“We have nothing in common with fast food
except that we make food — fast.”
Noam Schulgasser snaps on a white bicycle helmet with an Urban Greens logo sticker on the back and examines a pile of take out orders. He selects one and dashes out the door on his bike.
The co-owner of Urban Greens doesn’t usually do deliveries on his bike, but he will in a pinch. And on this particular Thursday there are so many take out orders he’s happy to make the downtown runs on two wheels.
Perhaps nearly 40 percent of Urban Greens customers have never set foot in the tiny sub and salad shop in downtown Anchorage. More than half the approximately 150 lunches made each day at this quirky, locavore’s delight are delivered directly to catered meetings at native corporations, law firms and other Anchorage area businesses.
Many of the delivery orders are for groups of 30 or more.
“I think if they saw our kitchen they would be surprised,” Noam said, referring to the less-than-300-square-foot kitchen.
Growing Urban Greens:
Noam worked in mostly Italian and Greek restaurants as near as Seward, Alaska and as far as Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Israel before setting up shop in Anchorage in 2008.
He and a friend decided to convert a small ice cream shop into a sandwich store in the winter of 2008 offering take-out and delivery only. By June of that year, he and his wife opened the full dine-in restaurant at its current location near the corner of 3rd and G streets.
“We did it on a shoestring budget,” Noam said. “I bought a meat slicer and a small refrigerator, and started making food.”
Noam’s day starts at 6:30 a.m. when he arrives at Urban Greens to make the fresh-baked cookies, roast peppers and prepare vegetables for that day’s lunches.
The key is fresh and local at Urban Greens.
“We use a local bakery, and use local vegetables in the summer,” Noam said. “We roast our own peppers. Every dressing is made from scratch.”
“I felt like downtown Anchorage needed a good, fresh, salad and sandwich shop.”
The Urban Greens menu is a range of sub sandwiches and salads. While some are classic flavors such as oven-roasted turkey, many of the menu items have Greek, Middle-Eastern, Cajun-New Orleans or Asian inspiration.
Noam said the goal for the store’s feel is modern, urban minimalism. They try to furnish the store with unique pieces from stores like Indigo in downtown Anchorage and the walls are adorned with artwork from Noam’s friend and local artist, Terry Josey.
Noam’s wife, Tamar Ben-Yosef, is the store’s co-owner, but she insists the credit goes to him. However, he doesn’t let the story go that way so easily.
“Neither of us could have done it on our own,” Noam said. “She’s always working on the marketing, website, all kinds of things.”
“Most of it was him,” Tamar said later. “I had a lot to do with the looks, that’s what we talk a lot about at home — cosmetic changes, menu changes.”
Tamar said the business often rules the dinnertime conversation at their household. That and their four-month old son.
Noam met Tamar at an Israeli film festival in Austin while visiting his sister. They dated for a month before Noam returned to Alaska to work a summer job at a restaurant in Seward. She later visited him in Seward for an intended two weeks and ended up staying a month and a half. They traveled their country of origin, Israel, together before settling in Anchorage.
They are proud of the business they have built from the ground up. When they opened the store in June 2008 they did all the remodeling to the store, electrical work, flooring, painting and decorating, with the exception of some plumbing they had to hire out.
“From my point of view, this is hard-earned money,” Noam said. “When it come to food service, my advice is not to underestimate the amount of work you have to put into it. Food service is extra demanding.”
“We have nothing in common with fast food except that we make food — fast.”
Entrepreneur’s Perspective:
Tamar and Noam both agree that Anchorage is a great place to start a business.
“There a lot of room for entrepreneurs — small, fun, unique businesses,” Tamar said.
“Anchorage has more opportunity than perhaps anywhere else in the country,” Noam added. He said it’s because Anchorage is still growing, somewhat cushioned from the recession and there’s room for competition.
They both emphasized that a successful business must offer something original.
“It’s good to have a creative attitude along with the skill set,” Noam said. “It’s important to offer something unique.”
He said they are proof that you don’t need to have a ton of startup resources to start a business.
“I think any hardworking person can start a business. It doesn’t take a lot of money to start a business. It just takes hard work.”
Urban Greens details:
LOCATION: 304 G St., Anchorage
PHONE: 276-0333
OPEN: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday-Friday
ONLINE: urbangreensak.com
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below. 
I love the salads at Urban Greens! Nice article about them. I’ve added them to my website ALASKA FOOD (http://akfood.weebly.com) as a restaurant that uses locally sourced foods as much as possible. I also added a link to this article.
Tamar and Noam, many happy meals! I will have to stop by for a lunch now that have I learned of your restaurant.Seija
very high quality touch of aesthetic attitude & culinary concept.
I wish i could taste it. unfortunately i am too far in Israel
Congrats for the success, the food looks beautiful and very appetising !
And mazal tov for the baby !
Same than Sigal, wish I could taste it !