Killjoy Tasting Room

First impressions… Casual encounter… Well it’s very much like a diner except the lighting is with chandeliers instead of regular table lamps, the booths are just one giant bench with red velvet cushions and I would otherwise feel very underdressed in here. So this is like a diner except in every possible way. The fact that this used to be an art gallery shows. Okay, so you know that short scene in Red Dragon between the concert and Ed Norton getting stabbed and there’s a dinner party where the old lady unknowingly eats the flute player, excuse me soirée, and you can’t understand a damn thing anyone is saying? That’s sorta how this place is, except instead of the rich and pampered acting rich and pampered, it’s where the cultured and intellectual relax and take a moment to just not be. I won’t go so far as to say this place is snooty, but there’s definitely a target audience of cultured sophistication. A chamber orchestra would feel at home here. It’s kind of like how a vampire not into gothic shit would decorate their place for a dinner party while also welcoming mortals they may or may not decide to turn, Red velvet, wood bar, black paint, chandeliers, 1^st edition hardcovers.
All that was shattered by the server in jeans, a t-​shirt and truckers cap and the family eating in the window. Of course he was balanced by the other server in formal matrix attire, black shirt, black dress slacks, black shoes to complement his black tray with wine bottles and glasses. He certainly wasn’t angsty or gothic or a sarcastic butler or anything, he was actually quite pleasant, and knowledgable about cheeses.
Despite feeling underdressed, this isn’t a place to necessarily suit up for, though im sure you’d be just as welcome. This is where grown ups can choose to be grownups, or act like their inner twenty year old, somewhere between childish and fresh out of college and terrified of being an adult. Yeah, just out of school, obligated to grow up, but wanting to hang on to that fun immaturity. Their music choice has a beat to it. There’s enough floor space to dance in but nowhere really set aside. This isn’t exactly a hipster place, maybe, artistic? Yeah, maybe artistic, though it’s missing a piano and a stage for beat poetry. I’d place this between a cigar lounge, a coffee shop, and an art gallery. It picks up between those places in a very casual way yet aims toward the same crowd.
The wine selection is… Extensive. I won’t say anything else because I know nothing about wine except that it’s made from grapes. This isn’t exactly a place to necessarily sit down and eat either. There’s a small menu, again dominated by wine… And some beer. The rest is fondue and a few appetizers.
But what’s not to like about fondue? Dippin stuff in hot cheese, what’s not to like?
It’s very much a bar to go to with friends, or a place to drink and reflect. Seriously, bring friends or you’ll be overshadowed by that family or artistic group.
My gripes… Well, it took a while to get served and to get food. What could’ve been an hour long visit, from walking in to paying and walking out was around two and a half. It’s probably because I was by myself, in cargo shorts, running shoes and a windbreaker. And of the food to choose from, not a whole lot. Granted, the gouda, reindeer sausage (not a euphemism) and potatoes and such and such were still good. Though apparently the third thing wasn’t very memorable.
Don’t get me wrong, I like this place, I do. Makes me feel like a college kid again, or cultured. The beer was good, so was the food, and while the selections are of very good taste, not that extensive. And the service, while polite and thorough and informed in what cheese goes with the beer and the other things to dip in the cheese, they weren’t very attentive or really that frequent. I get that an underdressed passerby doesn’t really warrant full-​on 50s gas station service, but come on, more often than once every 10 – 40 minutes. The loud group of aged hipsters, or maybe grad level art majors or whatever the previous generation of hipsters used to be called, probably deserved more attention, probably being regulars. But seriously, I wanted to try this place and sat at the bar for 10 minutes before anyone showed up, another 10 to get a glass of water, and another 10 to even get my order in, and another 10 minutes before I got my beer, and maybe 45 minutes before I got asked if I wanted food, you know, that thing you usually get at dinner time. It took entirely too long to get anything out of this place.
Try this place with friends. I’m looking to round up some people to try it out again with. While this place has a decent beer selection and fondue, with an atmosphere bordering on snoot, don’t go it alone. Bring friends. Loud friends. And suits. And long flowy dresses. Think prom but not slutty and for grownups.

My favorite new spot to eat. Their online menu is wrong however I was really looking forward to the pork belly but it wasn’t on the menu when we got there. Despite that, it was delicious. I have now tried all the dishes. The bruchetta is fabulous along with all the fondues. I found my new favorite beer there. If you like dark beer get a Samuel smith chocolate stout. Love this place!!!

Lost my business. Would not accommodate reservations for my wive’s b-​day party of 15.

Good enough to come back 2 nights in a row! And by night I mean two times at night when it was not dark out — such a trip for someone like me from out of town! It made staying here till 2am super easy because with the wine and beer you drink, you forget time is ticking by and it feels like 11pm all.night.long.
Service was attentive, the menu for both beer and wine was pretty extensive and if you’re looking to drink a lot for only a little, they have a $ 5 rotating house wine. SOLD!
Pay close attention to the kitchen hours though — both times we came we got deep into a conversation and missed the chance to try their fondue. It also gets quite busy on weekends so get your orders in or get there to get a table or you might end up standing around. Worth it though!

Started off great with music and beer! The service was good but food was sub par. The fondu didn’t stay hot and waited for over 30 min to come out! We were 1 of 3 tables so wasn’t busy at all. Probably won’t be coming back.

One of my favorite places to go in Anchorage for drinks. What I like most about this place is the relaxed and mellow atmosphere of the place, when compared to the rest of downtown Anchorage’s drinking establishments. They’ve got a good beer and wine selection, and the fondue is good with a decent variety of options that allow you to mix things up each time you go.

Allegedly the food is good here, however they were out of nearly everything we tried to order.

Little known place but definitely a winner. Little hole in the wall that we had to call about to find where to go in. They had fondue and a fantastic beer/​wine selection. Bruschetta was really yummy.

Went on a Tuesday evening with a co-​worker, planning to hit up a couple spots for a bar-​snack crawl. It turned out to be our spot for the whole night.
Round one was the Gouda-​prosciutto fondue. There are 4 cheese choices, and various dipper choices. We went with raw veggies, apples and pears, and steak bites. The cheese was awesome and very far from Velveeta. It stayed a good consistency over a tea light.
We then left planning to meet up with others at another spot, but came back and convinced our crew to all meet at Killjoy.
For round 2 I had their soup of the day which was a very thick & chunky tomato-​basil soup (sharply tomato with no cream).
We then split the Diablo dark chocolate fondue, which came with blueberries, strawberries, banana, pineapple, and angel food cake. It has a nice flavor but was a little thin, so it dripped. We spent a lot of time locking up our drips.
The bartender who served us was super friendly.

Excellent fondue! Great service, great beer, great atmosphere! Went on a Thursday after work, not crowded. Not too loud or quiet, just right! Cool pics or huskies and models on the wall by a local photographer. The owners are not too keen on advertising, so not too many people know about this place. The owners are the same as Brown Bag. Definitely recommend this place!

Very nice selection of beers, great food, and I enjoyed the experience from start to finish.
Coming in, the music and environment was great. The service was EXCEPTIONAL — bruschetta was on point (best I’ve ever had) — the fondue was a nice treat and I really REALLY likes the options on the beer & wine.
I will be back, as often as I can I think.
Edit: after multiple visits, I upgraded to 5 stars. Love this place.

This bar is right on the edge of my «walking distance from my condo» rule. However, a UYE was being held here, and off I trundled.
I liked the atmosphere, and the fact you could carry on a conversation without excess noise drowning out the discussion. The bartender said that they liked being known as a «talking bar» versus a rowdy party bar.
Part of that is due to the fact that only beer and wine are served here, and the crowd tends to be a little more on the mellow side. Really good draft and bottled beers on the menu. I spotted a few reds I wanted to try that were very reasonably priced by the bottle. It was a beer night, and the vino will have to wait until next time.
Food selection was a little thin, but our friendly bartender told us that more substantial offerings were in the works soon. I was not fond of the crab cakes, but the shrooms and bruschetta were nice. I’d come back once the food choices are beefed up a bit.

A nice place, but popularity and hard surfaces equals LOUD. Very loud. Also, the wait staff was friendly, but it seems that they could beef it up. We waited almost 15 minutes before someone took our drink order. I think I would check it out again on an off night to enjoy the environment better.

Great place to bring a date, hang with friends, or meet new people. The appetizers are choice, the beer/​wine selection is great, and the ambiance cannot be beat. This is exactly the type of place that downtown needs. Did I mention that bartenders and servers are friendly and intelligent? Well, consider it mentioned. Keep up the good work, Killjoy!

Alaska hip! Super cute logo and chandeliers caught my eye from the outside and the inside did not disappoint! Very cute décor, great beer and wine selection, good looking staff, and great art. Seems to be a popular place and I would definitely return.

ADD version:
Probably my favorite bar in Anchorage, and I’ve only been here twice!
EP:
I’m a fairly monogamous bar-goer…I like to keep one main squeeze that I go to for all my needs… and…maybe another place on the side when I’m looking for some excitement.
But, I recently moved to Anchorage. And you know what happens when you’re the new hot thang in town? You get passed around a little bit. A nice way to describe my recent bar habits in Anchorage would be «serial monogamy».
Yep, I’ve been hitting all the major spots, looking for a place that feels like home.
And I think I finally found it in Killjoy!
Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere. This place has it in spades, and it doesn’t seem forced. The attention to detail here is meticulous. Most bars in Anchorage seem to be of two flavors:
1) T-​shirt and coozie-​sellin’ joints that cater to tourists.
2) Super-​divy, musky locals places that you may or may not get into your first bar brawl at. (Like Palin’s house a couple days ago, amirite?!)
Anyway, this place is neither.
Both times I’ve been there has been there has been live music. And while I’m largely music-​agnostic, I found it to be pretty damn good!
Also, both times I’ve come here I’ve made single-​serving friends! People are super-​friendly and are very curious about why in the world anyone would go to a bar alone (highly-​functioning introvert, with smartphone! Also, new to town!)
As far as the beer selection, it’s very «less is more», and by that I mean: they don’t have a ton of stuff, but what they do have is very thoughtfully selected and good. This is the only bar in town I know of where I can consistently get my favorite beer: Anchorage Brewing’s Galaxy IPA.
I’ve had the food here and it was also quite tasty, although if you put goat cheese on it I’ll probably say that about anything.

Been here a couple of times. Good beer, nice wine and attentive service. I’ve only been here when there weren’t many people around. Also being able to grab sandwiches from next door is great. Not sure if everyone can get away with that. The food menu they offer is plenty good. I’ve had just about everything.
The interior is mostly dark woods and not enough acoustic treatments. A large mirror behind the bar does its thing, obvious optical enlargement, allows the vain to sate their need, and helps the bros set up blue steel. Opposite the bar with the large mirror is a row of raised booths.
I think it’s an enjoyable stop in Anchorage’s growing food and drink scene. Again, plenty of great local beers and a nice wine list. I recommend you go.

You can tell that this is someone’s baby — every detail has been carefully obsessed over. The space is gorgeous. The wine, beer, and food has been expertly curated. Our bartender was great. It’s the only spot in Anchorage where you might for a second think you’re in Brooklyn or SF and not in the middle of nowhere. In the ideal world they would have had cocktails, but such is life. The bathroom situation was a little weird, but hey, you’re in Alaska.

Killjoy was an awful experience from the start. When we arrived on a Friday evening, they weren’t even busy, and we weren’t even greeted as we seated ourselves. The staff clearly saw us sitting and ignored us without so much as a glass of water. At one point, I went to get up off the bench seat, and nearly fell to the ground because it wasn’t bolted down! One of the employees jokingly said «what did you do to the bench?», as he attempted to fix it. Never once did he ask if I was okay! After he «fixed» the bench, he walked away and STILL never asked us what we wanted to order. We walked out! This place leaves much to be desired. It’s pretty dad, because I understand it is the same ownership as Brown Bag Sandwich Co around the corner, and we LOVE that place. Very disappointing!

One of the best bars in anchorage! Awesome atmosphere, very friendly staff, delicious food, and of course, great local beer and wine. A must see!