TV Restaurants

What Happened to Lavelle's Bistro After Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 33 Fairbanks, Alaska Closed May 2025

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Lavelle's Bistro has closed — confirmed via alaskasnewssource.com, May 23, 2025.

What the source shows: Independent local news outlets report the owners announced Lavelle's Bistro's permanent closure effective 2025-05-31 after 24 years, and Google's listing, marked permanently closed, plus the unreachable website corroborate it. How we decide a status →

What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visited Lavelle's Bistro in Fairbanks, Alaska, for the "Rib-Stickers" episode, which aired on Food Network on 2021-02-12, spotlighting the downtown bistro's dinner menu. Lavelle's Bistro was a New American restaurant founded in 2001 by Kathy Lavelle and Frank Eagle, operating for nearly 24 years on the ground floor of the SpringHill Suites on First Avenue in downtown Fairbanks. According to Alaska's News Source, KUAC, and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the owners announced on 2025-05-22 that Lavelle's Bistro would close permanently on 2025-05-31, citing sharp economic uncertainty, including a 30% revenue drop between March and April 2025 that owners attributed to national economic pressures such as federal job losses. Google Places lists the business as permanently closed, and the restaurant's website returned no response on a 2026-09-08 check. A separate business, Lavelle's Taphouse, operates under different ownership nearby and remains open, according to Alaska's News Source.

The episode Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Season 33

Episode 8
Aired
Title: Rib-Stickers · What was featured: Lavelle's Bistro's fine-dining dinner menu on the Rib-Stickers episode
How Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants have fared: 27% closed →

Also in Season 33 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season 33: 34 of 41 still open · 2 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 33 episodes →

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All 40 TV restaurants in Alaska →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. alaskasnewssource.com https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/video/2025/05/23/lavelles-bistro-close-their-doors-after-24-years-operations-fairbanks/
  2. fm.kuac.org https://fm.kuac.org/2025-05-22/economic-uncertainty-leads-fairbanks-bistro-to-close-after-almost-25-years-in-business
  3. newsminer.com https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/lavelle-s-last-call-bistro-to-close-after-24-years-of-fine-fare-and-full/article_211b677d-83da-40e7-9a10-e0b43c818107.html
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Record ddd-1239 · checked by Cal Marchetti.