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Best Street Food Markets in Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage Alaska
Anchorage Alaska | © Flyver / Alamy Stock Photo

Anchorage’s myriad restaurants might have dishes that call upon yak and crab and halibut as their “distinctly Alaskan” ingredients, but if you really want a taste of what Alaskans are chowing down on, look no further than the area’s food and farmers’ markets.

Anchorage Market and Festival

Food Stall, Cajun, French, Ice Cream

A food stall selling salmon quesadillas and reindeer sliders at the weekly Farmers Market in downtown Anchorage, Alaska.
© Richard Ellis / Alamy Stock Photo

Every Saturday and Sunday throughout summer, hundreds of local creators take up a few city blocks in downtown Anchorage to showcase their talents. Artists sell everything from photography, paintings, and books to fur garments, jewelry and ulu knives; chefs prepare cuisine ranging from salmon quesadillas and reindeer chili to fireweed honey and macarons; and musicians busk for the crowds during this free, all-day block party.

Spenard Farmers' Market

Food Stall, Street Food

Authentically Alaskan, the Spenard Farmers’ Market is what other neighborhood markets aspire to be. While many of the farmers and other cottage industries are mainstays here, their assortments of produce fluctuate with the season and different genres of groovy live tunes are performed each week, so the market has a different vibe every time you go.

South Anchorage Farmers' Market

Farmers' Market, Street Food

South Anchorage Farmers Market, shoppers, vendor communicating with customers.
© inga spence / Alamy Stock Photo

Numerous successful small businesses in Anchorage got their start hawking foodstuffs at the South Anchorage Farmers’ Market. Started in 2006, this market runs Saturday mornings from May to October and claims the highest number of Alaska Certified Organic farmers among its ranks. Come for the multicolor cauliflower, myriad potato varietals, and other veggies that have grown monstrously large in the midnight sun. Beyond the dozen or so area farmers, local foodie favorites, including Rise & Shine Bakery, La Grassa Pasta, Sweet Caribou, and Wild Scoops also maintain stands here each weekend.

Fire Island Farmers' Market

Bakery, Farmers' Market, Healthy

The youngest of the area’s markets – it just started operating in summer 2017 – this market in the parking lot of Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop already has devotees swinging by each week for fish, meats, jams, pickles, homemade pasta, ice cream, mushrooms, and more. It’s a nice choice for those who don’t have time to venture out to farmers’ markets on Saturdays (or who forget to pick something up during their weekend market trip). Be sure to head into the bakery afterwards for one of their savory scones.

Spenard Food Truck Carnival

Food Truck, Street Food

It seems fitting that this eclectic assortment of the area’s food trucks would meet in the parking lot of Chilkoot Charlie’s, a bar that many would argue is the quirkiest drinking establishment in the state. From 11am-2pm on Thursdays in the summer, roughly a dozen food trucks, selling everything from hotdogs to cupcakes and Cajun to French, circle up and serve what would definitely not be considered a sad desk lunch to locals on their break.

The Center Market

Farmers' Market, Healthy

While not as large as some of the other markets in town, The Center Market is noteworthy for being the only market open year round. Found in the Sears Mall, the market touts local vegetables, meats, eggs, baked goods, and oodles of artisan foods.

Alaska Pacific University Farmers' Market

Farmers' Market, Vegetarian

Small, but mighty, the biggest draw of this little market located on the Alaska Pacific University campus is the produce brought in each week by Spring Creek Farm. Spring Creek is both a production and educational farm, where students of the university work with farmers to learn about food production and food security. Beyond selling the veggies individually, the stand maintains a reasonably priced Community Supported Agriculture shares, as well. Make sure to get some of the freshly baked bread made in the campus kitchen and stay for the free yoga classes, too.

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