Final Four Matchup #1: Bear Tooth vs. Club Paris

The first matchup in the Final Four of Anchorage restaurants features two of my absolute favorites: Bear Tooth and Club Paris. These two couldn't be any different, as one is old school classy and all about the meat while the other features a diversified lineup and something for anyone. It's going to be an epic showdown, but there can be only one winner. Who will it be?

Bear Tooth: This has quickly become one of the most universally loved restaurants in town. With good reason...Bear Tooth does everything you want a good restaurant to do. A delicious and diverse menu (thai noodles in peanut sauce? Sure. Moroccan Chicken? Hell yes. Halibut Tacos? Don't mind if I do. Tasty burgers? YES!), quality service, good atmosphere, and a primo location. That they throw in a nice bar with a quality selection and the vaunted beer selection they and Moose's Tooth share, a movie theater to eat and drink in, and two restaurants in one (really?!) really adds to the equation, making it an exceptional blend of all the best you want from your restaurant experiences.

Yet it also has a major negatives that it shares with its sister restaurant Moose's Tooth: the occasional ferocious wait. Worth it? Sure. Annoying? Oh yeah.

Club Paris: Let's say this: if the Rat Pack existed in 2010 Anchorage, Alaska, they'd probably eat at Club Paris. Well, realistically they'd probably eat wherever they could smoke at and whichever place Dean Martin hadn't been 86'd from for boozing and hitting on every waitress. But still, the connection is there: Club Paris is a throwback. It's all about small groups that enjoy a stiff drink or a tasty beer with their thick as hell but oh so delicious steaks. It may be a very specific niche, but it's a classic one and one that I fully subscribe to.

Sure, red meat may have grown less popular over the years with some crowds, but not this guy. I choose to have my filet served with a side of petite filet thank you very much. And their burgers...lord their burgers! Filet mignon served on tasty buns with you name it for toppings (blue cheese AND bacon? What did I do to deserve this?!)...so delectable it should be illegal.

Still, the atmosphere is suffocating for some (I understand why) and due to its pervasive hardiness it may not be the best idea to eat here all of the time. I've never been good at making good decisions though.

The Showdown: This is a pretty much impossible choice for me. Club Paris is as ingrained into me as my skin, being my go-to birthday dinner joint for the past 6 years as well as a real piece of Anchorage history (sit down at the bar sometime and talk to the bartender. The guy is a gem and can tell you a lot about life, such as the power of a line like "it's a good life...if you don't weaken"). Bear Tooth is a place I've only really been eating at consistently for two years (non movie experiences rather), but a place that is so damn good it is almost required eating weekly.

While I think if I had to choose at one of these places before I die, I'd almost certainly go with Club Paris. I'm not about to be executed so this is not one of those situations. Because of its Swiss Army Knife like nature and its ability to suck me in no matter the day or the meal, there is only one choice here.

Bear Tooth...see you in the championship.

Fancy Bracket Final: (1) Simon and Seafort's vs. (3) Club Paris

Here it is...the Fancy Bracket final. It pits the #1 remaining seed Simon and Seafort's against downtown rival for high end dining Club Paris. They both have their advantages, but who earns my dollar when the time comes for reservations? You'll find out below.

Simon and Seafort's: Simon's is the 800 pound gorilla of this bracket, as it carries with significant history, a great location and view, a really nice menu, a bar that is superb, and one of the best happy hours in town. I mean, this place brings it in every facet a restaurant can bring it in. It's earned the praise it has gotten throughout the years and has managed to treat customers with respect even with the towering praise (that was half a Simon's compliment and half a Marx Brothers slam).

But at the same time, their signature dish is the macademia encrusted, crab stuffed halibut...very good, but does it top Club Paris?

Club Paris: Steeped in a history that goes back to the yesteryear of Anchorage, Club Paris has stayed old school as everyone around them has amped up the modern appeal.  It works for them, as the dimly lit dining area, classic bar, and throwback menu (meat...and various forms of it) really accentuates their greatness. I mean, this is a place that just feels like something out of a movie, and it's appeal is entirely understood by yours truly.

Plus, they make the meanest steak in the city as well as the only burger that rivals Tommy's (and possibly surpasses it on some days) with their filet mignon burgers. Sure it's dimly lit, but it is also incredibly delicious.

The Showdown: All around goodness or doing two things really well? It's a toss up, but I'm going to go on the same idea that the actual NCAA tournament goes off of: if you can do one or two things extremely well, odds are you'll win. While Simon's brings B+ game across the board, Club Paris and their two big A+'s make this an easy decision for me.

Fancy Bracket Winner: Club Paris

Fancy Bracket (Round 2): (3) Club Paris vs. (7) Mixx Grill

We have quite the showdown today as bracket stalwart Club Paris goes up against a hot up-and-comer Mixx Grill today. While it's surprising Mixx even made it here, does it have enough firepower to unseat the great Club of the Paris? Let's find out what advantages each restaurant brings to the table.

Club Paris:
Advantages

• Best steak in town
• They can stuff their steaks with bleu cheese if you ask (thanks Sara!)
• Better beer
• Awesome Rat Pack sensation if you park in the back lot
• The place is steeped in history
• Awesome bar
• Crazy good lunch - filet mignon burgers! 

Mixx Grill:
Advantages

• Doesn't feel like an interrogation room
• Better service overall
• Better dessert
• Occasionally really cool music 

The Showdown: As much as I enjoy Mixx Grill, it's hard to really call this a showdown. Club Paris is a contender this year like Kentucky - they systematically take their opponents to pieces and show serious pro potential while they're at it (sort of like DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall today against a lowly 16 seed). Mixx Grill, you're great, you really are. You're just no Club Paris.

Fancy Bracket: (3) Club Paris vs. (6) Suite 100

Today in the Fancy Bracket we have a matchup between the king of the five inch tall filet - aka Club Paris - versus south Anchorage's go-to restaurant - Suite 100. This match up brings it all...old school versus new school, beef versus variety, downtown versus uptown. You don't want to miss this showdown between the seasoned vets and a team filled with diaper dandies baby!

Okay, maybe too much Dicky V there.

Club Paris: This is my Duke. Just like when Dick Vitale looks at the brackets and his eyes light up when he sees the Blue Devils, I see Club Paris and think "going all the way baby!" Just like with Duke, Club Paris has been doing the same thing for years upon years and it works so well no one can stop it. No matter if you go in for lunch to have one of their ferociously tasty filet mignon burgers (the inside game for the Dukies) or if you come in for their bread and butter...you know, the butter knife can cut it, your mouth can't handle it tastiness of their filet mignon (the impeccable spacing and three point shot), this place has been doing what it does best better than anyone else for ages. Sure the atmosphere is moderately oppressive and eerily reminiscent of some sort of gulag or third world prison (sort of like Coach K's practices), but the bar is phenomenal and the service is oddly great.

Suite 100:  These guys are kind of like the Memphis teams of the past few years - they completely murder their conference because there is simply no other game in town (ala reasonably priced and good atmosphere from a nicer restaurant in the south side), but when you get to the tourney can they match up? Suite 100 is a solid experience mostly because you can get good food with a pedigree at remarkably decent prices. Rarely do their entrees exceed $30, and you can get a lot of goodness for the $15 to $18 range. That's unheard of in this category, and something that is a huge advantage over everyone else (kind of like Derrick Rose or Tyreke Evans was for Memphis).

But when you get them in against the best, like two years ago against Kansas and last year against Missouri for Memphis, Suite 100 just doesn't match up well.

The Showdown: Just like what happens when Memphis and Duke typically play in the tourney, Suite 100 gets some early buzz because of the exciting nuclear upside of their location, but when you get down to it Club Paris simply out-fundamentals them. Club Paris has three huge advantages: a classic bar, one of the best lunch options on the market, and the best steak in town. Suite 100 just can't hang with that.