3 Best Restaurants in Homer, The Kenai Peninsula and Southcentral Alaska

There's often a line out the door of this artisan gelateria on Homer Spit that's operated by a passionate chef who studied the art of making this dense, richly flavored ice cream in Calabria, Italy, and has garnered numerous awards. You can choose from around 15 flavors, including some rotating seasonal options, such as wild Alaskan rose with local honey, and maple brown butter pecan with Alaskan sea salt. It's open till late on summer evenings.

Set amid a strip of colorful old wood-frame buildings on Homer Spit, this casually upscale seafood bistro with large windows overlooking the water turns out consistently fantastic, artfully presented contemporary seafood dishes, often with Asian or Mediterranean influences. Start with the Alaskan crab sushi bake or spot prawn toast on house-baked focaccia, before tucking into a plate of tempura-halibut bibimbap or Kodiak scallops in a sweet-corn soubise. Save room for the out-of-this-world carrot cake. Reservations are a good idea at this popular spot. 

Open at 7 am, this little café near the end of the Spit is a perfect stop before a day of fishing, but lunch is an equally fulfilling experience. Owner and renowned chef Kirsten Dixon and her daughter Mandy, both of them graduates of Le Cordon Bleu, the Paris cooking school, create simple, highly pleasing meals like fresh ramen with homemade broth, local vegetables, and seasonal fish. All the wild seafood dishes here are tremendously flavorful.