Homer treated us well on the culinary front, with a number of good options that transcend the typical diner fare found throughout Alaska.
Sourdough Express
Our favorite bakery and cafe in Homer
Our favorite restaurant in Homer is the Sourdough Express, a cafe/bakery that focuses on fresh, local and organic produce and ingredients. Our first experience was ordering a duo of pastries to go and getting milkshakes to stay. They brag about making their own peanut butter, and I can see why as it totally defines the character of the chocolate & peanut butter milkshake I ordered. Creamy and chocolatey with salty undertones and large pieces of chunky peanut butter — it doesn’t get any better. To go I ordered the humble chocolate chip cookie, which seems to be an afterthought at most bakeries. But they gave it proper respect here, a bit crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and lots of dark chocolate in every bite. Karla ordered a raspberry & cream cheese danish, an item that is typically safe from her chocolate loving husband. For some reason I decided to try a small piece, and soon after half the danish was gone! I blame the cat. Unlike most danishes, this one is not dry at all, and the raspberry is front and center in every bite.
Raspberry Cheesecake Danish
On our second visit we tried breakfast, which was also a home run. Karla ordered the Sourdough Jane, an egg scramble with spinach, mushrooms and cheese, with a side of garlic home fries and wheat toast, served with homemade raspberry jam. I bravely ordered the huevos rancheros, a dish that should not be attempted by most breakfast places as a bad version is essentially inedible. But they pulled it off, with homemade corn tortillas, home cooked black beans (I don’t think they use canned anything here), over-medium eggs, homemade guac, a little sour cream, some fresh tomatoes and spinach, and a little jicama.
Sourdough Jane with toast and hash browns
Huevos Rancheros
In summary, this is our #1 recommendation in Homer for breakfast, lunch or baked goods (they are open from 7 am – 4 pm every day, so no dinner).
Finn’s Pizza
Finally, good pizza in Alaska. It’s always a good sign when a pizza place has a wood burning oven front and center, and that they only make pizza. While the Finn’s Pizza menu presented many adventurous toppings, we went simple with a Margherita pizza, the perfect union of fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella. With few ingredients there is nowhere to hide, and this pizza didn’t need to.
Margherita Pizza at Finn’s Pizza
This is a busy place with two seating sections, one downstairs that is outdoors and one upstairs that is indoors. The ordering process is fun. After placing your order they hand you an animal figurine as a unique key (sorry, as an order identifier) and then track down said animal when the pie is ready. Ours was a water buffalo, a curious choice as Alaska has many animals, but does not have any water buffalo. Nonetheless, the system worked and the pizza was delicious. Highly recommended.
Black Jaxx BBQ
This food truck served up the best BBQ we’ve found in Alaska, and they have the award to prove it. Is it the best BBQ I’ve ever had? No. But for up here it’s good. The owner handed me a rib to try before I could say hi, and it was good enough to order the rib dinner, which comes with 4 ribs, baked beans, coleslaw and a roll, all for $18 (which is considered reasonable in Alaska). The meat was tender, with a fairly strong smoke flavor, but a little more chewy than I like. The beans and slaw were fine. If, like me, you’re jonesing for BBQ after a few months on the road then definitely go here.
We found the food truck in the parking lot of the Oceanview RV Park. I have no idea if they move throughout the summer.
The Bagel Shop
Shoutout to Jimmy at Baycrest RV Park for this recommendation, which is not easy to find. I sound like a broken record here, but The Bagel Shop makes the best bagels we’ve found in Alaska. I tried one garlic and one multigrain and Karla had one salt. We also got 4 oz of garden veggie cream cheese. Guess how much 3 bagels and a little cream cost up here? $10! But it’s totally worth it to get a properly made bagel that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They specialize in bagels and lox (makes sense as salmon are caught right down the road) and fun schmears as well as bagel sandwiches. The location is a few miles out of town in an industrial area off East End Road. I recommend picking up a few bagels and continuing east down the road for fantastic views of Kachemak Bay (go all the way to the end, past where it becomes a gravel road and then walking when it starts looking very steep and sketchy).
Fat Olive’s
Fat Olive’s is a popular and easy to find eatery in town that specializes in pizza and sandwiches. The pizza looked great, but given we just had some the night before we opted for sammies. Karla tried the turkey pesto on ciabatta with a side of tomato parmesan soup and I had the ABC (apple, bacon and cheese) on focaccia with a side salad. Both were very good, with the homemade bread being the star. My ABC included a melange of four cheeses (provolone, parmesan, mozzarella, fontina) but I was unable to pick out those individual flavors. The tartness of the apple and the crispness of the bacon played well with the gooeyness of the cheese and the softness of the bread. Yum.
Two Sisters Bakery & Cafe
Upon first sight this bakery seemed ideal, having a display case filled with delectable pastries and other baked goods, yummy looking sandwiches and yummy sounding soups and fresh baked bread. But the 4 items we sampled from Two Sisters Bakery left much to be desired. The brownie was very dense, not moist and very flat in appearance, like the ratio of baking powder was off. In retrospect I wonder if it was a vegan brownie since many (but not all) of the items they sell are vegan. The display labels were not very clear. Karla tried something called chocolate bread, which we were hoping was reminiscent of a chocolate babka, but sadly was just a roll with a bunch of unmelted chocolate chips in the middle. I also had a chocolate ganache cupcake, which was fine but tiny (like, two bites) and $4 and Karla had a German Chocolate roll, which she enjoyed. The roll was made like a cinnamon roll, but with the requisite chocolate, coconut and pecans of German Chocolate.
Everything about this bakery looks promising, so if we were staying longer I would give it another shot.
