Meals at McKinley Chalet, Denali.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

Are reservations needed to eat breakfast, lunch and or dinner at the restaurants at McKinley Chalet with meal vouchers?   If so how do you make them? We have one voucher each for dinner and breakfast each day. I don’t eat much in the evening.  Can I just order and pay for a side salad and let my husband use my dinner voucher another night? Does anyone have recommendations of restaurants or food they enjoyed?  Thank you for your help.   

[YourWorldWithBill]

32 minutes ago, Midwest Sunseeker said:

Are reservations needed to eat breakfast, lunch and or dinner at the restaurants at McKinley Chalet with meal vouchers?   If so how do you make them? We have one voucher each for dinner and breakfast each day. I don’t eat much in the evening.  Can I just order and pay for a side salad and let my husband use my dinner voucher another night? Does anyone have recommendations of restaurants or food they enjoyed?  Thank you for your help.   

If I remember correctly, they don't take reservations at the main restaurant at the Chalet (but my memory does strange things). The one thing I will say is that we were surprised at how good the food was. Nothing gourmet, of course, but we expected it to be very ordinary, and it was pretty good. I forget the name of the restaurant, but it's in the middle of the village area of the chalet with some shops, etc.

[Midwest Sunseeker]

16 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

If I remember correctly, they don't take reservations at the main restaurant at the Chalet (but my memory does strange things). The one thing I will say is that we were surprised at how good the food was. Nothing gourmet, of course, but we expected it to be very ordinary, and it was pretty good. I forget the name of the restaurant, but it's in the middle of the village area of the chalet with some shops, etc.

Karson’s Public House ?   I saw a YouTube video that said that is where a breakfast buffet was.  Can you use the vouchers for a service breakfast meal anywhere? 

[Mary229]

The vouchers I received could be used in any of the HAL restaurants at Denali.  We loved Karstens and often simply shared a meal, try the wedge salad, it is very good .  We also used them at the sandwich shop for a grab and go breakfast.   Do try the breakfast buffet once for the reindeer sausage 

[Midwest Sunseeker]

21 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

The vouchers I received could be used in any of the HAL restaurants at Denali.  We loved Karstens and often simply shared a meal, try the wedge salad, it is very good .  We also used them at the sandwich shop for a grab and go breakfast.   Do try the breakfast buffet once for the reindeer sausage 

Thank you for the information. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

Yep, Karstens!

[oaktreerb]

The Canyon Lodge which offers sit down service in the McKinley Chalets accepts reservations.   It is in the main lodge at the Chalets where there is a gift shop and boarding area for tour busses.  The Canyon Lodge is a steakhouse with excellent food and your meal voucher is good there.  It is a nice place to have dinner.  Your voucher is good for anything on the menu.

 

 In the morning Karstens (down below) has a breakfast buffet with full or continental breakfast.   It is very busy with people preparing for a full day of tours and excursions.

Edited July 20, 2023 by oaktreerb

[Haljo1935]

Karsten's does not accept reservations, at least it didn't May 2022; check in to have your name got added to the list then enjoy the bar (live music).

Canyon Lodge did accept reservations. 

Both really good food with very generous portions.

 

[terrydtx]

We were there in 2019 and did not need any reservations, We also walked across the main road to a strip mall that had several dining venues including a good pizza place. We did not have any HAL vouchers for dining as they were such a rip off in pricing compared to what the meals really cost and found the places outside of the resort were better and cheaper options.

[Mary229]

20 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We were there in 2019 and did not need any reservations, We also walked across the main road to a strip mall that had several dining venues including a good pizza place. We did not have any HAL vouchers for dining as they were such a rip off in pricing compared to what the meals really cost and found the places outside of the resort were better and cheaper options.

Some of us received gift vouchers😊

[ottahand7]

Thankfully the dining is much better than the Denali lodging.  It's been a while but we were totally underwhelmed by lodging but the dining in the Lodge was great. 

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

Thankfully the dining is much better than the Denali lodging.  It's been a while but we were totally underwhelmed by lodging but the dining in the Lodge was great. 

The new building is pretty nice.  Of course unless you upgrade it is a random draw.  We were put there without the upgrade 

[Midwest Sunseeker]

36 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Some of us received gift vouchers😊

Yes,  they were gifted.  Same price with or without the meal certificates.   I found you can reserve the Canyon Steakhouse by calling the front desk before you travel.  They were very nice and helpful.  Thank you to everyone sharing their experiences on this thread.  Very helpful information. 

[terrydtx]

58 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

The new building is pretty nice.  Of course unless you upgrade it is a random draw.  We were put there without the upgrade 

We were fortunate to have been assigned the new building in 2019. The rooms were huge with bathrooms that had heated floors. 

[Wa Cruiser]

We received 2 gift vouches when we were there end of May this year. Guest services at the main lodge easily made dinner reservations for Karstens with their computer system. I am sure they can do the same if you call them.