Caffe 817

Unfortunately, I have to echo another reviewer. I have purchased two salads over the past few years and both times they had not one, not two, but three hairs just casually sitting on top of the salad. It may have been one thing if I had eaten half the salad and found one towards the bottom, but I seriously lost my appetite and my desire to give these guys business since then (and this was well over 18 months ago). Literally, clean up the act! yech.

First I would like to say the food here is good however the menu is very inaccurate or lacking information. First the online menu and the menu in the restaurant do not match or is missing information. I ordered a turkey sandwich which was twice the price posted. When I mentioned that it was more than posted I was told that the price posted was for a half of sandwich which was not mentioned on the menu. I was not given a choice or bread or roll, and once again the menu did not clearly describe the sandwich. the wait for food is very long, the only thing I ordered was a turkey sandwich and it finally arrived after 25 minutes. This was my third time here and food comes out slow, but it is good. When you order make sure you ask all the right questions so that you get what you want.

They use good ingredients and their menu has some nice variety. However, I’ve noticed a consistent problem with hair in my salads and their customer service is among the worst in town. Examples: If they’re busy when you walk in, they’ll flat-​out ignore you at the counter, even if there’s no line; and when they misplace takeout orders, they don’t apologize or offer to expedite the order (I’ve seen them not even offer to re-​take the order, and instead turn away and start ignoring the disappointed customer). They do deliver, but their delivery is usually significantly late, which defeats the convenience factor for those of us with busy work schedules. I want to like them, but they make it really hard.

Terrible! Sandwich was burnt. Wouldn’t take back a wrong order they made the mistake on! How are they even open???

Their sandwiches are very delicious, very big, and a very good value considering the cost of food an anchorage. Unfortunately they take a very long time! There were 4 other parties already sitting and I guess they just got there… There was one man in the back and one lady at the front and it took about 20 min to get my 2 sandwiches made. I have no trouble coming back here, but bring the paper and don’t be in a rush! The cookies are gigantic and phenomenal! Now that I could get any day!

Great, fresh food and friendly staff!

I go to Muffin Man fairly often for weekday lunches. The bottom line is that the sandwiches are top notch and very generous. My other half and I regularly split a whole sandwich and it’s plenty of food.
The down side is the service. First, it’s pretty slow, which is frustrating when you’re on a lunch break. Second, and most importantly, the people who work there tend to be unfriendly. There’s a guy who appears to be in charge in the kitchen who is downright rude. I’m glad I don’t work with him. Every so often a college student will get a summer job running the register and give the place a fresh dose of customer service and common courtesy.
At the end of the day the food is excellent and I keep going back, but I wish they staff would put a tiny bit of effort into being friendly.

I seriously don’t understand what all the great reviews are about. Place was mediocre at best, service lacked, & items on the menu were expensive.
I’m tempted to say that there are far better lunch spots in the downtown area than this joint.
Not impressed & highly disappointed.

I heard good reviews from my boyfriend (part of the office crowd). Then I saw they had won Best Sandwich in AK from Food Network Magazine; their Reindeer Sandwich took the prize.
So, arm-​twisted, I went downtown and got lunch. I’ve now been back a few times. Muffins are good, but I have to say I love the roast beef sandwich and the soups. Always been good.
My only request would be softer, fresher bread? My sandwich is continually undermined by its wrapping. I’m even tempted to bring in a roll from Fire Island and ask them to build the sandwich on that. I’m not kidding.
Otherwise, it’s great. Not as crowded as it should be, so head down there! It certainly fills one of the many voids in Anchorage.

Best sandwiches in Anchorage!

Best soup and sandwich in Anchorage. I don’t get down here as often anymore. But it is a must stop for lunch when downtown.
The Club Sand which is huge and a full sandwich should be split between 2 – 4 unless you are very hungry. The soup is usually fantastic, the butternut squash in the Fall has no equal in town. Pesto Chicken sandwich is the thing to get. The other sandwiches and the quiche are tasty, but the Pesto Chicken is a little slice of heaven. It does take a while longer to make than any of their other fare, but oh so worth the wait. This little eclectic piece of Anchorage history should not be missed. Friendly staff and tasty food. Service can be hit or miss, but enjoy the atmosphere and the history of the building, it has been a garage and a tile store. The mosaics are left over from the days of yore.

Ordered the Cobb Specialty Sandwich (whole $ 11) without the blue cheese. It comes with turkey, bacon and avocado. The great thing is that they will deliver. The sandwich was huge, but there was waaaaaaaay too much mayo on it. Like with every bite mayo would squeeze out the front and the back. The bread was sort of a blah white baguette style bread. The portion of turkey was extremely generous. All in all I’d rather get a salad at Urban Greens for lunch for the same price, or else maybe order it without mayo…

The best breakfast bacon and egg croissant EVER!

LOVE their sandwiches. The cobb sandwich is to die for — blue cheese, turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato. I want one right now. Unfortunately they want you to fax in any pre-​orders and if you order at the counter the wait is long since everything is prepared to order.
Love their muffins. Favorite is the peaches n cream muffins that they serve special on Wednesday mornings. Need to go back to more cream cheese in them, though. Blueberry and bran are excellent substitutes.
Soups are delicious as well — all made fresh daily!

I stopped in to check things out and they have lowered their prices — a bagel is now $ 2.75, with cream cheese it’s $ 3.25. Also, the quiche is quite a bit lower — from $ 6 to $ 4.50! Half a sandwich with chips is down from what had been $ 9 to $ 6.50 to $ 7.50 depending on what you get. Now I need to go back with some money and get my favorite salmon and cream cheese sandwich! Brownies and cookies are down a $ 1 too. I am glad they lowered their prices — those of us that work downtown for a living, appreciate it.

I have been exposed to Muffin Man inadvertently about three times now. Each time has been with a different sandwich, and soup. Like every restaurant this place has its ups and downs. The ups are really good, the Pastrami Sandwich is very tasty, and very much worth the money for a nice Lunch. The soups are homemade, and in my book, you just can’t go wrong when you make your own soup, unless of course you are a total idiot… which Muffin Man is not. The downs, I had an open face Turkey sandwich from there, now the ingredients and the premise was good, (open faced on a bagel), but for whatever reason, it just did not mesh together… the soup didn’t even help. But this is the only bad experience and that is good to keep in mind… if you are in the Downtown, and want to have a good soup, stop by, the sandwich’s are hit and miss, but always worth the price, cause they do feed you well! Good Luck!

A bit of a let-​down. No milk (only cream) for coffee, OJ available only in plastic bottles. And expensive!

The Muffin Man is great for the office crowd, or at least those of us who pass through downtown on a daily basis as if we had an office. The name of the joint really gives away punchline: it’s a place that has killer muffins. But don’t be afraid to veer off the muffin path, because you probably won’t be disappointed once you.
That being said, I’m not going to write the best review because honestly all I ever get there are the muffins, the coffee, the cookies, and an occasional breakfast croissant sandwich.
The restaurant /​décor /​ambiance gets 5 out of 5 — this café sits inside an old tile shop from Anchorage’s younger days, and the building features many remnants from this past life: a tile mosaic on the inside wall, tile on the floors and — my favorite — an amazing outside tile mosaic on the back alley wall (which used to be the entrance for the tile shop, I’m guessing…)
The coffee gets 4 out of 5 — gotta have good coffee if you’re gonna serve lots of muffins. Not sure what brew they use (Kaladi?) but it’s always good for my lattes and americanos.
The muffins get 4 out of 5 — which for a place named Muffin man is kinda important. My favorite is an apple cinnamon-​y thing that is delicious!
The breakfast croissants get 3 out of 5 — nothing too special about these, the croissants are pretty good and the eggs taste like they just came off the greasy griddle (which is a good taste for people like me who LOVE eating at joints like the White Spot.)

Okay… I’m part of the office crowd, and yes I love their food. The pesto chicken sandwich was so good that my co workers were asking if I needed a room. Also the breakfast sandwich, yummy. I got the ham and it was actually sliced ham, not deli meat. The down side of this place is that it gets seriously packed at lunch. We’re talking all the tables are full there are people standing and there are about 10 people in line. This is another place that I recommend calling your order ahead and then give them a little extra time.

First step in any establishment in Alaska, so what would somebody feel like when they just got off the plane, how about a local brew?
The cashier doubts my out-​of-​state ID cause it’s old, issued in ’00 and won’t serve me a local brew. It’s not like it’s a friday night and i’m trying to sneak in the place, i’m 28 for christ’s sake.
1 star for what i like to think of as out of state discrimination ;)

Was only able to grab lunch at this Downtown Anchorage restaurant. Pretty no-​frills dining. Decent deli sandwich. Maybe too many black beans in the black bean soup, despite the name of the soup. Definitely caters to the office crowd.