“Not only does it work great to have tacos next to weed,” says Catalyst Cannabis founder and CEO Will Schneider, laughing at a joke he’s heard before, “but it’s also an underserved area in the community to have nice communal spaces where people can meet and eat.”
The retail shop opened in July after more than a year of renovation. Work continued into the second half of 2025 to convert the remainder of the former bank into a food court.
Schneider says he recruited El Green-Go’s to fill the space. “We did a lot of the construction to make sure we could land someone like El Green-Go’s. We spent a ton of money just to make sure there’s utilities on that side, bathrooms, and everything. None of that existed before, and I knew it would be a huge expense for a mom-and-pop startup,” he says. “To the chagrin of some of my investors; they weren’t too stoked about that, but as a result it made it really attractive to land El Green-Go’s.”
Indeed, Howie was pleased with the landlord’s design approach. “We’re all natural colors, natural feeling, slat wood, stuff like that. Natural polished concrete for the floors,” he says. “We were right on the same page at the beginning.”
The food court also features a café operated by Chugach Mountain Roasters, which has retail locations in Spenard and Midtown and supplies coffee to other outlets such as Alyeska Resort and, as it happens, Ginger.
Schneider had hoped to host a juice bar, too, but there wasn’t enough square footage. Even so, with food, coffee, and cannabis under one roof, Schneider compares his combined space to the multi-tenant shopping center that Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop set up at Seventh Avenue and K Street.
That location served as an inspiration for Erin Hamilton, who led the design for Catalyst Cannabis. “I definitely don’t copy; I try really hard to make things distinct,” she says. “But also, you know, it’s a gathering place. It’s a good place for meetings.”
Whether for lunch or dinner, the Northern Lights and Boniface area is short of hangouts. Hamilton says, “It felt like there was a need for some place like that. Healthy food, really good coffee, a glass of wine, you know, 5 p.m. after work.” Indeed, El Green-Go’s will have a beer and wine license.
And before work, Howie is devising a breakfast menu for El Green-Go’s. “We’re gonna be doing a cubano with smoked pork, and we’re adding corn cakes instead of pancakes,” he says. “We wanted to make sure we’re supplying an actual breakfast.”
