Alaskan Brewing Public House — Restaurant in Juneau

I am a traveler and Sunday, September 17 2023 found me in Juneau, Alaska. Unfortunately it was a cool and rainy day. I was one of at least 2000 visitors in town from a cruise ship. After a little shopping, I was looking for a restaurant with Alaskan King Crab legs. Another restaurant was recommended but the restaurant was full and the line outside was long. I looked for another recommendation and that was the Alaskan Brewing Public House on Franklin Street.

The main part of the restaurant had beautiful wood decor with lots of seating options including bar seating but full. Luckily, there is other seating in a covered, enclosed area that could be open to the outside waterfront. We were seated there on long tables. The waitress, very friendly but not the most helpful, arrived to get drink orders. My group of three had found the menus on the table and had time to make decisions for food and drinks. For some reason, the waitress was kind of stunned that we were ready to order both drinks and food. Our order included a Classic American Smashburger, a Shredded Brisket Sandwich and my order was the Alaskan BBQ Sampler Tray with shredded brisket, wild boar burnt ends, chargrilled reindeer sausage and coleslaw.

I am originally from Kansas City so BBQ is a part of me. The coleslaw was decent. The brisket had a nice flavor and was not too dry. The wild boar burnt ends were also good but not as flavorful as previous wild boar at other establishments. The were also too moist and softer than most burnt ends that I have had over the years. The chargrilled reindeer sausage was too chargrilled but decent flavor. It was definitely different tasting than other venison (deer) that I have eaten, actually more mildly flavor than venison that I have had.

Food was reasonably priced for a tourist area and service was quick. The menu was very limited. I would give Alaskan Brewing Public House another try if I was in Juneau but with so many other restaurants, I would most likely try someplace different unless I was just there for...

During my recent visit to Juneau from the Anchorage area, I had the opportunity to dine at various local restaurants, most of which we visited provided exceptional service. However, I must express my disappointment regarding the service received here, which unfortunately stands out as one of the worst experiences I have had in a restaurant.

Upon entering with my party of three, we promptly seated ourselves as there was no waiting period, and we noticed several unoccupied tables nearby. However, our request to have separate checks at the end of our meal seemed to greatly inconvenience our waitress, as her demeanor clearly indicated. Having worked in customer service for many years, I know first hand what's it's like to work in such a busy/fast paced place...but we didn't order much ( 1 drink each and an entree). Throughout the course of our meal, our server was notably absent and when she did interact with us, it was accompanied by a dismissive attitude. After our meal, she returned with our cards and receipts , which she then rudely dropped onto our table without a word as she just walked away.

To further compound the issue, another waitress intervened unnecessarily, inquiring if we were being assisted and whether we required separate bills. Upon affirming both, her tone abruptly shifted, deeming our request for three individual tabs as absolutely ridiculous. We were genuinely taken aback by this reaction. While it is understood that the customer is not always right, we were patient, kind, and respectful our entire visit here. The situation escalated to the point where multiple servers confronted a table of three customers over a seemingly inconsequential matter such as separate payments, and that was honestly just unnecessary.

Given this experience, I would seriously consider opting for takeout if I were to revisit this place...

I ordered their salmon burger, Juneau Glow( a ginger beer drink) and Bear Creek Strawberry Rhubarb(a wine).

-I don't like that neither the person preparing the meal or the person taking my order could describe what flavor components were on the burger and instead just tried to describe what salmon taste like. Saying that it's a "fishy fish". I think anyone ordering salmon knows what it taste like. I'm trying to know what the burger will taste like after you put whatever you're going to on it. But they couldn't understand that for whatever reason. The cook even had a confused look on her face, which I couldn't understand. I think it would be very odd if no one has ever come here wanting to know what's on or in their meal. But I decided to give it a try anyway since I had a taste for salmon.

-I felt that the salmon wasn't seasoned and that a lot more of the spread( whatever that may have been) should have been used on it.

-The beans were really good and very well seasoned. So it's a bit shocking that the salmon wasn't.

-The Juneau glow was one of the best drinks I've ever had in my life. I'm not a big drinker, I don't like regular beer and I don't like straight alcohol. I always go for a mixed drink and I was just saying earlier that day I want to find some ginger beer. So I was really happy when I saw this on the menu! It consists of lemon juice, blackberries, rose vodka and Ketel One Botanical grapefruit.

-The strawberry rhubarb wine was a little bit too sweet for my taste. (Not their fault)

I'd come back, I'd just try...