University Avenue next to the car wash
Across from the university


Average Overall Rating:

(4 out of 5)

Average Coffee Refill Rating:

(4 out of 5)

(2 out of 5)

Review by: WorldPilot on 3/5/2010

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I'm happy to report that, as of Saturday February 6 2010, Sam's Sourdough Cafe is back in business. It's in a new building at the same location as the old one, which was destroyed by fire last March.

I stopped in a couple weeks back for my favorite breakfast, Minced Ham and Scrambled Eggs, with the eggs a tad wet as I like them (special orders are not a problem here). Delicious, and better than any attempt at this meal I've tried to cobble together at home during Sam's closure.

The facility is, as noted, completely new. It has more seating and a re-worked floor plan to suit for use as a full-service restaurant (the previous building had originally been a fast-food place before it became Sam's).

Sam's Sourdough Cafe is, again, open 6AM to 10PM, with breakfast served anytime. All nonsmoking, no alcohol, real dairy half-and-half and butter in portion-control packs.

Review #19487Review by: WorldPilot on 3/25/2009

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Sadly, on Saturday March 14 2009, Sam's Sourdough Cafe had a fire and was extensively damaged throughout. The owners say they were fully insured and plan to erect a new restaurant. No word yet as to when, though.

Breakfast was Sam's highlight meal, and it was served all hours - it was there that I found a worthy successor to the old Howard Johnson's meal 'Ham Quickie': if they do rebuild, go for breakfast and order the Minced Ham and Scrambled Eggs. Of course, they also used their own sourdough starter for their pancakes, made their own sausage gravy, and offered reindeer sausage, in addition to the usual breakfast standards. Special orders were not a problem, either. In contrast to Arctic Amy's review below, Sam's did offer half-and-half in the little plastic shots; Amy's table must have been missing its bowl of them.

Lunch and dinner though, as Amy pointed out, were a bit less inspired: watch out for (overly salty) gravies and sauces from a jar, canned vegetables, or instant mashed potatoes, for example.

Again, Sam's is closed for the time being.

Review #16620Review by: arcticamy on 5/28/2007

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Looking for an average restaurant? Want to suggest a so-so place to send the tourists? Well at least its cheap. The food is ok, nothing to write home about. The service is ok (if youre a man). The service is a little worse if your a woman. The coffee tastes burned and there is no real creamer (only powdered). Its like a super cheap Dennys. Cheap as in low quality AND not expensive.

Review #10482Review by: MrBreakfast.com Visitor on 11/29/2003

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Excellent service, excellent food! Great sourdough pancakes!!

Award Nomination: Best Breakfast Ever

Review #2643


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Reviews submitted here are meant to pertain to breakfast only. While Mr Breakfast cannot vouch for the validity of each restaurant review, he feels pretty good vouching for the excellent character of the residents of Fairbanks, Alaska - who are primarily responsible for the review(s) you see above for Sam's Sourdough Cafe.