ANACORTES, Wash. — We start our culinary tour with a stop that’s part of Washington beer history, Anacortes Brewery and Rockfish Grill.
"The brewery is actually one of the oldest in the state. We're the ninth oldest brewery in the state of Washington," said owner, Rick Star. "We probably do over 30 beers during the course of the year. We have 18 handles on right now. The Centennial Pale Ale is a beer that uses primarily belly malt, so a lot of local ingredients in that."
If you want some food with your brew, the adjoining Rockfish Grill has a menu with lots to choose from.
"One of my favorites would be the Thai chicken pizza. And that, instead of a marinara, that has a peanut sauce base, and then mozzarella, peanuts, grated carrots and finish with cilantro. That's really different," Star said. "One of my favorite items on the menu is the salmon sandwich. It’s wild Alaskan salmon caught by a local fishing family. And we take pretty much their entire catch every year. And it is on a bun with our roasted red peppers, remoulade and it comes with our signature waffle fries."
With good beer and tasty food, it's easy to see why the locals keep coming back for more.
"We have people that are in here almost every single day. And if they're not, then we go bang on their doors to see what's wrong."
Down the road on Commercial Avenue is a place that got its start at sea, Bob's Chowder Bar and Barbecue Salmon.
"When I retired from fishing, we decided to open Bob's Chowder Bar at the farmer's markets," said owner Bob Atterberry. "And like I said, after a few years of that it got so busy, we had to go to brick and mortar."
The restaurant pays tribute to Anacortes's rich fishing history both in their decor and in their food.
"We have four chowders. We have our New England which is the white chowder. We also have a red clam chowder. The Manhattan-style it's called. Then we make a rock crab chowder," Bob said. "We have so much salmon we do a smoked salmon chowder."
"We've got a medium cooked salmon dinner, Alaskan King salmon," Ross Atterberry added. "We top it off with our local lowland huckleberries. It's served with mixed green salad along with our roasted potatoes we make in-house."
And Bob's never serves their customers fish from a farm.
"They don't want to see it or hear about it or eat it or anything."
Finally, our last stop for some Anacortes eats is at the cozy, A'Town Bistro.
"We've been here since 2011. We really focus on local produce, local products. The style of food is eclectic and playful," said owner Tim Moffitt. "We like to take raw ingredients and refine them into something that's going to be beautiful on the dish."
At A'Town, farm to table isn't just a saying. They try to source as many local ingredients as possible.
"So two of the dishes we made tonight, the Oregon country braised short rib with golden beets from Ralph's Greenhouse over in Mount Vernon," Moffitt said. "The other dish we prepared tonight was a black cod caught off the Washington coast that is coming with the green garbanzo and pistachio salad."
The food at A'Town may be finer dining, but the dress here code is Northwest casual.
"We really want it to be a come as you are atmosphere, you know? Come in off the fishing boat with your muck boots or come in and celebrate your 60th anniversary. We want to be just a great place to come and relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of the real world."
So when it comes to the question of where to eat, Anacortes has many great answers.
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