Located inside Forbidden Peak Brewery, a car ride from downtown Juneau in Auke Bay, Red Spruce offers a variety of small bites including homemade Bavarian pretzels, smash burgers and pork carnitas. There’s generous outdoor seating, a kids menu, and a nice view. 

This is a cozy, affordable Filipino-influenced diner with lots of regulars in the Mendenhall Valley where it’s very hard to leave without being full. Many of the city’s culinary workers, including Rachel Carrillo Barril, chef at In Bocca al Lupo, got their start here. Among the menu favorites you’ll find: the loco moco, bacon fried rice and the “garbage plate” scramble, which has a robust fan club.

This popular takeout only operation in the Mendenhall Valley serves an Asian/Pacific Islands menu, including barbecue, pork belly pho, banh mi, noodle bowls, curry bowls and Korean-style wings. The poke is a favorite. Zerelda’s is vegetarian friendly and serves ramen on Thursdays.

A simple lunch spot and ice cream shop a little outside the main cruise ship scene but an easy walk, Coppa offers homemade pastries, locally roasted coffee, and a rotating selection of ice creams. A simple lineup of homemade soups, salads, and sandwiches anchors the menu. (The brown rice salad is a local favorite.)

The two locations of this local favorite share one mission: affordable, epic burgers and sandwiches. One location is downtown near the Juneau convention center, the other is a car ride away, in the Mendenhall Valley, at Juneau Mercantile and Armory. At both you’ll find good bets among a rotating cast of specials including the hot chicken sandwich and the brisket.

This is vegan- and vegetarian-friendly restaurant in the heart of downtown Juneau with Filipino menu influences and goth vibes. On the menu you’ll find beautiful vegetarian wraps, generous salads, noodles, biscuits with Spam, breakfast hash, fried rice, pork belly and brisket. There are lots of options for gluten-free and dairy-free diners. And, if you’re in the mood, you can let the witches and warlocks behind the counter choose your soup or sandwich.

A favorite of the legislative set, this restaurant in the heart of downtown Juneau has a warm atmosphere and is a very good place to have a martini – you may be able to sample local Almaga gin – and local oysters, or if it suits you, a sturdy ribeye. Locals appreciate the  full bar with a very serviceable cocktail menu and extensive wine list. Private group spaces. Reservations recommended in summer.

A favorite breakfast and lunch spot in downtown Juneau with excellent espresso, the Rookery Cafe offers breakfast bowls, fresh baked pastries, salads, sandwiches, and a very nice burger. Good bets on the menu: the adobo loco-moco and very outrageous toast specials, including ingredients like caramelized corn flakes and sweetened condensed milk. It’s a friendly place to bring kids and there’s some communal dining.

This restaurant serves authentic southern Indian family recipes, with specials made by owner Nimmy Philips, a former electrical engineer, known around town as “the spice lady.” It’s located in downtown Juneau, it’s also a summertime destination for Indian visitors. It serves beer and wine.

A summer-only operation run by a former commercial fisherman, this food truck a few blocks from the cruise docks has a simple menu – tacos – with a focus on fresh-off-the-boat fish, including rockfish, halibut and salmon.

There are a number of small food carts on the wharf catering to tourists, but this Filipino food cart is where you’ll see cruise ship workers lined up, and rightfully so. They’re after excellent barbecue, turon, or fried banana rolls, and dinuguan, or pork blood stew. Get a plate and grab a bench with a view of the channel.