Soapy Smith’s Pioneer Restaurant

Wonderful service. The waiter made us feel like we were at home. He was funny and welcoming. I got the crab burger and it was amazing. My husband got the ½ lb. burger with jalapenos, they we not at all stingy with jalapenos like most places. What a great experience. The best part was there was no smoking.

Ate lunch here with my wife as recommended by the visitor center. We were looking for that local unique homemade touch. Best thing about our visit was lovely Bill who served us. I had a burger and must say it was disappointing. The meat tasted like a frozen patty that had a weird mixed beef/​pork? taste. My wife had the crab cake burger and said it was ok.

Two stars for Bill the waiter and the ice cold glass brought to me for my beer. Fairbanks isn’t a ‘foodie’ town & very limited on restaurant’s. It was a long week, I forgot to take some meat out of the freezer, and just didn’t feel like cooking. $ 18 for a bottle of beer and an open face roast beef sandwich with 3 tablespoons of veggie’s, ample mashed potatoes and gravy. If your absolutely hungry and in town visiting sure have at it, however if you live here in town go home and cook your own meal, keep your dinero in your wallet.

Quaint little place in Fairbanks serving up some delicious meals. I had the Philly Cheesesteak with a cup of chowder (it’s the best in town) and wasn’t disappointed.
I will definitely be returning soon!

Man, it’s tough to do this, but I must.
Service: 5+ stars
Our waiter was funny, sweet, quirky, and charming. Super nice guy, packed with local knowledge and general concern.
Ambiance: 4 stars
Great, authentic, old-​timey Alaska feel. Lots of old stuff on the walls to gawk at.
Food: 1.5 stars
Very plain, very pedestrian, and very expensive. Both of our meals tasted like they were frozen and then re-​heated in a microwave. My ribs and my corn had «cold spots» in them. So did my dining partner’s veggies. Very unimpressive (though not offensive) food that felt more TV dinner than dining out. Maybe we got the wrong things, but we were pretty puzzled by the Unilocal reviews here. If the food were under 10 bucks it would be excusable, but for 20ish… it’s unreal.
Maybe folks were blinded by the exceptional service? By being on vacation in Alaska? I don’t know. I probably won’t be coming back though, unfortunately.

Had lunch here but could see the menu for many great dinner selections. Great atmosphere and service very busy spot. Our guide suggested this place and I’m so glad we chose it. Very memorable experience all around.

Great Service, good food and one good experience:
Alaskan Crab cake was delicious (a lil oily though)
Salmon Sandwich was ok — salmon was a lil dry
Fries are really good
They have toys for Kids/​babies — loved it!

The server was so friendly. The environment was very welcoming. I ate alone because I was traveling for business but lots of the people inside were chatting to folks at other tables. I was invited to look around and there was a lot of meat artifacts and photos around. I enjoyed viewing the books while I dined.
The food was tasty, though a bit expensive for what it is. I would definitely go back!

Waiter was snarky, trying to be funny but it fell flat. Food was overpriced and not very good. They stress the made from scratch, but I think they just scratch it out of a box or bag. Veggies were mushy and watery, probably frozen a little too long. French fries were hard, cod was soft and I’ve had better fish sticks from Gorton;s. Bad night? or just bad food.

Server was very nice and obviously knew a lot about the area and background of items in the restaurant. However, the food was way to expensive for what you actually get. If I am leaving the restaurant paying upwards of $ 50, I expect real crab in the food, not fake crab (especially being in alaska).
Overall, service was great, but could not make up for the lack of quality versus price in their food.

The head waiter here is amazing and if you meet the owner he loves to talk about the history of his family. There’s so much to look at in the interior of the restaurant and I have really enjoyed all the food that I have gotten from soapys. I try to bring all my visiting friends and family here now.

Nice local feel at Soapy’s. Deco is very Alaskan, the owner is the grandson of an immigrant who settled in Alaska during the Gold rush. Artifacts everywhere about his story and his family.
Very good range of Alaskan craft beer. Food menu looks alright — pub food type (I had a burger, it was ok)
The waiter Bill is a great guy. Spent a lot of time chatting with him as the place was quiet when I was there.

One star for the very friendly service. Great place to visit if you are looking for genuinely kind service.
The food receives 0 stars. Ordered the cheesesteak sandwich & it was not good at all. Very overpriced for a small, poor quality sandwich. Very little substance to the sandwich, steak was tough & chewy, very few onions or peppers. It really was not a cheesesteak. Just a few strips of chewy, tough semi-​thin cut steak pieces on a dry roll.

Food was great. I got a Salmon sandwich which was served on very fresh bread and well-​prepared fish. We also got a Halibut sandwich which was equally delicious. Afterwards we got a cherry pie and it was the highlight.
Décor is gold-​rush and Fairbanks memorabilia; but not at all the generic, pre-​packaged, focus-​group-​approved, touristy junk you’d see at a claim-​jumper, for example. Almost all of the other customers were locals and most of them were in one way or another, such as their ancestry, relations or political careers, featured in the décor. The server went out of his way to introduce us to the locals who where friendly and generous with their time and story and their connection to Soapy’s walls.
Service could not have been friendlier. Seriously, there is no way possible for the service to have been friendlier. Orders where taken quickly and efficiently, but still personalized. Food arrived quickly and well paced even though there was something of a mini-​rush with five other tables all sitting at the same time as we arrived.

Alaskan king crab burger… If you like crab cakes and the McFish, then you will enjoy this. The tartar sauce is home made and delicious. Tip: ask for the Dijon mustard, put mustard on one side of the bun, mustard on the other. Only complaint is the crab could be in larger chunks. It’s sort of finely diced into a breaded patty which in My opinion almost defeats the purpose of using king crab no? Potato salad made with egg, mustard, relish, and red potatoes was pretty darn good.

I asked a few locals where to eat while in town. They stated they don’t eat in town lol however they said our best bet was Soapy’s. It’s a cute restaurant but the best part was our waiter Bill. He was a fast talking, fast moving guy with a great sense of humor. Potato salad is great. Clam chowder is very good. One person had the tuna melt which was just like you would make at home. Pretty standard food, don’t expect it to be the best you’ve ever had though. With the limited options here go for this one while you’re in downtown Fairbanks and if you get the chance have Bill as your waiter.

Fun and lively atmosphere with good selection of Alaska cuisine. Walls lined with frontier Alaska memorabilia.

Bumped into this place on vacation. Loved it. Good food and wonderful service. Good price point.
Check them out when you are in Fairbanks.

Just so-​so. It’s got the feel of a Fisherman’s Wharf tourist trap. I had the baked salmon sandwich with fries. The salmon was small and nothing to write home about. The fries were store bought frozen.
The service was great. The meal (including two beers), was around $ 23, excluding tip.

I saw this restaurant from my window at the Spring Hill Suites (it is located directly behind the hotel), and got all excited because I was hungry, the onsite restaurant was not scheduled to open until 4pm and I did not want to walk far for lunch. I found out they were closed on Sundays, which drove me cray-​cray! The sign on the door said they had a great crabcake sandwich, so I decided to go back the next day.
The crabcake sandwich was good, but not nearly all it was hyped up to be. There are other places in Alaska that serve better King crab cakes. The honey-​battered fried chicken was good too; the portion was small, which I didn’t mind because I really should be eating small portions of fried food. The small size of the chicken was also a heartening reassurance (or at least I took it to be so) that it had not been treated with steriods or growth hormones!
The service is friendly and attentive.
Will I be back? Hmmm… well, I have been back a couple of times and probably will be back again, just because of the convenient location in relation to the hotel I normally stay at, and I really had no complaints about the food or service; all good but not outstanding (I don’t always need outstanding food every single time I am hungry; simply good food will work just fine every now and again).