Alaska News

Dining strategies for the post-Thanksgiving blues

If I wrote the dictionary, my definition of Thanksgiving would be: "Too much of a good thing."

Don't get me wrong. I love Thanksgiving. But there's something about the whole exercise in excess that can leave you feeling a bit … I was going to say deflated, but inflated is, perhaps, closer to the mark.

So, after you have enjoyed a day of too much food, too much wine and (dare I say it?) too much family, give yourself a break. I've compiled a list of my favorite Anchorage dining spots to help combat the post-Thanksgiving blues.

Retail therapy

If you plan on a 3 a.m. wake-up call to hit up the city's retail door-busters, then my hat is off to you. Coincidentally, I always find that the exact amount of money I would save by waking up early on Friday is also the exact amount of money I would pay to go back to sleep. For you more energetic souls facing a shopping marathon, make sure to fuel up and stay hydrated.

Downtown shoppers can get their eggs on at Snow City Café (1034 W. Fourth Ave., open at 7 a.m.). Sullivan's (320 W. Fifth Ave.) will serve you up a hearty lunch and you won't even have to leave the mall. They also make a mean martini (but don't blame me if this leads you to buy a candy-pooping wooden moose for everyone on your list).

Muse in the Anchorage Museum (625 C St.) offers a quiet, soothing atmosphere to offset a day of holiday music, harried clerks and rabid shoppers. They also offer a nice children's menu. The Nordstrom Café is another winner with a ridiculously delicious tomato soup and some inventive salads and sandwiches. A little further afield is the saloon at Simon & Seafort's (420 L St.) for good cocktails and snacks (an especially good value during their happy hour, available daily from 3 to 6 p.m.). Plus, the view can't be beat.

For south-side shoppers, Terra Bella (601 E. Dimond Blvd., open at 7:30 a.m.) is a good bet for espresso, breakfast and lunch fare and a relaxing, serene atmosphere. In between the Dimond Mall and the Target/Cabela's shopping hub is Kaladi Bros. (9900 Old Seward Highway). This location offers ample seating, sandwiches made to order and even a fireplace to calm your rattled nerves. Suite 100 is well located for Dimond area shoppers (1000 E. Dimond Blvd.), but is only open for dinner. Get there early (they open at 4 p.m.) for a seat at the bar.

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Of course, if you've spent all of your hard-earned cash on this year's Tickle-Me-Elmo, it's tough to beat the value at the Costco snack bar (you don't need a membership to eat there). Grab a hefty $9.95 pizza to go, or plop down at a picnic table and tuck away a chicken bake or a mega-sized frozen yogurt while gloating about your frugality.

Butter ball

Garrison Keillor once described the proper Thanksgiving cooking strategy as adding butter to dishes until they stop absorbing it. "You keep adding butter until you think maybe you've used too much butter, and then you add a little bit more, and that's enough, right there, right there," he says. If this is true at your house (and it should be) then you may be feeling as stuffed as your turkey. Maybe it's time for a brief health kick?

Salads, soups, vegetarian and vegan entrees and a bewildering list of wheat-grass drinks and complex smoothies are available at Organic Oasis (2610 Spenard Road -- note: smoothies are only made until 6 p.m.). Natural Pantry (3680 Barrow Street) has a huge variety of healthy options at its colossal salad bar/buffet (note: the sausage-flecked mac and cheese is not among them). Middle Way Café (1200 W. Northern Lights Blvd.), at my favorite retail hub, has a variety of smoothies (including vegan ones), soups and salads, as well as vegan and gluten-free options at the bakery.

I don't know if bee pollen in your drink will wipe your culinary sins clean, but it's worth a try.

The Sriracha solution

I dearly love a Thanksgiving feast. A meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and yams is a celebration of comfort foods. And comfort is, well, sometimes bland. If your tongue is protesting another turkey sandwich, then it may be time to wake your palate back up. I call it the Sriracha solution.

A bowl of pho dressed up with extra jalapenos and a liberal squirt of red chili sauce is a great antidote to a few days of buttery blandness. Ray's Place (2412 Spenard Road -- closed on Saturday and Sunday), Pho Lena (2904 Spenard Road & Boniface Parkway) and Pho Vietnam 4 (809 E. Loop Road) are among the city's best. If you prefer a curry kick, stop by Yak and Yeti (1360 W. Northern Lights) or Bombay Deluxe (555 W. Northern Lights). For a south-of-the-border experience, Serrano's (201 E. Northern Lights) and Taco King (7 locations around town) both have a satisfyingly spicy salsa bar. For the ultimate in a spicy palate cleanser, kimchi soup from either Tofu House (5121 Arctic Blvd.) or Corea Blue (6311 DeBarr Road) will make the taste of marshmallow-topped yams a distant memory.

The great escape

The turkey is soup, the fancy linens are stashed away and the card table is back in the garage. But your out-of-town visitors? Still here.

If you need a break from arguing about immigration, if cousin Mary is one cat away from becoming a hoarder -- and who was Mom's favorite? -- it may be time to sneak out and … um … run a quick errand? And by "errand," I mean "a quick belt at a dive bar." Sometimes, a dark bar with a country-western soundtrack is just what you need to reset your patience meter.

Anchorage has a wealth of welcoming but no-nonsense dive bars (I use this term lovingly). My favorite spots for a no-wait, no-fuss, no-paper-umbrella drink are Reilly's (317 W. Fireweed Lane), The Buckaroo Club (2811 Spenard Road), Darwin's Theory (426 G St.), The Long Branch Saloon (1737 E. Dimond Blvd.) and The Blue Fox (3461 E. Tudor Road). A restful hour with a brown liquid on ice will help you face another one of your uncle's blond jokes. But don't linger too long. You're supposed to be at the dry cleaner.

With a little strategic planning, you can shop, do a shot, down a smoothie and spice things up all on the same day. And by Saturday, you'll be ready to start planning Christmas dinner.

Mara Severin | Eating out

Mara Severin is a food writer who writes about restaurants in Southcentral Alaska. Want to respond to a column or suggest a restaurant for review? Reach her at dining@adn.com.

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