Lavelle’s Bistro

Basically, no one take care of you. You have to stand up and stop a ghost walking around and place order. Food is pricy and normal. If you have a car. Go to another place. Have fun in Alaska.

I was visiting Fairbanks from California for a couple of days and my boyfriend wanted to take me out to dinner — to the «fanciest place in Fairbanks» ;). I’m usually very picky with seafood but we had crab cakes for an appetizer and I actually liked them! I then had soup, but it was this weird Thai peanut soup which I didn’t really like as much as my boyfriend liked his Caesar salad. For my main course I had a chicken dish which I thoroughly enjoyed, but my favorite dish was dessert… the carrot cake. The carrot cake had caramel drizzled on the side and I thought that was amazing. It was super moist and I secretly didn’t want to share! Our server was okay, he smelled like cigarettes but the manager was awesome — checking up on us every so often :).

A surprisingly good place in Fairbanks. Not what you would expect on the back side of a Marriott Fairfield Inn. Don’t let the front lobby throw you off. If you are staying here then this is a great choice. Nice atmosphere good service and food

Seated on the main floor, close to the bar. Too loud to hold a conversation with my wife, even when we were seated right next to each other. Only good seating is on the upper part, as far from the bar as possible (based on previous experience).
Service was slow. Because we were in the dead center of the floor it felt like we went unnoticed by the staff. The busser was somewhat rude; on different occasions, grabbed a glass while I was still holding it, pushed my hand out of the way to grab a plate, and when we were ready to leave he 1) didn’t give us everything that was on the plate he took away, and 2) forgot about my food. It looked like he only gave us as much of our food as could fit in the small boxes. Maybe I’m wrong, but it certainly looked that way.
Food was good; the only redeeming quality of the restaurant (eaten here 3 – 4 times), but even then, not worth another visit.

Great atmosphere and the food is pretty good though a little pricey. Service was excellent! We ordered the shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and they give bread. I ordered the Louisiana shrimp and didn’t realize it would be almost exactly like the shrimp cocktail and bread except different sauce (lobster bisque… Which was delicious) oh well!

So I came here right at 6pm expecting to have a nice dinner before I leave Alaska the next day. I walked in and asked for a table. The guy takes a minute walks over to the schedule book. Looks at me up and down and then tells me they are booked for the night. I see 5 open tables and they said they are booked for the night. Seriously they just going to leave them unseated till those people show up. Well I probably got denied because I am Asian or because we were not properly dressed cause we were tourist. But if you are really booked do you have to wait a minute to tell me that? I mean if you know you are booked you can tell when before you scan me up and down. This is not the Airport!

The last time I was here I have a mediocre rating due to tough chewy meat.
I’ve been here twice this week with my wife.
I took a big chance and tried their full rack of lamb.
I absolutely love Lamb.
I order it wherever I can.
I feel lucky to get good Lamb cooked perfectly ½ the time.
Who would’ve thunk (I know. Poor English) that Fairbanks would serve the perfect bit of lamb for the year.
It was cooked exactly how I asked. Medium rare.
I had tidbits of charred meat on the fringes, and a pink virtually uncooked interior in the center. EXACTLY how I ordered. And the plethora of flavores that go with the various «done ness» variation of cooked. (man. That is a real bad sentence) but then again
I am drinking a real cold beer. And a pet peeve I have is beer served German style Luke warm.
The fresh house salad came with a variety of flavors on the plate. Artichoke, cucumber, and fresh greens with cucumber. Home made ranch.
Home made ranch.
How rare in any establishment.
I frikkin love home made ranch.
I make it at home. It’s such a treat.
GET IT HERE.
Wife had halibut. Loved it.
I don’t rate service. I don’t find it important. I care about the food. But it’s worth mentioning.
Sharif was exceptionally warm, fast, accommodating with just enough chit chat to make me feel special.
Thank you for flying in your lamb from New Zealand.
Thank you for employing great servers.
Thank you for the fresh asparagus.
Thank you for taking the risk of a business
Just short of the arctic circle.
I appreciate a business that will charge «whatever they have to» to get me what I desire.
Lavelles does great.
Why not five stars?
I’m still remembering the tough ribeye and dry salmon I got last year.
A few more consistent visits like this will earn them five.
And I rate on a national standard. Not a Fairbanks one.
Again. Please patronize this place.
The entrepreneurs are doing great.
I worked in bethel aniak galena deadhorse.
Considering the socially inexperienced masses the owners have to draw upon, her in fai.
I am impressed with what the owners have found.
L.

Date of visit: ½/​2016
I was blown away by the service at Lavelle’s Bistro. Since it was so cold in Fairbanks, Cam and I (wrongfully) assumed that there wouldn’t be too many people out and about, but we were wrong. On a Saturday night after the new year, it seemed like everyone was there for dinner. Luckily, I had Cam call in a reservation earlier that afternoon and we were seated at our reservation time.
The reservation system is a little weird since you leave a message on the answering machine and may not get a call back. I wasn’t even sure we had a reservation since they never called back, but we decided to go since I really wanted to try some of the wines.
Bread and butter comes complimentary to the table, which was just okay. Nothing mind blowing, but definitely appreciated to snack on while we were eating.
Lavelle’s Salad. Wow. I requested the blue cheese on the side so Cam would eat it, which was accommodated. The dressing also came on the side, which was nice because then we could control how dressed the salad was. The combination was spectacular! I loved the candied walnuts and strawberries, whose sweetness was offset by the red wine vinaigrette. The lettuce was also very fresh — Cam and I devoured this salad.
Honey Apple Halibut. Since Cam and I were splitting, the kitchen divided the entrée up for us, which was really nice. I liked the honey apple cream sauce and how it really complimented the flavors of the halibut. I also really enjoyed the heirloom baby carrots that came with our meal.
Black Bottom Crème Brulee. Even though crème brûlée is my favorite dessert, we typically don’t get it while going out because I can make it at home. However, since there was chocolate at the bottom of this dessert, I convinced Cam that we had to get it, and it was the right choice. There was just enough chocolate to be tasted and not overwhelm the entire dessert. The only thing that would make this dessert better would be some fresh berries. I’m always a fan of serving crème brûlée with berries to offset the sweetness with tartness, but there were none here.
Overall, this was probably my favorite meal in Fairbanks and definitely worth a visit. It’s definitely a bit pricey, but the staff is phenomenal, and the food is really good.

We live in Fairbanks in the summers and this is hands down my favorite restaurant. They also have great wine tastings!

Just came back from dinner to celebrate my teenager’s birthday. Here are the pros:
The ribeye steak was yummy.
The Sriracha shrimp was excellent.
Lavelle’s salad was very good.
The cons:
The meatloaf wasn’t that good.
The Thai soup was bland.
Worst of all: The service sucked.
Service was slow. Also it is my son’s birthday which I relayed to the waiter. I told the waiter to put a candle on the dessert we ordered which was the chocolate bundt cake with ice cream. The waiter brought no candle nor ice cream. I asked the waiter if the dessert is right and he said it’s the bundt cake I ordered.
I tipped less than normal to make up for the lack of ice cream. However I understand it is Christmas Eve and the waiter seemed overwhelmed so i didn’t deduct as much as I should have. However they get one star only from me on Unilocal

Stopped in for my anniversary and food was outstanding. A bit of a wait to get food but for a Friday night, not bad at all. Our waitress was always polite and checked on us throughout the night.

Enjoyed our meals. My wife had the beef tips and crab legs. She said it was delicious. I had meatloaf which was good, although I wished there was more. I had a side salad which was really good. Come here for a $pecial occasion.

Food was excellent, $$$. Service was awesome, no complaints there. The place was busy & usually is from what I hear. I had the prime rib and king crab, it was roughly $ 60 before tip. Portion size was normal, nothing noticeably larger than average. My friend said the fish was good but had wished there was 2 pieces. Again the size was normal, go here if you need help with portion sizing your food.

Came in for an end of the day meal. After all the pricey but mediocre meals we had in Fairbanks before I was a bit skeptical. Being advised by a local visitor center worker that Lavelle’s was upscale dining tempered my concern, but I still was not convinced.
I was converted when I saw a filet mignon pass by our table. It looked great. Our lobster cakes appetizer for $ 16 consisted of two good sized cakes which were delicious. The duck salad for $ 18 had a plentiful portion of crispy skinned duck with a nice pink center.
The wait staff was attentive and well trained. They refilled my drink and brought additional bread without asking. An excellent end to a nice day in Fairbanks.

May be one of my favourite restaurants in town, since I am not a big fan of the typical American food (sandwiches, burgers, french fries) and prefer healthier menu. There one can find good seafood and variety of salads, as well as great lamb racks and prime rib. In addition they have special menu every month. I really like
french onion soup, the halibut, grilled shrimp spinach salad and Teresa salad… The prices are as one can expect for an upscale restaurant. Make sure you DO have reservation as it is always busy, especially for dinner! You will be welcomed with bread and butter :)

Not worth the expense unless you’re trying to impress a date or your parents.
Who does that anymore?

OK,
So dinner at 11pm… it is light out. Weird.
Anywho, I have not seen lobster cakes on any menu ever. Here they have them. Second on my list of favorite things to eat are cakes… crab cakes, tuna cakes, salmon cakes, fish cakes, black bean cakes and tamale cakes… of all cakes, these lobster cakes take the cake! Literally these were the best cakes I have ever had. They were light, flavorful, perfectly seared and delicious.
The seared Ahi was equally as enjoyable.

Let’s start out with what I liked:
Ambiance: wow, fancy! Darkly lit, everyone dressed up (as dressed up as you can be for Fairbanks), feels classy… especially for a hotel restaurant. I’m not usually into places like this, but it’s December and there’s snow on the ground, it just feels right.
The food: was pretty good. I got the rockfish special, it wasn’t amazing but it was tasty. A little spendy for around $ 30.
Three-​star experience so far…
But…the beer.
The options weren’t all that great on tap, no IPA. No biggie, I can work with that. I asked what IPA’s they had in bottles and the bartender rattled off 4. I went with the Widmer IPA (which I’ve had many times, and enjoy).
Something was off.
Something was really off. I remember liking Widmer IPA but this beer was just thin. Oh so thin, and metallic. I just don’t remember the beer tasting like this. It was like abrasive hop-​water.
I get the tab and I see «Omission IPA» listed as the beer I got.
Huh.
I asked the bar tender (different one than the one that poured it for me) about it and he confirmed that it was Omission IPA and that «we don’t carry Widmer IPA, they are all the same price though.»
Me (uncharacteristically brusk): «Yeah, Omission IPA is a gluten-​free beer, no wonder it tasted like shit.»
Bartender: «Yeah, sorry about that, you weren’t charged more for it though.»
Service industry 101: this is the part where you COMP THE BEER.
You might be thinking: «What’s the big deal?»
Well, I’ll tell you what the big deal is.
This isn’t like ordering a Bud Light and someone accidentally brings you a Miller Lite.
This is like ordering a pizza and getting a pizza with vegan «cheese».
This is like ordering a steak and getting a field roast.
This is like ordering chicken curry and getting tofu curry.
It’s wrong. Beer without gluten tastes odd, it has no soul. If it were just a different brand of IPA I wouldn’t have any problem, but this was so much more.
I used to think this Gluten-​free pseudoscience fad was harmless, but now: it’s personal.

This is my second time in Fairbanks — and my second time at Lavelles. I am from Southern California and in town for business with Tanana Valley Clinic. The last time I was in town, the CMO took me here for dinner and it was delicious — so with that being said, since i was in town (all alone for my birthday) i wanted to have something delicious — so i came back to Lavelles. It is (in my opinion) the nicest restaurant in Fairbanks… i know i shouldnt type it in that tone — but I travel the nation weekly and I am utterly surprised with the amount of GOOD FOOD i have found in Fairbanks — my experiences with traveling to a smaller, remote town — all you get are fast food joints… Lavelles is the crème de la crème in Fairbanks.
I had the Ribeye with Shallot butter and Gargonzola cheese. It came with a baked potato and green beans. I ordered my Ribeye medium well and it was cooked to perfection. The soup that accompanied my meal was Garlic Chicken and wild rice — that too was delicious. Even their bread and butter was yummy. I ended my meal with a Vanilla Crème Brulee — and told my server it was my birthday… he brought back my crème brûlée with a candle. :)
Service was superb, and i walked in at 6pm with no reservation and was seated right away. I will return before I leave back to Cali.

I’ve dined at this restaurant innumerable times now, and wish they were open for lunch. Conveniently located inside the Spring Hill Suites, they offer excellent food and service. Here are some of my favorite items:
— Potato-​crusted sockeye salmon. A filet of the Copper River red salmon baked in a coating of mashed potato, which keeps it moist, tender and flavorful.
— Meatloaf. There’s something about this meatloaf that I can’t put my finger on, but it tastes really good.
— Halibut. Fresh from the icy waters, they say. Sounds about right, it does taste very fresh.
— Hawaiian sunfish. This is not on their regular menu, but they offer it every now and then as a nightly special.
For appetizers (or what they call «prospects»), the lobster cakes, the King crab and artichoke dip and the calamari are great; I think it’s really the lemon aioli with the calamari that makes it special for me.
The service, both at the bar and regular table service, is courteous and professional. Dining at the bar is often a fun way to interact with the locals.
The restaurant is not part of the hotel; they only lease space from the hotel. As such, you cannot charge your meal to your room. Just thought you, dear reader, may want to be aware of that.