Known for the flavorful hummus and falafel served in stores across campus and its Northside restaurant, Oasis Falafel is celebrating 15 years in Iowa City by giving back to the community.

Oasis is marking the anniversary with “The First 15” — 15 days of fundraisers for 15 different organizations in Iowa City from Oct. 1 through Oct. 15.

Participants include the Emma Goldman Clinic, Dance Marathon, Riverside Theater, and several others. Each organization will receive 15 percent of sales on its designated day. 

Oasis co-owner Naftaly Stramer said he and his business partner knew they wanted their celebration to give back to the Iowa City community.

“Fifteen years ago, nobody gave us a chance, and now we are here, a very good business, and we’re very proud of it. So, for our celebration, we wanted to do something unique,” he said. “My business partner came up with the idea — why don’t we do something to help the community who has given us so much?” 

Oasis first opened in October of 2004. Stramer and co-owner Ofer Sivan longed for food from their native Israel and decided to bring it straight to Iowa City — in the form of falafel.

Stramer said test runs at the Iowa Arts Festival and the Iowa City Jazz Festival gave the pair the confidence needed to move forward with opening the restaurant. 

“We were missing this type of food here … one thing led to another, [and] we decided to open the place,” he said. “We did those two festivals, and it basically gave us the idea that people liked the food.”

In addition to the restaurant’s store location at North Linn Street, Oasis products are also a staple all over the UI, appearing in cafés across campus. Oasis hummus is also sold in approximately 40 grocery stores, Stramer said. 

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Stramer said the store hopes to expand distribution of their pre-packaged products to stores outside of Iowa in the future. An Oasis location also recently opened in Omaha, Nebraska.

Oasis General Manager Zac Henle joined the business in 2005 and said it was a passion for falafel that brought him to work at Oasis. 

“When I started working there in 2005, I had just discovered falafel. I grew up in a small town in Eastern Iowa, and the only place I had ever seen a falafel restaurant before was a big city like Chicago or Minneapolis,” he said. “To find it in a small Iowa town, that was something I was really passionate about at the time.” 

Henle said the people he meets on the job is the most enjoyable aspect of working at Oasis. 

“I’ve worked there a long time and met so many great people and met so many friends there,” he said. “We have a lot of turnover like any restaurant in a college town, but at the same time people will leave for a couple years and come back. We have a lot of returning characters in our team.” 

One of the organizations Oasis will raise money for during October is Table to Table, an Iowa City group that collects food that would otherwise go to waste and distributes it to those in need. 

Nicki Ross, executive director for Table to Table, said the organization has a long-standing relationship with Oasis. 

“They’ve been a longtime supporter of Table to Table. I think we both appreciate each other’s work … It’s really cool to celebrate 15 years by giving back to the community, and we’re just thrilled to be a part of it,” Ross said.