Nightclubs and bars in Anchorage

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At the ground floor of Tower One is the newly redecorated Whale's Tail. And I love what they've done with the place. Very trendy but still comfortable.
The only place in Alaska that has automated wine dispensors where you prepay a card and wander around sampling a great selection of wines with whatever size pour you'd like.
Small but excellent selection of snacks.
We ended up here on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). All the Mexican restaurants were full and I remembered they had mini-tacos and great marguaritas.
The tequila served was a top end silver fused with either raspberry and tabasco or passionfruit. Tried several of both, had a bunch of mini tacos (fish and beef), and several cheese and fruit trays.
A memorable evening - what I can remember of it.

Dress Code: Business casual.

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Located in the Captain Cook Hotel downtown, Fletchers has become my favorite watering hole over the years.
--Great decor - very nautical with deep rich woods and yet elegant. Kind of an upscale pub feel.
--Great liquor selection, from 12 beers on tap and deep wine and single malt scotch collection.
--Great food - from pizza and a ceasar salad to seafood, pasta and steaks.
--Great people. Friendly staff and an eclectic clientel. From locals to tourists to power brokers.
The Captain Cook is owned by Wally Hickel, former governor of Alaska and Nixon's Secretary of the Interior so you never know who you'll run into. Found myself one night sitting with one of our US Senators on my left and a commerical fisherman on my right.
Non smoking.
Opens at 11:00AM for lunch and stays open thru the dinner crowd to close between 11 and midnight.
Like their chopped green salad with chicken. Or their bentley burger. Or their pepper steak. Or the Thursday lunch special of lintel soup. Or the pizza and salad combo.

Dress Code: Still Alaska, so anything goes, but most folks tend to dress up a bit. Business casual might be the term I'm looking for.

I never write reviews but this place definitely deserves one....This place wasnt bad until a fight broke out and my friends and I were assaulted by a drunken local. By the time the bouncers actually detained the individual and cuffed them we had already been assaulted both inside and outside the club with the security guards present. Not only did we wait 2 hrs for the cops the security guards somehow "lost" the detained person and they escaped the club in hanfdcuffs! The owner/husband was rude and discouraged us from even waiting on the police and told us we would have to wait outside for the cops if they arrived past closing hours...after we were assaulted in his club. This place is NOT safe and NOT military friendly. I will be telling all of my friends to stay away from this place from now on. DO NOT GO HERE.

This is one of only a few nightclubs in Anchorage that actually will give you the experience of being in a nightclub in the lower 48. Platinuxx Jaxx is easily the nicest nightclub in Alaska. The club has posh, modern decor, 2 large dance floors, plenty of ultra-lounge style seating, & a large VIP area upstairs where you can look down on all the action. You can expect the most attractive, most fashionable people in Anchorage to be there.

Dress Code: No sneakers, jerseys & bandanas.

This is one of the classier nightclubs in downtown Anchorage. The decor is somewhat upscale with comfy lounge area near the front door and upstairs. The upstairs lounge area is huge and you can see the dance floor downstairs which will usually be packed with people dancing to Hip Hop, R & B or Electronic music.

Dress Code: I would say the dress code is casual but use common sense. No jerseys or bandanas. Sneakers are allowed but they should not be scuffed up. Dress to impress if you want to have any luck with the ladies.

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When I'm in the big city and getting tired of the yuppies, I sometimes head to Darwin's Theory. Small and a little seedy, many folks from "bush" Alaska stop in for a few beers. Mix them in with a few locals and the occasional straggler tourist and you have a lively group most nights. Prices are reasonable for downtown.

The room is dominated by a "U" shaped bar with just a few tables scattered in the corners. Down a narrow hall on the left is a jukebox and a popcorn machine and a few more table in back. The jukebox has a great mix of music, voted #1 in Anchorage.

A straight forward bar that will give you a chance to meet real Alaskans, hear some real tall tales, and brush up on your conversation skills. Reasonable prices on their drinks as well.

One of the Indigo Girls spent an evening here a few year back and wrote a song about the experience.

Dress Code: Don't wear a tie or someone will mistake you for a lawyer. Very casual.

UPDATE - MR WHITEKEYS RETIRED SEPTEMBER 2006 - FLY BY NIGHT CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE !!! I drove by recently (2/14/08) and still closed.

Every night of the week at 8 PM, one of the best produced and FUNNY musical productions in Anchorage takes place here. Mr. Whitekeys is the owner and the boogie-woogie piano man in the "Whale Fat Follies", a wacky look at life in Alaska, filled with tacky jokes, lampooning of state and local politians, excellent singing, dancing and music. Even if you're not from here you'll get most of the humor but you might want to bring a local
to explain some of it.

Most nights sell out - so book in advance. The club has smoke-free nights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Mr. Whitekeys closes the club down January thru March to regenerate in warmer climes.

The club has a full menu and a decent beverage selection.

Dress Code: No dress code, although tacky works here. Best to keep a low profile so you don't end up part of the show :)

One of my favorites night clubs is Blues Central. Live music every night with a jam session on Sundays. Local, talented, musicians can be found here most nights and occasionally they import. Place is kind of a dive - holds about 100 folks and before the smoking ban it could get hard to breath in. Anchorage has banned smoking in all bars and restaurants as of 2007.

Cover charge is usually around $5.
Place can really get packed, especially after 9 PM.

Food is available and good, but most folks are there for the music and cocktails.

Dress Code: Casual, like most places in Alaska.