fine, I even do this myself as a server. What is not fine, is that after this I did not see her wash her hands immediately after, nor did I see her wash her hands ONCE for the next forty five minutes until we left. What I did see was her grabbing dirty dishes from tables, dropping them in the bus tubs, and immediately using her dirty hands to grab food from the window and run it to tables, without even the mindfulness to keep her fingers from making contact with the food.

I'm genuinely a little disturbed someone working with food could be so careless to save themselves twenty seconds at the sink.

The pizza was pretty...