Our current favorite in Homer for a quick, casual meal is Cosmic Kitchen (tel. 907/235-6355; www.cosmickitchenalaska.com), a cheerful place on Pioneer Avenue producing Mexican lunches and breakfasts, especially large burritos stuffed with fresh, high-quality ingredients along with rice and other side items in disposable baskets. An enormous meal comes in at under $8 per person. Limited indoor seating is supplemented by a pleasant deck out front protected from the wind by glass, but during peak hours the place is jammed and ordering takeout would be advisable.
For fresh local halibut and cod, salmon, burgers, chicken, and milkshakes in an attractive beachfront dining room, try Boardwalk Fish and Chips (tel. 907/235-7749), on the boardwalk across from the harbormaster's office on the spit. It's relaxed fast food, but the place is clean and grown-up and serves local beer. Duncan House Diner (tel. 907/235-5344) downtown at 125 E. Pioneer Ave., is a friendly, traditional place, popular with coffee-sipping locals (but smoke free). You can eat at the counter or in a booth. It is open for breakfast and lunch daily. Panarelli's Cafe & Deli, next to the Bunnell Gallery at 106 W. Bunnell St. (tel. 907/235-1555), produces tasty sandwiches to eat in a small dining room, on the porch, to take away, or as sack lunches to take fishing. It is open in summer Monday through Saturday 9am to 6pm, winter 11am to 6pm. The cafe doesn't take credit cards.
Dining across the Bay -- In a lovely dining room and bar with vaulted ceilings, wood and tile floors, and extraordinary views of wooded Eldridge Passage, you can order draft beer, a delicious halibut or steak dinner, and simpler meals. But you can't get there without a boat. That turns out to be okay, because the ride to Otter Cove Resort (tel. 800/426-6212 or 907/235-7770; www.ottercoveresort.com) is one of the best parts of dining there. The owner, Homer Ocean Charters, carries passengers across for only $20 in the evening; at lunch time, the price is $60, but the meal is included in the price (and you still get to order from a menu). It's the cheapest way to get out on the water. They offer inexpensive cabins, too.
