9 Best Restaurants in The Kenai Peninsula and Southcentral Alaska, Alaska

With an unusual setting inside a 1913 railroad car, this superb farm-to-table eatery is the hippest place to eat in the area. It's part of Whistle Hill, a respected local company that also has a railcar coffeehouse, a gift shop, an art gallery, a hydroponic farm, and a Tesla car charging station. The kitchen uses a lot of locally sourced produces and meats in dishes goat cheese balls with blueberry-apricot chutney and hot honey–glazed salmon with rice noodles, veggies, and a sesame-ginger sauce.

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.

This cozy restaurant and inn serves some of the finest crepes in Alaska with options that range from savory, like fresh spinach and cheese, to sweet, like mixed-berry compote with Nutella, ground almonds, and whipped cream. Other options include Belgian-style waffles and rich house-made hot chocolate. The adjacent inn is quite pleasant.

Owned by Chef Kevin Lane and his wife Stacey, who also operate the renowned Cookery restaurant up the street, this festive taqueria offers out-of-this-world taco fillings, such as lightly breaded and fried rockfish and slow-cooked pork carnitas. Other good bets include tortas and burritos, and there's a terrific selection of house-made sauces and salsas.

At the top of the dock overlooking Halibut Cove, this is one of Southcentral's most beautiful places to sit and soak up the pleasures of a summer afternoon. Locally caught seafood, the restaurant's specialty, is prepared with finesse, and there's always a mouthwatering vegetarian option. Before or after dinner you can stroll Halibut Cove's boardwalks and visit the Experience Gallery, which features works by 18 local artists, or just relax on the dock. Reservations are essential for the ferry, which requires that you return the same way in which you came unless you've secured lodging on the Cove.

This airy two-story microbrewery serves eclectic and creative gastropub fare prepared with locally sourced ingredients—think Alaskan salmon poke steam buns with a crunchy wonton and spicy mayo, and exceptional pizzas topped with fried-garlic olive oil, braised oyster mushrooms, sausage, fontina, and burrata. The high-ceilinged restaurant's design blends rustic-chic, modern deco, and industrial elements and is anchored by an enormous copper fish welded by a local artist.

The epicurean heart of Whittier for more than two decades, Swiftwater offers delightful surprises like its famed calamari-steak sandwich—squid tenderized and fried in a secret batter. Other menu items include burgers, homemade chowders, rockfish, halibut, and salmon.