Rustic Goat

Hit and miss. Five of us met for dinner tonight. My wife and I were early so had a glass of wine at the bar. Pretty decent selection to choose from. We were seated upstairs for dinner, where we shared the pulled pork nachos, which are amazing for an appetizer. Possibly the best nachos in Anchorage.
And that’s when the night went bad. Really, really slow service and when our main courses finally showed up, we had to send back two orders of their signature gnocchi – it was cold. They did immediately offer to comp those dishes, which was nicely handled. Two in the group liked their pizzas, and one really liked his chicken enchilada.
Did I mention slow? Almost 3 hrs. I think we’ll stick to the appetizers if we go back.

My husband came to Anchorage on business. Read reviews of this place and liked the exterior. Went in, plenty of room but crowded.
We sat at the bar in the unique and charming metro-​style restaurant and bar. We liked to watch the cooks and front line prepare yummy looking dishes, pizzas and deserts. They were quick, efficient and a pleasure to watch.
We ordered a local IPA and hubs a cider and stuffed olives with kale. Hips and parm cheese. Our drinks came fast and shortly after or app. It was small for $ 6 but tasty. Kale was crisp and the olives were good. Not great but unique.
We visited with the bar supervisor. He and all the staff was friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and plan to go again tomorrow.

This place is really cute, lots of windows and the food is really good… I’ve been a few times and had a good experience both times!

I came in today with the parents to close out the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, plus no one felt like grilling outside in the sun. The Rustic Goat is located in a quiet, wooded residential area off of W. Northern Lights and Turnagain Rd. The building is really something cool to look at as you’re coming in to the restaurant. I like the trendy, metropolitan look with windows everywhere that show a great view of the Chugach Mountains from the second floor dining area. You can seat yourself anywhere you like whether it’s in the bar, dining area, or patio. The patio as well as the bar has a good size seating area and the rustic, art deco design mixed with the metro look reminds me of the seaside restaurants I’ve been to down in New York City, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
We were greeted by a friendly maitre d’ who seated us quickly on the second floor by the balcony overlooking the bar area and that awesome view of the mountains right beside us. Our waiter, who was very friendly and knowledgeable about everything on the menu, took our drink orders. The parents ordered fountain soda, but I opted for the Housemade Flavored Soda that changes every week which was a cherry-​lime mix with soda water that can also be made into a cocktail. This was very refreshing especially since the temperature went past 70 by 12:30PM.
I also found out from the waiter that the place has free Wi-​Fi and the bar area can be a good place to hang out for studying or playing board games! This was fantastic news and I’ve been anxious to find someplace different to study instead of the usual coffee shop for the millionth time. He recommended coming here in the morning (the restaurant opens at 6AM for coffee) or in the afternoons before dinner and said the place doesn’t fill up until before lunch so there are no issues with time limits or making other diners wait for an available table during those specific times.
We decided to try one of the appetizers to start off with which were the Fried Olives (fresh Castelvetrano olives stuffed with mozzarella, dusted with cracker crumbs and topped off with basil and parmesan cheese). These were delicious and they were gone in a couple of minutes. There are some other appetizers I would like to try out when I come back for study time like their Garlic Fries (made with sea salt and garlic oil topped with grated parmesan), the Bison Sliders (fresh ground bison, vanilla fig jam, cambozola, and arugula served on pretzel buns), Cheese and Crackers (lavosh crackers served with roasted lemon, arbol chili and marinated with Israeli sheep feta), and the Chorizo and Clams (house made chorizo sausage, Manila clams, mushroom medley, shallots, and beans in a hatch chile lime broth).
For the entrees, my parents ordered the Salmon Po’ Boy (blackened AK salmon fillet, crispy hash browns, lettuce, and tomato served with a Cajun remoulade sauce on a hoagie roll) and the Cauliflower Flat Bread (cashew ricotta spread, roasted radishes, salt roasted beets, oyster mushrooms, and roasted red onion topped with arugula and balsamic reduction). The portions were generous when it arrived at our table and they easily polished it off. I opted for the Bacon and Blue Cheese Pizza (bacon shallot jam, blue cheese, kale, and garlic cream sauce topped with fresh tomatoes… so good!) I enjoyed this so much and since I had a light breakfast this morning, I finished the pizza off while giving a couple of slices for my parents to sample.
Other noteworthy items on the menu include the Strawberry Bacon Pizza (strawberry, bacon, candied jalapenos, ricotta spread, bellissimo mozzarella topped with goat cheese and basil), the Cobb Salad (chopped romaine tossed in a gribiche dressing topped with beet pickled eggs, avocado, tomato, pickled red onions, bacon, blue cheese, and your choice of house smoked meat either salmon fillet or Cajun chicken breast), the Chicken Enchilada (shredded chicken, hominy, Monterey jack, cheddar, and tomatillo apple verde in a flour tortilla topped with green chile sour cream served with a side of Mexican rice), and the Potato, Leek, and Sausage Pizza (AK reindeer sausage, roasted potatoes, grilled leeks, red pepper flakes, roasted red onions, and mozzarella with garlic cream sauce).
Very inventive dishes, a lively and fun atmosphere to dine in, and an awesome option for me to study in case I get burned out going to the cafes. The idea for this visit is credited to my stepfather who suggested this place as well as several Unilocalers I spoke to regarding the food and the unique look of the restaurant. The Rustic Goat has gained another fan and I look forward to coming back and trying out their dinner menu as well as some of the desserts available that we couldn’t try since we were so full afterwards. This was a fun way to celebrate the Memorial Day Holiday and of course this place definitely should be considered for dining options.

Today we went to Rustic Goat at 11:30 a party of 7. We went early to get a table. When we arrived the hostess stated she just sat the large table upstairs, so we could sit in the bar or outside. We had an elderly person in our party and they would not be able to sit on the metal bar stools or outside. She let us know that she could not move any of the smaller tables together to create a table for a party of 7. We left and went to Spenard Road House and had a great lunch at a table inside the restaurant.

Finally went and see why it is so popolar. Their creations are different, well made and amazing! For the appetizer we tried the fried green olives— never thought of that one! Omg yum. Lightly breadded with corn meal served with little crisped kale and sprinkled with the GOOD parmesian. Main course, the chicken enchelada. Inhaled it and the rice was something amazing! My only complaint to the waiter was — «I wish the plate was bigger. «He looked at me confused… I said, «Cuz there would be enuf riom for TWO enchslads.» LOL!!! They are a bit pricey but everything is so unique that it is worth it. Service was slow at the hostess station– took a while to be acknowledged, but once seated, our server and treatment was wonderful!

Great place all around! Good food and drinks, neat location. Great staff, never had a disappointing experience.

Very busy hole-​in the wall on a Tuesday evening (surprisingly!). Everything on the menu sounded great so my husband and I ordered several appetizers and a salad plus some of their microbrews. The kale salad was amazing, bison sliders fantastic, the macaroni and cheese was a little too rich to finish.
Service was friendly, took awhile to get our food.
Overall, definitely will eat here again.

The food is very good here. If you are a fan of Kaladi’s Coffee, and want to try something new in terms of food, Rustic Goat is the place to be. I had their french fries and one of their salads. They’re really good. The wait staff is also very attentive, friendly, and will check up on you to see if you need anything. If you’re looking for a modern, rustic atmosphere to hang out in, then I recommend this restaurant.

This is my second review and this last visit was SPECTACULAR. I had the chicken enchilada with the Mac and cheese side instead of the rice ($ 4.00 substitute charge) with a cappuccino.
One friend at the table who shared, got the strawberry pizza which was superb.
Strawberries, roasted jalapeños and delicious mozzarella along with ricotta cheese! I loved the pizza.
So, obviously, I went to dinner this time instead of lunch which seems to be the consensus of this place. Go for dinner not lunch. I loved my food BUT it was expensive. And the service was slow. I will try this place again for lunch and will update then too. As of right now, I would recommend this place for a nice dinner. Not sure how I feel about it for lunch yet (it was such a bad exp for me last time) if you gave this place a less than positive rating I think you should try it again, if you have it in you. I was floored with this visit in contrast to my last.

The natural light that shines through the modern structure really illuminates this vibrant establishment in a way that just screams «eat & drink!»
Other Unilocaler’s observations about the hippster/​douchey mix crowd are spot-​on. But I’m trying to look past that for the food. Hopefully they won’t distract from that.
Great tap selections including Deschutes. The Deschutes Imperial is amazing. Pretty good wine selection and bottles are reasonably priced.
Started with calamari appetizer. This is just indescribable! Candied jalapeño? Didn’t know that was a thing. I must have more.
Smoked game hen. I’m not sure what words to use to describe this simple little game hen. I can tell you this was by far the best hen preparation i can recall. Brined and smoked beautifully, with tight crisp skin. Paired with an amazing long grain rice with bacon. I gnawed this thing down to the bone – shamelessly.
This place invested in their sound system and it paid off. The use of level loading volumes and subwoofers makes all the difference. It’s background noise that’s pleasing, rather than thin treble speakers blasting and annoying you like strabucks. Well done!
Dessert was of my own creation and they were willing to oblige. House made
Vanilla gelato topped with espresso. Those in the know call it affogato.
Happy to say that whatever hipsters may have surrounded me, my dining experience was not negatively impacted.
Those feeling this place may be overpriced should set their concerns aside. I found it reasonably priced and highly satisfying.

In all fairness, this was from our breakfast experience.
I’m sure lunch and dinner are wayyy better.
Here’s what we had:
Sweet Rolls. Looked like they came out of those Pillsbury cardboard tubes. The icing reminded me of Duncan Hines.
Biscuits & Gravy. Not bad, but not good either. Maybe if they added a couple of overeasy eggs on top it would be an improvement.
Breakfast Burrito. Small as those microwave burritos. Served on plate WRAPPED IN FOIL!!! No bueno!
The place was GORGEOUS, but breakfast was underwhelming & disappointing. :(

I love the vibe of this place, reminds me of an actual artistic and progressive city restaurant, which is rare for Anchorage. They do have a good beer list and my favorite items so far is their Champagne vinaigrette salad and the tomato bisque soup (although I’m not fond of the change in dipping bread. The replacement is stale and hard.). I’ve also had the pork nachos which were sweet and non-​traditional, but enjoyable too. I’ve also ordered a pepperoni pizza and it was pretty subpar really… I’m really on the fence about the menu. I consider myself a foodie, but for some reason nothing else on the menu intrigues me. Am I a boring traditionalist? I understand that the kitchen is small, but must the menu be so small too? I kept flipping the menu over to the wine list hoping that more food would be on the back of the page. And about the service, I understand we’re in Alaska and the possible clientele may not be that advanced in dining out, but I feel as if the team could use some industry experts; they could use some help selling their product. If a guest asks you, «how is the rose’?» Perhaps it would help to have a better answer than, «it’s good. It’s a sweet wine.» Same goes for questions on the menu… Also, to my last bar server, If your going to leave mid-​meal, your guests would like to know so we don’t feel so helpless and confused when it’s time to check out.
Anyhow, I do like the place and plan to return to continue to watch the establishment grow.

The ambience of this place is super cute! Went on a date here and sat upstairs by the fire place as it snowed outside!
The pulled pork nachos were really really good! As for main courses my date got the bacon and clam pizza and I got a tomato, chicken and mozzarella panini! Both were very filling and very tasty!
Overall we had a great experience here! Will definitely come back

First stop from the airport was a winner! Really liked this place. Nice wood interior, with a black concrete (?) bar, Edison lights and large, industrial feel windows.
Pulled pork nachos were very good and very large. More cheese than I’ve ever had on nachos before – maybe a little too much, which is hard to say, because I’m a big fan of cheese. I guess that’s how I’d put on my blubber if I was staying for the winter. ;o)
Hubs had the skewer special, with rib eye and reindeer sausage.
Nice beer selection. The King St Hefe had hints of honey. Our bartender mispoured it, and gave it to us for free. It was very impressive. Denali Chuli Stout was just okay. Like trying local beers though.

Now that I’ve eaten at RG a few times I feel it it time for a review. I like it here. The food is thoughtful while still sticking to the typical style you would usually find in a restaurant like this. The vibe is downtown Seattle meets Anchorage– my kind of atmosphere.
The nachos are delicious, what really sets these apart is the candied jalapeños; they aren’t spicy so they compliment the pork and cheese very nicely. The Mac and cheese is delicious especially with the sautéed onions. Salads are great here too… Although on the smaller size of things. I love how the calamari is not fried but pan seared, it’s a pleasant change. French fries here are just fabulous so get a side of those as well. I don’t like the German chocolate cake though, too much frosting and not enough cake.
Derek, a server, is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He made sure our food was sufficient and when it wasn’t, he would bring us a new plate of it. His attention to our comfort was outstanding.
The reason why it lost a star is I do not feel you get the most bang for your buck. Overall I do enjoy dining here, it’s worth the hype in my eyes.

I’mma be real with you, Unilocal.This is simply my own opinion, and to each their own.
The pulled pork nachos were just alright. Now, I get that these are not your typical nachos. When they got to our table, I did a double take for second because it resembled the chipotle steak pizza at Moose’s Tooth.
I liked everything except for those candied jalapenos/​strings of roasted onions that were generously integrated into the the whole thing. I like combinations of sweet and salty, but this one was more on the sweet side. Throughout the dish I felt like this was like a dessert more than an entrée, as weird as that sounds. Especially when it cooled down. Something about it, the onions or the jalapenos (or both) were overpoweringly cloyingly sweet and I couldn’t really appreciate the pulled pork that was in the dark of the nacho universe. You know how some people have an aversion to cilantro and that’s all they can taste in whatever dish it’s in, no matter how sparse the amount? It was like that. But with the jalapenos and onions.
Mozzarella may not have been the best choice for these nachos, as it congeals relatively quickly. Not a very melty cheese. Monterrey-​Jack/​cotija blend would have been better suited to this dish, something less mild and more robust that could stand up to the rest of it. When I think of Nachos, cheese should be a dominant factor that doesn’t get overshadowed by sugar. Next time I’m going less on the jalapenos, hexing the onion and going for raw diced red onion.
I remember the pizza being good here, but it’s been a while so I can’t give you a valid assessment.
Fries were really good. So were the fried olives. Beer selection is nice, too. That Southern Tier is wonderful.
Service was friendly and all, but hard to flag servers down.
Acoustics in this place was a bit jarring at times. Hard time carrying conversation with someone across from you. Wish there were a bit more sound dampening surfaces employed in the ceiling, to balance out the overall industrial structure throughout.

I very much enjoyed most things I tried here! The menu was delightfully unique. The cauliflower flatbread was my favorite, and really quite a nice experience. Tasty, crunchy, and an interesting mix of flavors. Also helped that it was made to be on the healthier side.
Now let’s talk dessert. I split an order of profiteroles: round pastries filled with orange bourbon ice cream. I very much enjoyed the bourbon flavor, although the orange was more subtle and hard to discern.

After a major disappointment at another local Anchorage establishment, it was the very good Unilocal reviews that prompted me to drive across town to the Rustic Goat… and am I sure glad that I did.
A very hopping place… took awhile for someone to leave so I could grab a parking spot. I was greeted upon entry… about 45 – 60 minutes wait to dine upstairs, but a few available stools here downstairs.
This is a very busy establishment, somewhat loud, but also interesting with so many people. Did I mention that the open kitchen is downstairs… and all those lovely smells… I’M STAYING FOR DINNER!!!
I ordered a local IPA… tasty and served ice cold. Following was the soup and then the cauliflower flat bread. OMG… I have read of the story’s about all the things you can do with cauliflower. This was my first time experiencing this. a real surprise. Visually this looked like toasted flat bread. The crust is similar to a gram cracker pie crust consistency… sorta. Well, that flat bread was remarkable. Very tasty!!!
Service was flawless, my meal was fantastic… The price was in line with typical Anchorage restaurants. Give yourself a treat, bypass the easy to call upon pizza joints, and go for the Rustic Goat… exceptional.

I’m going to echo most of the sentiment I see about this place.
The ambiance, is top-​notch, some of the best you’ll find in Anchorage. The structure of this building is unique and gorgeous. When I first moved to Anchorage I was stunned by this building rising out of its rather ho-​hum neighborhood.
The food is good. My main problem is just that it’s pricey for what it is, and it’s expensive for what it is. I have only been here for lunch a couple times. I’ve gotten the burger and the tacos. Both were very tasty, but both left me pretty hungry afterwards.
I’ll give them a shot for dinner and update this review accordingly. For now: has potential but needs improvement.