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A little more than a year after taking over ownership of the Juice Pub and Eatery in downtown Flagstaff, 23-year-old Christa Freeman embarked on a second concept as Urban Pine Eatery opened its doors in mid-February.

Located just a block south of the Juice Pub, Urban Pine Eatery took over the space previously held by the Pita Pit at the corner of East Aspen Avenue and North San Francisco Street. The location, which looks north toward Heritage Square, offered Freeman too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“I just love this spot and felt like something new and cool would go really well into this spot,� said Freeman, who transitioned the interior of the building into a pristinely decorated space that embraces Flagstaff’s forests and Urban Pine’s name in roughly two months. “The concept here is it’s another eatery. It’s supposed to be faster, not fast food and still healthy food, but cheaper prices where the college kids can afford it.�

Offering a menu filled with salads, subs, pizzas, and classics such as chicken tenders or mac and cheese, Freeman’s new venture follows a different approach than Juice Pub. Open until 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, the hours extend to midnight from Thursday to Saturday as downtown Flagstaff fills up for the weekend.

“For the hours, I wanted it to be more like comfort food,� Freeman said. “Our original plan was a baked potato bar -- which maybe one day we will still do. I think it would be awesome, but with how fast we were moving along in the process, we couldn’t figure out how to cook baked potatoes and keep them to the right temperature. That was our original goal, but I mean, who doesn’t like pizza, and there’s not many salads in downtown.�

Urban Pine opens at 11 a.m. daily, as Freeman hopes to serve as an affordable lunch option for the numerous workers in the area, with much of the menu intended to be served individually. Offering pizzas at both 6 inches and 12 inches, with prices starting at $6 and $10 respectively, while house-created salads begin at $11, Freeman came up with the menu on her own through a bit of trial and error.

“I basically spent a week just test trialing things and eating way too much,� Freeman said, who also has options such as fries, garlic knots, cinnamon knots and banana pudding, which is made in-house along with all of the dressings for the salads.

While Freeman made adjustments to the Juice Pub menu when she took over, creating a concept from the ground up presented a new challenge for the hotel and restaurant management major at Northern Arizona University as she returned to her classes this past fall with the Juice Pub running smoothly.

Assisted in the space’s makeover by her family, Freeman began the new business’s creation with its name. She knew she wanted to include “eatery� in the name in order to match the Juice Pub and make a clear connection between the two. Freeman first thought about including Aspen in the name before shying away due other existing businesses using that. She landed on pine as the wooded term for the name, as wood bark discs, wooden charcuterie boards, rolling pins and pinecones adorn the space. Adding “urban� to the name served as a simple nod to the space’s presence in the middle of downtown Flagstaff.

“We just want it to feel different,� Freeman said. “I think you used to go to a place primarily because of the food, and now people like to go to places because of the vibe, because the food also tastes good and the customer service is good. I feel like there’s a bigger picture to going out now rather than just the food.�

While the name, decorations and menu for Urban Pine Eatery presented Freeman with her first chance to express some creativity as she continued in her young career, the space also gave her a new challenge after finding “a great manager� to help run the Juice Pub. After nearly a year of experience in managing her own business -- and doing so with employees near her own age -- Freeman said she’s more comfortable with the dynamics of business ownership.

Without regular shifts at the Juice Pub, Freeman said she was able to step back into more of a traditional ownership role as someone who can monitor the two businesses. Freeman’s existing presence in downtown Flagstaff also made opening her second concept nearby an easier task as she expressed how supportive the surrounding business owners have been to her.

“It’s a good community down here, and that’s why I like to be downtown,� said Freeman, who has worked with some of the downtown bars that do not have their own kitchens to provide food for their customers through QR codes and delivery around the block.

Her regular customer base from the Juice Pub has also started to try Urban Pine offerings as well, while others who have walked through the doors are just learning about Pita Pit’s closure from back in December.

“A lot of people still come in thinking it’s Pita Pit, and then they are like, ‘Where am I?' We still have subs, so it’s similar to a pita wrap,� Freeman said laughing.