Hungry HOGs – a Restaurant review of the Greatland Grill   

by Peppermint Patti

It’s not a good thing to get between HOGs and their food.  And to Alaskan HOGs, food seems to be even more important.  It’s social, it’s necessary and it’s fun to eat and share stories over a good meal.

Alaskans like to eat out, and it seems that most don’t eat at home very often.  There are lots of restaurants in Anchorage – some excellent, some good, some not so good, and some downright mediocre or worse.

Our lady Elesha, the Ladies of Harley Officer reserved a new spot in March for the HOG group for its monthly winter breakfast.  It was at the Greatland Grill, in downtown Anchorage, and two of our members, Sherri and Troy, have whole lot of sweat equity in the endeavor that is owned by Rob, as well as Troy cooking on weekends and Sherri providing moral support and pitching when in when necessary.  The restaurant had only been open for two weeks, but the group is always up for something new.

Troy Larue

I showed up and the place was quite a bit larger than it looked from the street, with 10 booths, and multiple tables, including a Harley-Davidson sprocket-top.  It was clean and I was hungry and anxious to give the food a try as it smelled delicious.

In order to get 30-40 HOGs through quickly, there was a breakfast buffet set up, making the food line short, and allowing everyone to eat in a timely and mostly mannerly fashion.  There was something for everyone, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes.

Now I’m not a biscuits and gravy fan but I’d been told that the sausage was homemade from an old family recipe, so I decided I needed to give it a try.  It was delicious and not greasy, and the fried potatoes were wonderful.  For those of us who love it, it was a nice touch to have fruit on the line.

While the Greatland Grill is currently only open for breakfast and lunch, they are open for special evening occasions.  I’m looking forward to the evening meal Birdie (Activities Officer) has set up for us on the Wednesday night ride, May 30, once riding season is in full swing.   March 31.  By then the Grill will be open for the whole nine yards, breakfast, lunch and dinner.  You could spend the day if you liked.

You know most of us like to buy American when we can, and when living in Alaska, it’s important to support local products.  The Grill uses local products whenever they can, including fresh beef from Delta Junction, pork from North Pole and chicken and eggs from the Matanuska Valley.  Vegetables will also be coming from local producers, most likely from the Valley.

There’s no need to wait for a HOG event.  Check it out and support some of your fellow HOG members. I did, and can recommend the home-made chicken fried steak (sourdough-based coating), which is the best I’ve eaten and I’ve done taste tests all over the country, fried potatoes a la Troy (yummy) and a sourdough pancake that I loved, and I don’t know that I’ve eaten one of those before.  At least I’ve not eaten one of these.  Do I sound impressed?  You bet, and I may not know much, but I know food.

Sherri Larue

Sherri and Troy ride, respectively, a 2010 Dyna Superglide, red in color, and 2012 Ultraclassic Limited, red and merlot.  Oh yeah, red rocks.  They have two children, and have been married 18 years.  Wow, and longevity, too.  And , just saying, if you have a favorite photo of you and your bike in a frame, bring it down.  They’d love to show it off for you.

Greatland Grill, 137 West Fifth Avenue.