Prospector's Pizzeria & Alehouse - Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Elijah Gadol

I got the savage alpine and a Caesar salad which was delicious. All of the pizzas my family got were enjoyed as well. Our server Reed took excellent care of us. We ordered dessert but there must have been a mistake because it was delayed for a little while. Thankfully, Reed promod our dessert for us to compensate for the delay. Overall it was an enjoyable experience and the pizza and salads came out quickly. Great spot!

Kathryn Green

My husband and I stopped in here for lunch on our day at Denali National Park. It is awesome to have a good restaurant option like this so close to a national park. Even more than that, they have incredible vegan pizzas. My husband had the Northern Lights pizza (good but very garlic forward) and I had the vegan pepperoni which is one of the best vegan pizzas I've ever had. We also enjoyed their homemade wild blueberry cream soda--grab a mug if you aren't in the mood for beer!

Rick Lupert

You've got two options for pizza here in Healy at the gateway to Denali. If you're staying at one of the lodges across the street, they're probably going to recommend the other place, as they own it and they're required to do so. If they do, and you have a hankering for pizza, do yourself a favor, ignore that recommendation, and walk across the street to Prospector's.

They're owned by the 49th State Brewing Company which has 2 other restaurants in the state and who produce tons of interesting beers, including the Smōk peated one I tried...and liked! I often gravitate to a smoked whisky or mezcal, but had never tried (or heard of) a peated beer before. It was a nice diversion from standard beer fare, and there are so many other house-brewed beers on top, you're sure to find something you like if you're a beer person.

The pizza was GREAT. I don't say that lightly...I've written dozens of detailed reviews of pizza places and have cataloged the differences between basic restaurant pizza to try NYC slices, Detroit Style, Chicago style, etc. When I say the pizza was great, it comes on the back of an ongoing lifelong deep-dive into pizza.

The dough may have been the store...perfectly proofed, and crispy, and the bottom with a nice chewiness and flavor to the crust on the rim. I liked it a lot. There are also tons of vegetarian (and even vegan options.) We got a half cheese and half vegan pepperoni...the larger grizzly size which, was generally a mistake...we would have been fine with the smaller size, but somehow we managed to finish almost all of it and my wife had a spare piece of pizza for a snack the next day.

The atmosphere was great too...we were seated at a hightop at the bar...and actually, we got seated right away which felt like a miracle as when we arrived there were tons of people waiting for tables. The place was perfectly Alaska decorated...so we knew exactly where we were and we loved that on the large TVs they were showing videos of local wildlife and the aurora borealis which nicely accented where we were and was much preferred over any sporting event.

The garden salad we got was also really fresh and well done.

We really liked it here. It was one of the nicest places in town to eat...well worth the easy walk across the street from the resort we were staying at, and if we had one in our town, it would be a frequently visited spot.

SERGELATO

We sampled some IPA’s, and I encourage to take advantage of free samples because it because I ended up choosing a nice smooth IPA. We had the elk meatballs which were lean and similar to the flavor of bison meat. The baked goat cheese had a rich flavor that complimented the pungent yet delightful smell. Then we ordered their $135 pizza that has a full pound of Alaskan Red King Crab legs. It comes with warm butter and a jaw dropping presentation. The actual pizza itself had a light cheesy taste, and the crab added a nice sweet juicy flavor. i ended up cracking the crab legs open which allowed us to generously top the slices of pizza with crab. The chinook salmon had a dill cream cheese base which reminded me of the urth caffe lox pizza just a little bit. I thought the pizza could’ve used for salmon for $49 especially if it 16 inches in diameter. Solid place overall.

John F. Bruns

Unfortunately my review isn't as glowing as some of the others. A popular place as the wait was over 45min. On the good side, the beer menu was fantastic and our server did her best for the crowd that it was. / 2 apps: artichoke dip was OK if you could find it underneath 1/2" of Mozzarella cheese & the fried ravioli were overcooked to where you couldn't eat the corners. Our pizza was the "lower 48 it ain't " / elk sausage was good but couldn't cut or chew the reindeer sausage casing this was also a fresh cheese pizza and ours only had 3 slices of pizza with cheese. Overall we were disappointed in our visit.

Albert Straub

The best, lightest pizza crust I have ever eaten! They also serve the unusual spruce tip soda (rich in vitamin C but green) as well as a selection of beers. It is usually QUITE crowded so time your visit.

Maggie D

Burnt black on bottom. I don’t understand the hype. We normally like Anthony’s Coal Fired pizza back home; we are not unfamiliar with crispy pizza. We tried not to say anything so our kids wouldn’t complain but they all commented. The char overwhelmed the flavor. The reindeer sausage tasted like kielbasa. My bean soup was not cooked long enough, the beans were hard and the flavors were not melded together. Something very bitter in the soup as well. Needed another hour to slow cook and amalgamate the flavors.

Ben McGrady

We found this gem of a pizza place after a day exploring in Denali. This definitely hit the spot and exceeded expectations. We got the Kodiak pizza and the North of the Border pizza, both of which were very good!