Crush Wine Bistro & Cellar

Don't be fooled by the attached-to-the-mall-location, there aren't many places in Anchorage like this!

Crush is a wine bar that also serves some of the fancier food in this town.

They've got daily specials, they've got a big wine list, and they also have a respectable selection of beer.

I got a couple "snacky" foods because I wasn't super-hungry:
Mac n' cheese: I needed something hearty
Toasted goat cheese salad: I needed something healthy

Both were very good, portions were a tad on the small side. I also got an IPA because all wine tastes good to me and nice wines are completely wasted on my caveman-palate.

Atmosphere is pretty classy here, I was definitely out-dressed by most of the folks wining and dining around me.

Can't wait to come back with some friends and sample more of the food choices.

Also: they have a shop upstairs where you can buy wine and/or beer to go.

I'm seriously in love with this place.

When I first moved to Anchorage, I was nearly in tears over the lack of good fine dining options here. (I actually believe my meltdown sounded something like, "I just want to find a place that garnishes with pea shoots!") Enter Crush.

Their menu is pretty tiny, as far as food goes, but everything on there is so.damn.good. Life-changing salad? They have one. Maybe two or three, depending on my mood. (The goat cheese salad and the persimmon are super good, but they had a lunch special salad with warm pancetta that really did me in.)

All their charcuterie is cured in-house, and they do a duck proscuitto that's out of this world. The soups here are consistently stellar, and having a dinner without soup here is doing yourself a disservice. All their specials are always on point, and the staff goes out of their way to be awesome. For lunch not long ago, I brought in a girlfriend with a super crazy gluten allergy. She ordered a food modification and a soup that they usually top with goat cheese. When she was served, the server told us the kitchen couldn't promise the cheese was gluten free because of something about the way it's processed, so they didn't top hers. Super appreciated!

The three owners are super involved. Many nights you'll see Rob behind the bar or Chad up in the shop. Scott will teach you more about port than you ever thought you'd know. They're all super down-to-earth, easy to talk to, and passionate about what they do!

The Cellar:

Best wine selection in Anchorage. The sparkling wines are well-curated and the Italian section is pretty well fleshed-out for a small shop. Their one-off whites are amazing! Ch Musar white bottlings for sub-$30 (at least as of spring 2015). A surprising number of older vintages (2000 Pomerol, 2001 Rioja come to mind). And you can buy anything in the shop to take downstairs for a $15 corkage fee!

They also have DRC, though it's unofficially restaurant-only.

As a food enthusiast, I take all my out-of-town guests to Crush. It's my absolute favorite restaurant in town. Come in with your special someone, or have some prosciutto-wrapped dates and make friends at the bar; you won't be disappointed.

This is a cute little spot. It's deceptively small. Upstairs is a wine shop. Downstairs is a little restaurant. There's a bar with seating, a handful of tables, and a small outdoor patio.

It's got a nice vibe and ambiance. Lots of wood. Lots of wine bottles. Cozy and casual. The end of lunch time is a great time to stop by as it's completely uncrowded.

The restaurant is open all day, but the menus change. There's a lunch menu, then just a small plates menu, then a dinner menu. I started to panic at the end of my lunch thinking they closed at 2:30pm. But nope, they just stop the lunch menu at 2:30pm.

The wine list, of course, is great. I like the various wine flight options. At they are pretty good-sized pours for the price.

The lunch menu has a small variety of salads and sandwiches. I opted for the BLT with potato salad. You can also opt for soup or a regular salad. They bring out your side option first and then your sandwich. The potato salad was delicious and topped with bacon crumbles. The BLT was unique in that it had different and fabulous condiments - I don't even know exactly what they were - as opposed to standard mayo. And instead of lettuce, they used arugula. The portions were just right and everything was tasty.

The service was very friendly and attentive.

All in all, I'll be back again.

Very chill atmosphere, bet AMAZING food. This is a must-try place if you're visiting anchorage! I had the Mac and cheese and got the Split pea soup to go with it which were both amazing. I'm normally not a fan of Ruben sandwiches, but my boyfriend ordered it and it was one of the best sandwiches I've ever had.
I also ordered the Spice Girls flight of white wine and it was really good. More on the sweet side, so if you're in to sweet white wine, definitely order it!
Great place to go!

I have mixed feelings about this place. The concept is great and I love how it feels super cozy inside. However, my first experience here was horrible. We might have stumbled in here a little bit intoxicated after a few drinks at Bernie's, but our server literally treated us like crap. Gave us attitude and wasn't very attentive. Left us hanging at the table for so long that we actually contemplated walking out on the bill. I'm still a paying customer so I still deserve the same service anyone else in there is getting. Also, the crowd in here was a bit older than us so i'm not sure if that's another reason why they frowned upon us. My second visit here was much better with a different server, but someone at the table actually knew our server.

They have a huge selection of wines and offer wine flights if you want to sample a few different ones. Food is decent, but pretty expensive for the portions they serve. The mac and cheese is probably the biggest rip off. It probably only really contains 6 bites and you're done.

My first time here, solo.

Sat at the bar. Enjoyed me. And my wine. Grenache flight to start. Diverse and intriguing.

Prosciutto wrapped figs with feta and balsamic was like eating a candied chocolate; in my opinion: divine.

Riesling from Belgium with the pork and apple empanada was filling and delicious together. Add a peach salad for a fruity and delicate green to cleanse the palate.

Finish with a ten year tawny white port and burnt lemon brûlée to make my evening simply perfect.

Perhaps it all tasted better alone, without my phone (and therefore no pictures of my food and wine porn to tempt you with) to distract from the being and the savoring...slow food always tastes better.

The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, the customers happy and vibrant, and an experience I am happy to keep.

I will be back. I hope your time there is equally as personal and delightful.

In Anchorage for the F'n coldest week ever! Like -7! However, I found this place. OMG, I would have never believed a place like this would exist in Alaska. Great food, incredible wine list, awesome staff, can't wait to come back. Try the unique take on beef carpaccio. It's amazing.

Came back the next day for the Beaujolais release party and had Roasted mushroom and heirloom bean stew. Again: OMG! By far the best restaurant in AK.

I still love this place, which I think only gets better with time (like their wine). I've now been there for several lunches as well, and their sandwiches are fantastic. Recently, had the meatball sandwich--a new fave, with flavorful meatballs with just the right spicing. These are the same meatballs they serve on the dinner menu, except the dinner ones come in a bowl with a perfectly balancing red sauce and are by far the best meatballs in town. I am so picky about meatballs that I would usually rather make my own than eat them from a restaurant. Considering how much I dislike cooking, that says a lot about my meatball demands (I am the same about marinaras).

The meatball replaced my previous favorite sandwich, the steak and blue cheese. MMMM--so good. But I like a place that keeps things a bit fresh, and as long as they create new items that I like as much as the old, I can accept the forced change. It's good for me because I get in food ruts.

Keep doing what you're doing, Crush, and I'll keep going, drinking too much wine, and spending too much money (both because Crush gets expensive when I'm very hungry and also because it's next to the mall and I have a bad habit of tipsy-shopping).

We've always wanted to try to this place. It's in a great location and it looks like a nice place! It's not.

The charcuterie was ridiculous. I do a better charcuterie on a dime budget. The pork chop was salty AF! I couldn't even eat it!! The star is for the wine that was ok and the macaroni and cheese, which was the best part of the already disastrous meal! And they had the audacity to charge us for a pork chop nobody ate!!

My advice: Eat somewhere else!

Wow.

Went on a Monday night and it was pleasantly busy, not the crush of bodies as when I'd previously tried to go on a weekend.

3 of my pals had wine flights and the waiter described the location and attributes of each pour.

We shared:

Charcuterie& cheese plate: the charcuterie is house made and got us to eat beef tongue! It melted in our mouths. We delighted in sampling the meats, cheeses, homemade pickles (fennel, cucumber and more) and sauces (mustard, chutney, and preserved mustard seeds).

Baked Mac & Cheese: just about the only Mac-n-cheese I've had in a restaurant that was worth paying for. Not greasy but thick and deeply flavored.

Crimini mushrooms and spinach over polenta: a gluten free option that please everyone, with feta and tahini sauce. Intense complex flavored and lots of textural variety.

I will be back.