Spinz - Anchorage

I decided to come here during lunch break after remembering the great food I had when they took orders at a lunch cart in Bell's Nursery about a year ago on a summer weekend. Spinz is located at the very end of a small strip mall right next door to McDonald's on Mountain View Dr. The place is small and there is no seating area which would have been nice for a restaurant like this but hopefully that will be in the plans somewhere down the line. The place was busy when I came in around noon. A lot of working regulars as well as some military personnel from Elmendorf Air Force base were waiting patiently in line to place an order. I had placed an order through the Toaster Takeout app and had it scheduled to pick up at 12:15PM, but you would have to stand in line instead of going to a designated station for pickup. A pleasant surprise when I finally came up to the register was that they serve your pickup order by making it at a prep station adjacent to the registers. The wait was only a couple of minutes and this was better than having it sit on the counter and grow cold. I ordered the 1/4 Dark Rotisserie Chicken with Cilantro Mojo Chicken Salad (a Latin spin on chicken salad with cilantro, tri-colored peppers, garlic, mint, extra virgin olive oil, and the restaurant's house-made spice blend) and the Peperonata Criolla (sofrito with bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, onions, chilis, and assorted veggies). The Peperonata Criolla was absolutely delicious with the sofrito mixed in. The sofrito itself came on the side. I had initially mistook it as a side of salsa until I realized that it was supposed to be mixed in as part of the dish. Likewise, the Mojo Chicken was also very good. The garlic and the cilantro were very noticeable and a great complement with the other ingredients. The Rotisserie Chicken was very tender and moist after being brined and slow-cooked for 12 hours according to the restaurant's website. The Salsa Blanca I chose as the sauce was a great mild spice level option which focused more on flavor. There is a spicy sauce option like the Salsa Aji Amarilla or the Fry Sauce. Peruvian-style cuisine is something you don't see often here in Anchorage and as someone who has lived in Florida, this is badly needed for more versatile options in town. I can't finish this review without mentioning some of the other items on the menu and I will definitely be coming back in the near future to try them out. Some of the more noticeable items include full-rack or half-rack Baby Back Ribs with a choice of either a jerk marinade or house-smoked seasoned rub, the Spin of the Day, daily specials served throughout the week like the Lamb Sandwich (thin-sliced smoked lamb with garlic aioli, caramelized onions, and fennel on a French roll) served on Thursdays, White Chicken Chili with white beans, chilies, topped with onions and cilantro, and their signature Chicken Tacos (tomatoes, dried plums...that's different, olives, and onions with spices and their signature Spinz sauce. They also offer larger portions of meat at market price like Rib Roast, Leg of Lamb, and Smoked Turkey Breast for family dinners or office gatherings. Catering is also available and comes as a package selection of certain items on their menu. Hopefully, they can add a seating area and that will increase business considerably.

After learning about Spinz more than a year ago, I finally got a chance to try it. Friends were coming over for dinner, so it was a great opportunity to try lots of their dishes. I placed an online order on 4/11/24 at 11:57am hoping to pick it up hours later at 3pm. The online system apparently Toast was okay, but automatically assigned every known modifier to each item, regardless of category (ie. it assumed I was an allergic vegan who wanted my sauces neither hot not cold and as such required me to deselect them all. I promptly received an email for the order confirmation then another a few minutes later, which reported that there was a problem with my order call Spinz (see screenshot #1 . Over the next half an hour, I tried to call Spinz many times (see screenshot #2 . It was around noon typically when you 'd think a restaurant would be taking business but there was no answer. I began to think their site had been compromised, and visited my credit card 's fraud information page. They suggested contacting the vendor prior to taking graver steps, so I took a deep breath and tried calling again. Lo, there was an answer! The male voice that answered explained that they were busy no excuse in my book, with more than 10 years working in restaurants but that my order had just been approved and would be ready at the designated time. When a friend arrived later to pick the order up, the staff helped him carry the large order out. The unpacking of the feast began once everyone was present, and there were immediate concerns. Despite ordering an abundance of sauces hearing that they were one of Spinz 's highlights, I ordered an extra $10 worth there were only 8 tiny 0.5oz (not even a shot 's worth containers of the various sauces for two whole chickens (see screenshot #3 . 8 sauces were supposedly included with the chicken itself, so I 'm not sure whatever happened to my $10. You can also imagine the looks thoughts from 3 gents who were trying to decide which of us to kill so there 'd be sauce for the chicken. Speaking of the chicken, it was very good. For the little chicken that actually got touched by sauce, it was indeed a fantastic combination. The amarillo, vinegar green sauces were highlights there might not have been enough of the others to get a feeling for them. The sweet plantains were also very good, and the rice/beans combination was interesting. The white beans by themselves were pretty bland, though. The agave lime coleslaw seemed to have no taste other than the cabbage, and may well have been the culprit in all three of us getting digestive issues later that evening (it was the only uncooked dish . I disagree with one of the comments I read about cost. If everything that I had ordered had actually made it into the bags, I would have said that it was reasonable. The full order never made it into the bags, though and in my experience, an order more than $100 (see screenshot #4 would usually get better attention (this wasn 't lemme get one rib! . If you decide to try Spinz, I 'd recommend going in person so you can be sure of what you 're getting (check each item and what you pay for. On 4/11/24 a Thursday I didn 't.

The CHICKEN ! This place knows how to cook or roast a chicken. I was hungry after spending 3 hours at Bass Pro Shop and I looked up a local restaurant. This was the suggestion and it was well worth it. I ordered the 1/4 all white chicken and as soon as I bit i to it, the juices were coming out. My sides were fried yuca and congri. The portions are massive and you will leave very satisfied. The staff was great and they ensured that I liked their product. The owner/chef came out just to ask me what did I think about the food. I told him that it was GRRREAT! The restaurant is clean and while you can't eat inside they have one table outside of the store that you can sit. If you don't want to cook and you want a healthy option, come here and get the whole chicken. You will be glad that you did and you are helping a small business owner. Healthy and tasty chicken !

I promise you've never had chicken this good. The meat is moist, skin is crisp, flavor is phenomenal. You mix that with some of the best service in the restaurant business and you've got a winner. They took a lot of time to explain the menu and the clearly take pride in what they offer. Check this place out, but bring your appetite!

I really wanted to love this place, but I just can't. Chief concern: value. This is probably the most expensive food in Alaska, in terms of what you pay for and what you get. I paid almost $17 and I got a piece of chicken smaller than my fist* and one side, a bowl of corn and tomatoes. The side was good and the chicken was good. So what am I complaining about? Well, the chicken tasted exactly like the chicken at Fred Meyer to me. I'm not hating, I freakin' LOVE a Fred Meyer chicken. The problems is that I usually get a whole chicken for around $8. And I got a quarter of a chicken here for $16. Some quick math (16*4 64, 64/8 8) reveals that the chicken here is rough 8 TIMES more expensive than Fred Meyer. Is it 8 times as good? Hell no! Is it twice as good? Hell no! Does it taste roughly the same? Heck yes! It also came with a some sauce that tasted a lot like mayo. This place is A-OK, but the outrageous pricing make it a no for me. It's especially confusing given the awesome working class neighborhood they are located in that's brimming with better (and cheaper) choices. *and I have really, really small hands. I wear a men's small in glove sizes, and sometimes even those are baggy on me!