Amelia's Restaurant

Amelia's Restaurant

On day 3 of my Aleutian Work / vacation,  my co-worker and I went to another local hot spot, Amelia's. Amelia's is a small, unsuspecting place between the airport and famous Grand Aleutian Hotel. From the outside you would never guess this green mobile home is an eclectic full service Mexican restaurant! Inside you find a very spacious main room with a smaller, more intimate side room for a more romantic evening out. The walls of Amelia's are covered, literally, with dozens of pictures of the local scenery along with a myriad of adorable Mexican wind chimes hanging from the center beam. I really should have taken a picture, it was that unique. 

The menu was unbelievable! Once again I was awestruck at the enormous selection of foods being offered in this little Island Oasis!  As much as I love Mexican foods though, my stomach was telling me to try the chili burger and Boy, am I glad I did! Upon seeing my plate arrive, my first comment was, “I can see that this town really caters to the fisherman! Look at the size of these portions!” Anyone eat at a true “Truck Stop” and you will know what I mean. 

Heaping with fresh out of the fryer fries, mounded with chili, cheese and onions, I could not even see a burger under all that. But it was there and my first bite was like a little piece of heaven.  I don't' know how I did it but some how that entire plate of food was devoured and thoroughly enjoyed! The onions were just right, not too strong. The chili was not too spicy and not at all watery. Homemade or not, I dont know but I do know that I have not tasted a canned chili like it before. My burger, once I found it under all those beans was juicy, thick and seasoned to perfection. Since the chili was not watery, even my bun managed to stand up to all that and provided a perfect sponge for soaking up all that scrumptious sauce.

Dutch Harbor Fast Food

Dutch Harbor Fast Food

I was lucky enough to have a trip to Dutch Harbor with my work this past week. Naturally I took the opportunity to try out some of the local eats, this had nothing to do with the fact my hotel room contained only a coffee pot. 

So, for lunch each day I ate out, and on Monday, I was taken to a favorite local spot called Dutch Harbor Fast Food. It is a quaint little yellow building located on Broadway in the heart of the city. 

There extensive menu offers everything from traditional burgers to pizza and Chinese, even some Thai and pho! I was having a hard time trying to decide what to eat but I ultimately decided to just start my Aleutian adventure with a Cheese Burger and fries. 

I was accompanied by a local and we chatted about the colorful town folk as well as the island life. Unalaska is full of some very friendly people. There is a huge mix of cultures here, brought to town mostly for the fishing. The name “Dutch Harbor” and “Unalaska” are used pretty much interchangeably. There is a Dutch Harbor, but the town is officially called Unalaska, as well as the big Island. But they have 2 post offices, one for Unalaska and one for Dutch Harbor. And depending on who you speak with, the area could be called many different things. 

But back to the restaurant. Dutch Harbor fast Food is a small, but very bright and clean restaurant with at least a half dozen skylights warming up the interior. During our hour stay, there were quite a few locals also enjoying the food. 

My burger came pretty quickly and I was pleasantly surprised to see such bright, fresh and crisp produce!   My burger had a generous amount of lovely melted cheddar cheese on top, the buns lightly grilled and a beautiful mound of crunchy french fries.   It was pretty darn good too. 

My companion enjoyed a chicken burger, which consisted of a breaded chicken breast topped with pepper jack cheese.

While this was no 3 napkin burger it definitely rivaled some Anchorage burgers. The portions were very generous and I was stuffed after this lunch, which was just perfect, so that evening I was able to get by with some soup made with the help of my handy dandy coffee pot. :)