Chena's Alaskan Grill - Fairbanks

We arrived early and were seated. Took a while for our drink order and then it was misplaced. After a long day this was a bad start. Turns out we were there as they were paring down there wait staff, and it showed. After the slow start the services was great. Best Salmon I had in Alaska. We sat in side as we requested. On another trip we would have tried outside which look great. After dinner we had a cocktail on the bar deck overlooking the river. Very nice. My wife had the best Lemon Drop she has ever had.

The food was wonderful and the river view on the veranda was an added bonus. We had a large party of 10 and they accommodated us at a last minute reservation.

Overall the experience was moderator to poor due to overwhelming reviews and what I assume is limited selections in the destination. We ordered wine, water and apps and the order they arrived at the table was apps, wine and water. I suspect this is due to lack of back-up support and the waitress staff having to take on every chore. The table next to us was not seated and was getting glasses of water filled while we are sitting with no water. I suspect that this might preferred service for Holland tour passengers as there was many of them ordering from what appeared to be a preset menu. For apps we ordered had a home run with the salmon spread with Cream Fraiche and chips/pita however the portabella fries were only ok. for the entree we split the lavender honey halibut and it was over cooked and dry. When it came to desert there was no offer of coffee so we just shared the cinnamon bread pudding and it was really nice but would have been better with coffee.

While not inexpensive, the food here was worth the price. Fresh salmon in Alaska is generally good anywhere, but at chena 's it was exceptional. If you are a salmon purist , this place is for you. We did not try the fancier preparations but I would expect these are equally good. Do try to save room for dessert the banana bread pudding was very tasty. The apple crisp was also tasty and in a portion ample for two but be advised it had a bit more nutmeg than we might had wanted. The services, like the salmon, was also noteworthy. The staff was friendly and accommodating; energetic, communicative and pleasantly informal are all appropriate descriptive terms for the wait staff.

That is mainly a buffet. $45/person. it seems to eat American mixed Indian style. they offer steak, grilled cured, salmon, Italian style nudel, salt etc. of fish and the meat were overboiled, dried. I'm not a big fan, most dishes. they have no American broth, but only Indian broth and cost $5 extra. the server was super nice what is a plus. but there are 20% clients thankfulness, regardless of how many people.