anchorage is eating good

Suka's Polynesian Cuisine, owned by Jamie and Jedidiah Stewart, has opened a brick-and-mortar location in Anchorage after starting as a food truck during the pandemic selling Spam musubi and katsu chicken. The Side Quest, a board game cafe offering 306 board games, opened in January. High Country, a new cannabis shop, opened downtown near West Sixth Avenue. New Mexican and globally-inspired American restaurants have also opened across the Anchorage Bowl this spring.

For Anchorage residents, the openings mean new options for eating out, playing games with friends, and shopping locally in neighborhoods including Spenard, Midtown, and downtown. At The Side Quest, customers pick from the full board game library, with Monopoly as the most popular choice, and settle in at a table with no screens involved.

Every one of these businesses is independently owned rather than part of a chain or franchise. The wave of local openings this spring, from Polynesian food to board games to cannabis, is being read as a sign of growth and investment in the Anchorage Bowl's neighborhoods.