SBA Administrator: Small Businesses Form 'Backbone' of Alaska's Communities: Organization provides tools entrepreneurs need to grow small businesses.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

One of Anchorage's newest restaurants opened in late July at 1450 East Tudor Road: locally-owned Bread and Brew is a "modern day sandwich shop that specializes in grilled cheese," the company states. Bread and Brew Managing Partner Craig McCarty says, "We've been a family of business owners and entrepreneurs for more than thirty years."

Bread and Brew operates a rather unique business model. During the day the restaurant opens a garage door and lunch customers stand in line to place an order with the option of dining in or carrying out. "People are in a hurry for lunch; they want to get in and get out. We call it 'the queue.'" But, at 4 p.m. the queue closes, and the ordering lane becomes a dinner service server station. "At night it slows down, we dim the lights, the music turns up a little more, our servers come out, and it's a nice dining experience," he says.

McCarty is unaware of any other Alaska restaurants with a similar practice. He says the decision to switch dining modes came after studying the market. "We are new to the restaurant business, so when we decided to get in we observed and did a case study on how restaurants function and who is successful." Their research indicated that many restaurants found success providing lunch to a line of customers, rather than serving them. "We thought we could service more guests by doing that," he says. In contrast, at dinner "people are off work--they want to relax and unwind, have a beer or glass of wine, and they want someone to wait on them." Bread and Brew caters to both sets of expectations.

In addition to the change in service, menu options change after 4 p.m., with more dishes added including roasted goat or margarita flatbread, pulled pork tacos on flatbread, truffle fries, or a pretzel with cheese. Throughout the day Bread and Brew's menu features soups and salads, imaginative grilled cheese and other sandwiches, and a selection of beer and wine. The original idea for the restaurant was a sandwich shop, and the owners anticipated their customers would appreciate local beer with their meal. What began as a plan for eight beers on tap grew to the restaurant offering more than twenty beer choices in addition to a variety of wines.

The restaurant is also uncommon in its cooking methods. Bread and Brew's state-of-the-art kitchen doesn't have any fryers or traditional cook tops. Instead the restaurant uses panini presses for many of their sandwiches and computerized Ovention Shuttle...