Since I began hunting for food stories in Fairbanks, I have stumbled across the work of “Fairbanks Foodie” online, whose social feeds feature signature bold glasses, pink lipstick, and enticing bites and snippets of life in Fairbanks and North Pole.
Upon reaching out, I sat down at Little Owl Cafe’s new 3rd St. location with Emily, the Fairbanks Foodie, to talk about food in the subarctic. She ordered salted pistachio matcha. Inspired by the creative drinks on her Instagram, I skipped my usual black drip coffee for the March special: a grasshopper mocha with dark chocolate and frosted mint syrup.
Since arriving in Alaska one year ago with her active-duty husband, Emily has amassed tens of thousands of followers across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. About 60% of her 20,000 Facebook followers are in Fairbanks, which is close to a third of the city’s population tracking her feed.
Identifying as a Foodie
Fairbanks is not known as a particularly epicurean town, so I asked how she identifies with the term “foodie.”
“I think it’s really just a curiosity and an appreciation for food and its origin, and the thought and effort that goes into it,” she said. “It’s not just a matter of liking food or being an adventurous eater.”
With plenty of nearby farmers and local meat producers, it’s not as hard to find local foods in Fairbanks as one might expect, she said, saying she’s on a first name basis with the people she buys chicken and pork from, who run Yellow Wood Farms.
She buys all her meat locally and shops at farmers markets throughout the summer. Even in winter, she finds local produce before turning to the grocery store.
“There’s a lot more than meets the eye about Fairbanks,” she said. “The sense of community here is pretty awesome.”
What’s Hot and What’s Not
The “food truck game” is another area she said Fairbanks is frequently underestimated, along with the ways in which Google Maps underdelivers for finding good places to eat.
“You need to be asking people that actually live here what their recommendations would be,” she said. “People who think that there are no places to eat just realistically aren’t looking hard enough.”
Emily’s accounts are not reviews. “Everyone has different tastes, preferences, and likes,” reads a pinned post on her page. But I couldn’t resist asking about some of her favorites. She pulled up her Instagram feed as an archive, and started by listing places she’d send visitors.
The Pump House came up right away. “If they want something kind of quintessentially Alaskan,” she said, and also mentioned Latitude 65 at Borealis Basecamp. “There’s nowhere else that really is doing what Chef George is doing with his local ingredients.”
We cruised through some other faves: Lemongrass for Thai, also citing their use of local ingredients, Mariana’s Mexican Dishes, GR’s Empanada House (calling them “the sweetest people ever” and instructing me to try their specials), Soba the Moldovan restaurant, The Bite food truck for Korean egg toast sandwiches, La Cubanita food truck for churros, the Thai Buddha Bowl at LUMI Coffee Bar, and a new coffee hut called Cafe Miguelitos (with instructions to order the one‑pound breakfast burrito and Mexican spiced mocha).
In terms of what’s lacking, cocktail bars came up right away. “There’s nowhere to get a craft cocktail besides distilleries, which don’t usually have food,” she said.
“Bigger than I anticipated”
Emily said Fairbanks Foodie started as a way to document her experience in Alaska. Early on, another Alaska content creator (@alaska.lizzie) told her the type of account she imagined, and now runs showcasing restaurants and food around Fairbanks didn’t exist but could benefit the larger community. She said this early feedback propelled it into something bigger than she expected.
Now, Emily has big plans for the future of Fairbanks Foodie. “I feel like I’ve not really scratched the surface with a lot of the restaurants here,” she said.
When I referred to her as an influencer she pushed back, preferring the term “content creator.” She shared how she is starting to get recognized at restaurants, and battles mean comments as any creator does. She said she treats Fairbanks Foodie like a part time job and likes to keep her collaborations “intentionally low key.”
Her content varies between the three accounts. Instagram is a curated food-only feed, Facebook has the most active local engagement, versus TikTok, which is a more global platform, features more Alaska lifestyle content than the other two. “So it’s like, me going to get an iced coffee at minus 40,” she explained.
Trying Out the Foodie’s Recommendations
I pulled into the drive through at Cafe Miguelitos around 10:35 a.m. on a Saturday. It was -10 degrees on a sunny March morning and there were two cars ahead of me. I waited. My husband eventually texted, “Nothing says Fairbanks like idling your car for 35 minutes at a coffee hut.” I finished the Wordle, put a dent in my audiobook, and considered that a review by Emily, rather than just a spotlight, might have included a heads up about the wait.
The coffee lady was all smiles and sweetly called me “baby” when I finally placed my order, putting my hackles all the way down. Ultimately, Emily’s video did not lead me astray. I’ve since learned that wait time was unusual, and the breakfast burritos were the best we’ve had in Fairbanks, and very worth the wait.
Although spotlighting places on the internet certainly has drawbacks, she’s right: we all have our own tastes. Making it easier to find local businesses creating unique food and drink is a win for Fairbanks and its visitors, and my belly.
Despite her pushback on the term “influencer,” Fairbanks Foodie has definitely influenced me.
Find Emily, the Fairbanks Foodie, online at @fbxfoodie on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Jenny Weis writes for a variety of Alaska nonprofits and causes in between keeping up on Alaska's doughnut scene, sliding on snow, and gawking at cool plants and rocks along local trails.
