Chena’s Alaskan Grill

My wife and I decided to go for a nice dinner on the river.
We wanted a table next to the river so we waited in the small bar area till we could get one. My wife had the blueberry lemonade, and it was very good indeed ($ 10.00 was a little pricy, but it’s Alaska, and location). It is because of the bar this place got an extra star.
Then we sat down to eat, and the place went in the toilet. The service was the worst. It was so bad that, by the time we did get our food (it was an hour and ten minutes after we ordered) we were so frustrated we just ate and left. Ruined the dinner and the evening.
It appeared, that the kitchen was EXTREMELY slow. We sat on the upper deck and could see the lower deck. During one very long time frame (maybe 30 minutes or so) there was 12 tables on the lower deck with people sitting at them. Of the 12 tables 3 were eating, all the rest were waiting.
1 hour and 10 minutes we waited. During that time our waitress came by the table once. We noticed she had a couple of friends sitting at a nearby table, and if my assumption concerning the slow kitchen was correct, she had a lot of time to kill. It appeared that she decided to spend her free time visiting with her friends rather that taking care of her customers.
We never got bread, we got 1 refill on our waters, and that was from he bus boy.
Most of the people sitting on the lower deck appeared to be just as frustrated, and I will tell you that the staff working there did a little better. We did see most tables had bread and water, although their wait was just as long it seemed.
All in all, probably a place to pass unless you want your dinner server with a side of frustration.

Have waited 2 hours now, excuse was they’re busy with 2 cooks and the place is big. Have been places that are bigger and probably the same number of cooks, let’s hope it’s good. Starter salad 1 ½ hours of waiting. Yep, took 3 cooks that long to make it lol

We stopped in here for lunch today hoping to have a great meal on the deck next to the Chena River. Turns out the p, ace seemed understaffed as it took some time to get seated but then the waitress only swung by the table once in the first 15 minutes to tell us she would be right back to us. Another 15 minutes and seeing her come and go a couple times led to the decision to leave. Horrible service… can’t tell you how the food is since we only saw a menu.

This place is all that the reviews say it is! Excellent food, excellent beer, excellent service!

This is a hidden gem! We had just one night in Fairbanks on Sunday evening and the choices were limited. We found this goldmine and I can say it was awesome. Pulling up to a trailer park, we were a little nervous, but once we stepped inside we were not disappointed. The staff were super friendly, the service was great and the food was excellent. Everything we ordered was superb: Wild Caught Cedar Salmon, Lavender-​Honey Infused Halibut, Chicken Kiev. We skipped appetizers since our waiter said dessert was really good. He was wrong: it was AMAZING. Save room for dessert. We had the Apple Crisp, Cinnamon Bread Pudding and the Carmel Coffee Cake («ABC»). OMGoodness they were the best desserts we’ve had in a long, long time. Highly recommend! The views were spectacular along the river as well. Sunday night had Darrell on the guitar playing and singing songs by request. A great experience overall and the best food we had in Alaska.

I’ve had some really great food at Chena, as a local I’ve referred many people here for a good meal, however tonight has kind of ruined it for me.
I should have known on my first visit, when I asked the bartender about one of their signature mixed drinks and she responded that she didn’t really know because when she was like 16 she liked mixed drinks but now that she’s an adult she likes to taste her alcohol. I found that to be pretty condescending and rude. My waiter that night was William, when he went to show us something in the menu he said, «oh, maybe it’s on the next page, sorry I’ve had a bit to drink.» He was absent most of out meal, I remember texting someone during the meal and saying «worst service ever.»
But you know what? I looked beyond that and I’ve been several times since then with good service and good food.
Skip to tonight, where my dinner partner and I were seated with WILLIAM again. We were seated around the same time as another table of three, and we watched as their orders were taken, wine was brought to them, bread was brought to them, and an appetizer that they ordered was brought to them. Meanwhile we hadn’t even seen our waiter. When he finally arrived, he immediately asked for our orders, we ordered and my friend asked for a strawberry lemonade and gestured at the raspberry lemonade mixed drink I’d gotten as the bar while we waited for our table. About 15 minutes later, he brings back a virgin margarita with whipped cream, and said that there was a miscommunication with the bartender and my friend explained that she misspoke and just wanted lemonade with some sort of berry in it. He left and brought it back fairly promptly, and our food came shortly after. We hadn’t gotten bread and my friend asked if we could have our bread with our meal. He said that there was a problem with the bread defrosting and cooking, and didn’t know if he should serve it. We said we’d try it, as we’d watched other people enjoy theirs. He brought us bread and left. Never to be seen again. About 45 minutes later we were ready to go. We told a waitress that we hadn’t seen our waiter and she said that she told him a few times that we were done and she’d get a manager. When we explained all of the problems to the manager she said how none of this was William’s fault and not to blame him. She left and my friend went to use the bathroom, as she was walking by the register she heard the manager telling William that she was «taking care of some problem customers.»
Expecting a waiter to be a waiter, does not make your a problem. Expecting him to come to your table in a 45 minute span is not a problem. Wanting bread when everyone else is eating bread, is not a problem.
I will never go here again and I not going to recommend it again. Disappointing.

We were sat, and the waiter never came. We waited for 25 minutes. Water and bread were served, at least, by the support staff. The pesto was not appetizing, especially when paired with nutty whole grain bread, which was great on its own. But we ended up just walking out.

Good place to have a nice dinner. I only ate here once, service was good & waiter was friendly. I had the ribeye & added the Alaskan King Crab cake. Food was pricy but there was love & time put into making the dish.

The food was really good we had a salmon appetizer, salads. We split the cedar plank salmon with blueberry ale butter. It was delicious. The spinach salad was huge! The Argentinian white wine, Tilia Torrintes, was excellent. The view of the river is beautiful. Definitely will stop here again when back up in Fairbanks. We finished off our meal with a blueberry cobbler which has just the right amount of sweetness, not like some places that overdose the sugar.

When our two foodie friends came to town I knew exactly where we were going to take them to dinner.
Chena’s was amazing. We made reservations just in case because if there was a big tour in town I wanted to make sure we had a table. When we got there I realized we didn’t need reservations this night.
We were seated right away, ordered their nightly drink specials and then were given bread with their homemade fresh pesto, so yummy. We decided on a appetizer, the salmon crème fraîche dip. It was served with pita chips and blue corn chips. I loved it with the blue corn chips. A great balance of sweet, salty and tangy.
We asked the waitress a few questions about the three different halibut dishes which she explained well. This helped our friends decide to get the lavender halibut and the halibut special which they said were cooked perfectly and the flavors went together so well.
My husband got the salmon special which was one of the best pieces of salmon he has ever eaten and he’s from Alaska. I got the bacon wrapped scallops and they melted in my mouth.
We will be returning soon.

Not only is this restaurant in a beautiful location and really knows how to take advantage of that, but their food is also delicious! I love the wrap around deck, right on the Chen River. They have deck area that is covered for those who appreciate being outside, but want to avoid the sun-​in-​your-​eyes thing, and some uncovered for the all out sun-​lovers. I like it all.
For food, I’ll start at the bar. We came here right when they opened, at 5pm, so there was not a wait at the bar. I can imagine it may get pretty busy and there was only one bartender at the time. Throughout the dinner, though, the drinks came within a pretty short amount of time. I had the watermelon mojito and it was delicious! It was so fresh and I could really taste the watermelon. My friend chose the raspberry vodka lemonade. I tried it and we both agreed it wasn’t anything special and you couldn’t really taste the raspberry. For dinner, we all had salmon since that is the season. The Sockeye salmon was so tasty and cooked perfectly. I like how they had three different salmon entrée options, one cedar plank, one a simple grilled and lightly seasoned, and a special, which this time was siracha-​honey. I couldn’t really taste the siracha, there wasn’t any heat, but it was still really good. It also came with fresh mixed veggies, to include some bell peppers. After finishing the main course, I was full, but their dessert menu was incredible so I couldn’t pass it up… I really wanted to devour a few desserts on that menu, but had to choose one! I went with the blueberry cobbler, based on the waitress’ recommendation. It was SO good! The crumbly cobbler was buttery and sweet. The vanilla ice cream on top was delicious, super creamy, and was the perfect addition.
The service was good and our waitress was very nice and friendly. There were times when we waited a little bit, but it wasn’t anything ridiculous. That kind of place is meant to be a little more laid back, to enjoy the beautiful nature surrounding you. Regarding the pricing, it can be considered $$$, but is on the lower end of that. So it’s really right between $$ and $$$.
I left very satisfied with Chena’s and I would gladly visit again. Maybe get the Alaskan halibut next time. (=

We decided to end our Alaska vacation with a bang and eat at Chena’s, and we were not disappointed! It’s right along the Chena River, has a huge deck for outdoor eating, but also spacious indoor seating for those hot days. It’s both upscale and casual: nice cloth napkins & set ups, yet they have plastic tables & chairs on the deck; the wait staff dresses very professionally, yet there is no dress code for the customers. My favorite part about this restaurant was that they had wine pairing suggestions for almost all of the entrees. Our waitress Cassondra was fantastic as well. She was very personable & knowledgeable.
We started with a cup of the Alaskan chowder, ordered the two specialty items for the day for our main dishes, the chimichurri sockeye salmon and the sweet & sour halibut, paired it with the Kung Fu Girl Reisling at the suggestion of our waitress Cassondra, and finished off with the wild berry ice cream & shortcake.
They do start you off with half a loaf of sliced bread and olive oil. Their version of Alaskan chowder wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my favorite that I’ve had. Both the halibut & the salmon were phenomenal. Neither one of us had had our entrees prepared in those styles before and the chef/​cooks did immaculate jobs at making sure the flavors in the entrees was well-​balanced. These entrees didn’t have wine pairing suggestions (since they were specials), but Cassondra’s suggestion of the Kung Fu Girl Reisling was on point. I was too full to eat an entire dessert by myself, but the few bites of the wild berry ice cream & shortcake were delicious.

I am staying at the hotel next door with my grandma for a cruise tour. I had a blackberry limeade as my drink and it was amazing! We both got the Alaskan seafood chowder to start and that was amazing! I got the special which was a sweet and smokey ribeye with a fantastic Demi glacé and garlic mashed potatoes! For dessert I got apple crisp which was also amazing. The bread that they provide is a fantastic 9 grain with a house made pesto that is to die for. The service was great if I didn’t live in California I would definitely go again.

Food is overpriced for what you get and, servers are overworked. My wife paid $ 14 for a salad with no meat, two slices of mozzarella, two little slices of a tomato and ¼ of an avocado. The rest was just spinach. I ordered the Chena Classic burger ($ 14), and it was a frozen formed patty (obvious), and I had to ask twice for them to bring ketchup and mustard. We ordered coffee, but had to ask multiple times to get sugar and a spoon for stirring. My mother-​in-​law received the wrong order. They were able to bring out the correct order a short time later. We ordered mac & cheese for my son, and we requested it come as soon as it was ready. They forgot, and brought it out with the rest of the food. They also forgot to bring the vegetable side that came with it.
Overall, there were just lots of mistakes and oversights in the service, and the food just wasn’t that good for the prices they charge.
Positives: Our waitress was very nice and was quick to correct mistakes when we mentioned them. The outdoor seating overlooking the river was nice.

There are not many places in Fairbanks that I have dined at that I would consider great. Either service sucks or the food is awful. This place was on point. We sat on the deck under the shade. Lunch was delicious. The food had such good presentation which you just don’t find much of and the fact that it tasted incredibly such a plus. Service was fast. We told them we didn’t have much time as I had an appointment to fix a chip in my windshield and the waitress did a great job.

Wow, don’t really know how to go about writing this one. I am always very reluctant to complain about a restaurant; I can put up with pretty much anything. But, you all gotta know this.
First off, the food was excellent. We had been on a cruise ship for a week with bland-​to-​OK food and were looking for really good, authentic Alaskan seafood. The starter bread is outstanding; maybe sourdough or something similar with olive oil. Loved it.
The Fire-​Grilled Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon was as good as any I’ve had anywhere; exactly what I was looking for; hit the spot. The Bacon Wrapped Scallops were equally delicious. The mixed veggies and potatoes were a very tasty compliment.
The open deck overlooking the Chena River was very inviting; beautiful view. However, the evening sun was very strong and we needed either a shaded deck or umbrella in order to sit outside. Temperature was around 80 degrees and very pleasant.
When we arrived, we waited about 5 minutes for a hostess to seat us while a line of diners formed behind us. We asked for one of the four or five open, shaded deck tables, but were told that they were all reserved. The entire restaurant was about ²⁄₃ empty at 6:00 p.m. on a Monday evening. We then asked for a table with an umbrella and although about 3 were still available, we were seated at at open table that was partially shaded with an umbrella at the table next to us. If we leaned sideways for a time, we could stay out of the sun for awhile. Funny, but the couple in line behind us somehow scored one of the open umbrella tables after we were seated.
Our waiter was obviously overworked and didn’t get around to us for about 10 minutes. When he arrived, he was very cordial and promised to serve us as soon as possible. Actually, the entire staff appeared indifferent and uninterested. Drinks and food came out fairly quickly and dinner went fairly well.
Afterward, we ordered dessert. When it did not come out after about 10 minutes, the folks sitting next to us, with whom we were sharing the shade umbrella, left and the umbrella was taken away in order to accommodate newly arriving diners, which left us in the full sun.
With no dessert and no umbrella, we had to get up and leave. A disappointing end to a now uneventful dinner.
Don’t know whenever I’m getting back to Fairbanks, but it won’t be here.

First time experience and likely my only visit on 09JUN15. We were seated in a party of 17, so understandably it would take some time to receive service. I was going to order food, but it took 50 minutes for them to bring out my beer. I asked for the check and that took 20 minutes. The appetizers were delicious. If you have all night to spend on dinner then this is the place for you.

Wonderful burgers and a very friendly staff! The views of the river and cozy atmosphere of the interior also make the restaurant better. Also their drinks are very good and worth the money.

Food was just ok; service was absolutely terrible. The server was nice enough, but it took 20 minutes just to get greeted after we sat down, another ten minutes to get water even after we reminded her. Food came quick, and it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t stellar. Beautiful view but a frustrating experience.

Not sure why this place is not more popular; I suppose the entry price point
may be a bit steep, but based on a sample size of two you get what you pay for. The menu choices are diverse with a excellent selection of local (Alaska) seafood and vegetarian options. I was in the mood for a good piece of meat and even though I’m a ribeye junkie I opted for the less marveled mignon, medium slightly less. It was cooked perfectly for me, and though it could have been a bit bigger and only slightly more tender, it was as good as this cut I’ve had. The sides were mashed potato and fresh sautéed vegies — both were very good, slightly off temperature but oh well. Dinner salad for 495 was a a killer deal for the amount and quality, gratis multigrain artisan bread with pesto dipping sauce both excellent; very good selection of wine by glass very reasonably priced, pairing suggestions (I had a French cab franc suggested) passed on dessert– too full.
Service was ok, a bit on the slow side for level of busy but very friendly nevertheless and fairly informative when questions asked. Because close to freeway the deck may experience a tad bit more noise but it gets the evening sun which can be nice or hard on the eyes depending (I think I still like the pumphouse deck and aspect better) but don’t come here and just order a hamburger I think you ll short change yourself. I didn’t experience any of the others’ complaints. I hate being ignored, despise unfriendly service and I’m very stingy with 5 stars, and on any different time, maybe a 4 star, but this place made me happy this time, and thats really hard for a restaurant to do.