Harley’s Old Thyme Cafe

Good comfort food with a few twists. Waitresses are friendly, old style atmosphere, hence Harley’s Old Thyme Café.

Went here this morning with a friend to grab some breakfast. The place is kind of a dive. No matching plates and cups, cleanliness could definitely have used some help, along with the appearance of their staff was frumpy and not really professional. It really has that mom and pops feel to it, but without the warm hospitality that should go with it. The overall visit really teetered on a 2 and 3 star experience. I leaned more toward 2 because the service really wasn’t overly impressive. The food however though was descent enough.

I visit this place about once a month when I come up from Soldotna. I usually order the eggs Benedict and sourdough pancakes, both of which are fantastic. Eggs are always poached perfectly and the pancakes have a great flavor.

I’ve been here once after seeing reviews on here and I’d highly recommend it. It reminds me of a «ma and pa» shop that should be in the middle of nowhere. Down home comfort food, large portions and a great price.

UPDATE: went in today and the table was super sticky with little dried puddles of syrup. Asked the waitress (the only female waitress I’ve seen there in the 8 – 9 months we’ve been going) to wipe it down and she got a little attitude about it. Made a snarky comment to another employee as she was walking back to get the towel. When she came back she acted like she couldn’t see anything and rolled her eyes at it. My table mate confirmed they saw the mess too… Probably won’t be back anytime soon after this experience.
I love this place. Biscuits and gravy come automatically with certain menu items and are outstanding. Great service. Chicken fried steak is homemade and tender. Reindeer sausage is a treat. Can’t say enough good things about the food! Eat brunch here all the time.

Traveling thru Anchorage, stop here for some hardy breakfast and lunch. Great service and staff. Who would guess Hawaii would have its own Loco Moco with top sirloin patty, rice and brown hot gravy. Stop by Harley’s.. Quaint padded booths and rustic like décor. Plenty of free parking.
Nice people. Great food, bring the kids and your belly!

Where do I start… I really don’t like giving bad reviews but my lunch today was very disappointing… Dinner salad came out on a dirty plate (stuck on melted cheese) which they tried to say was honey mustard salad dressing.(I had to scrape it with my fingernail) I was eating blue cheese… had the wings and they had the texture of boiled chicken and some weren’t even cooked through. On the plus side, the service was decent…

Every time I eat at Harley ‘s it amazes me that more people don’t know about this place, especially with the lack of decent breakfast places in AK. It’s traditional greasy diner food cooked really really well. I can’t say enough about this place the owner comes out to make sure your happy and the food is not only up to your expectations but also his. This place will always be up on my top five for places to eat in the am. Also it might seem weird to some but the fried pickles are absolutely amazing no matter the time of day or the food your eating. It should be tried by all!!!
The lunch menu is ok, I personally only think the Cuban is good.

If you’re in the mood for an old-​time «greasy spoon» meal, Harley’s is the place to go. I usually go there for breakfast on a weekend, and am always happy with the meal I get. Huge portions, good ingredients — the ham and eggs is exceptional — and well prepared. Service has always been fast and friendly.
Well worth a try!

My mom took me here for lunch because she read good reviews about it in the paper, but boy we’re they wrong. Not only was the service bad, the food worse, but the whole layout/​seating of this place was just absolutely horrible. Everything felt cramped together, the seats and tables were very uncomfortably small. I ordered the beef brisket and my mom ordered the chicken cutlet. My brisket was tough and dry whereas my mom’s chicken was soggy and unappetizing. The waitress did nothing to help us even though we were trying our best to be polite. I would definitely not recommend this place to anyone.

Friendly staff and good breakfasts! I had the reindeer sausage and eggs for breakfast with biscuits and gravy, everything was done great, reindeer sausage was spicy and cooked just right, not greasy at all, hash browns and eggs were perfect, and the biscuit and gravy could have been a meal themselves. Lastly the Harley cake was a good dessert, it looks like it was a small pancake with caramelized syrup and a pecan on top. I would go back to this place for breakfast in a heartbeat.

There were two of us for breakfast this morning. My seven yr old son and myself. We originally planned to go to Judy’s, but didn’t have cash. We ended up at Harley’s and had a nice breakfast. My son had the 3 star (1 egg, bacon, and 2 pancakes, w/​OJ) $ 6.35. I opted for the Lite 1(1 egg, bacon, ½ hash browns, and toast) $ 6.55, adding coffee 2.00. Our service was good, at this point. Our food took at reasonable amount of time.
The food: our eggs we offered any style and we both ordered over medium, they came over easy. The coffee was coffee flavored water, too thin for my taste. That was the only negative, we cleaned our plates. Perfect portion size for us. Full, and nothing left over but the orange peel.
Service: Our service was good until the bill came. Major pet peeve. When you give me the check for $ 15.80 and I give you a $ 20, bring me my change. Don’t ask me if I want change, and when I do, don’t bring me $ 4.00. Bring me $ 4.20′ and I’ll decide what to do with it. Who the &@$# said you could round up and only bring be $ 4.00. Where did my 20 cents go? I know it’s only 20 cents, but that’s not the point. Ok, I’m done now. I took them down 1 star for that, and a half for the eggs. So it’s 3 ½ stars for me.

Reasonable place for breakfase: the place is clean, the staff is nice, service is quick.
Breakfast places are hard to stand out from average, to get four or five stars they must do something quite well, or unique — but for breakfast most people’s standards seem to decline.
Reindeer sausage: cooked perfectly, not greasy — presented well, and delicious.
Sourdough pancakes — the reason I went there — a hint of sourdough but tasted much more like buttermilk pancakes than sourdough pancakes. I suspect those places where great sourdough pancakes reign prepare them differently, or have another way they treat the starter — these were just pancakes, and since I love sourdough pancakes I am unlikely ever to return to have these.
Bacon — prepared not over crispy or underdone — not greasy.
Kids — they treat kids very well here– a good place to go with them.
Coffee — above average (which says a lot for most places) — not a place I would go for premium coffee and they don’t have a barista– but if I want someone to make a flower with cream in my coffee I will find someone who does that. I prefer my coffee to taste like coffee, not be bitter, and reasonably fresh. This passed that test.
Prices are reasonable.
This is a passable breakfast place. Easy to park — it is on the south side of the street just by the 76^th Ave and Old Seward Highway intersection.
If you are in the area, and want a breakfast that won’t kill you, but sustain you– this is it.

This place was amazing! I ordered the eggs Benedict, and this was the best I’ve had! Another person In my party ordered the hand breaded home made chicken strip basket, it was to die for! Went beyond what I expected! My eggs Benedict, which is only available as a weekend special on Saturday and Sunday, was $ 10.95. Great deal! Most of the items on the menu were priced fair or really good. Harley’s old thyme café is definitely one of my new favorites, I can’t wait to come back here and try new things!

I know that sometimes restaurants have good and bad days, and that sometimes, they excel at one type of meal more than an other. But I am utterly shocked by how many good reviews this place has because my one experience there, for breakfast, was absolutely disgusting! I do not use this word lightly. I am actually pretty low maintenance about breakfast and don’t require anything fancy (though I do enjoy that). So, when I want a basic breakfast, you know, pancakes, bacon, and eggs, I generally figure that most restaurants will be able to offer something decent.
Harley’s proved me very, very wrong. I swear that my pancakes were made of saltines that were mushed up with water. They had a flat, dry cracker taste that no amount of syrup could make palatable. And I’m pretty sure that my bacon had been cooked in advance and then microwaved or else they fried them in advance and refried them on my order because they were burnt to a crisp and awful. I sent them back, and the second set was just as bad as the first. Eggs. Well, they served me a basic scrambled egg. They got that right. So, there’s one thing.
Bad day or no, it was so bad that I can never go back to try it in an attempt to understand why it seems to be a popular place.

Best omelet ever! Plus you get to have hashbrowns AND biscuits and gravy with it for only 10.35!!!
My new breakfast spot! And amazing service to boot!!!

Maybe it was a bad day… but it was early and not busy. Did not see the waitress for 10 minutes, took another 10 to get a cup of coffee. The food wasn’t great. Service was awful. I’ll never go back.

God Bless Harley. Obviously an old-​skool Anchorage establishment that has stood the test of time. Head over to Harley’s Old Thyme Café and have a nice solid, standard breakfast at standard Alaskan prices.
It’s a cute diner, generally speaking, pretty worn down, and obviously the booths have seen quite a few large Alaskan diners over the years.
My friend had raved about this place, so I figured we’d give it a shot. The service was good, the food was pretty standard fare (not bad, not mind blowing, just standard). I’m sure there are a lot of loyal locals that love Harley’s. Place hasn’t probably changed a single piece of anything in 20 years, and that’s exactly how they like it.
It’s a decent place to bring the family, but for me, if I’m having breakfast in Anchorage, I’m going to Snow City or Middle Way Café. Just brighter, more upbeat, and more lively.

I love Harley’s! I love having lots of choices and options when it comes to food, and the menu here is full of variety. I’ve eaten here quite a few times and never get sick of it. I make it a point to eat here any time I’m in town.
I love the Joe Special. Chicken and dumplings are pretty awesome too. Every so often I’ll opt for the catfish. Anything brisket related is good. Mmmm, I’m making myself hungry just thinking about this place.
When you eat there, it’s casual, yet intimate. The staff make you feel like family. I can’t wait to go back!

A great café, with everything you would expect at one.
In the middle of a little strip mall, it’s easy to miss when you drive down Old Seward Highway, but the moment you step in, there is a sense that, you are just going to be treated well. The food portions are just right, bigger than most, and you’ll be good for the rest of the morning or afternoon.
Overall, the food was great, service was equally great, and the next time I fly up to Alaska, this place will be a must.