Juneau Food

Julia Child once advocated, "The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook." Mayhap so, mayhap not so.... But with no disrespect to Julia intended, we took long, hard delicious draws on creamy, thick milkshakes while waiting for the burgers at Hot Bite on a perfect, sunny Saturday afternoon. Red Hat thinks Julia would have approved wholeheartedly. Make mine malted. *Chocolate* malted.

My friend had vanilla. You know, there are after all only two kinds of people in the world. The ones who will delve into the Hot Bite burger’n’shake expierence with both hands and napkins be damned, and the other kind. We, both being of the former, got matching angus burgers topped with cheddar and roasted green chilies. Red Hat withheld the guacamole. Eliasthewonderdog got whatever landed under the table, plus what friendly children offered. The eagles got the rest, keeping careful watch over the Auke Bay Marina parking lot where the feasting takes place outside this Juneau institution. Just breathing the air around there wells up a mouthful of drool. Adventurous diners around us at the umbrellaed picnic tables dove into piles of fries, onion rings, and the extra special buffalo patties with relish. Or mustard. All the fixings. No holds barred. There were no unhappy faces. Were there any clean ones?

If you have not visited Hot Bite, hope for some more pretty weather this summer even though it might not be the best thing for the plants and (wild, live) animals. There is ample indoor seating at the ‘new’ Hot Bite (which used to be just a burger shack in the lot but has expanded into larger quarters) but the real experience is outside, close to the water, watching the eagles watch you back, seeing your friends pulling in on their way out, or coming up the ramp loaded down with something fresh to smoke, or just coming to place an order and find a table. The drawback? Prices seem a little high. It’s Juneau, after all. And while the menu is mostly burgers with some other grill items and sandwiches thrown in, it’s never fast food at Hot Bite. But with good weather, exciting possibilities to discuss, and shakes like that, a liesurely wait can hardly be considered a problem. Just a perfect excuse to indulge. (ha ha, Jason ;p)

Oh and don’t forget, June 19th is National Martini Day. Please hoist one for Red Hat, who unfortunately will be in no position to honor this holiday when it comes. And tell all about it....