D.C.-based fast casual Sweetgreen expands to Los Angeles, where two of the three founders grew up.
The brand’s westward expansion begins with two new units in Los Angeles. The first is close to the farmers market in West Hollywood and the other is just steps from the ocean in Santa Monica
“We couldn’t be happier to bring our healthy and farm-fresh food to the West Coast, and we are thrilled to finally share the ‘sweetlife’ with you,” reads a letter from founders Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman. “Although it's taken nearly eight years to open a Sweetgreen here, the LA lifestyle has inspired our vision of the sweetlife since day one.”
The menu at Sweetgreen consists of a core selection of inventive salads, in addition to a rotating offering of seasonally driven salads. The brand is inspired by the growing seasons and adjusts its menu five times a year to incorporate as many seasonal ingredients as possible. With that in mind, Sweetgreen has adapted some of its offerings for the West Hollywood and Santa Monica restaurants based on what’s in-season and grown locally in the LA area. The new locations will also offer East Coast classics like the Kale Caesar and Guacamole Greens, as well as grain bowls, soups, and house-made beverages, like chamomile mint iced tea and cucumber ginger limeade.
In addition to serving healthy, fresh and seasonal food, Sweetgreen promotes nutritional education to younger generations so they embrace balanced, healthful lives. To effect this change beyond its four walls, the company created “Sweetgreen in schools,” a homegrown program that educates kids about nutrition, fitness, sustainability, seasonality, and eco-literacy through fun, hands-on activities. What began in 2010 as a one-week curriculum in Washington, D.C. has since grown into a series of wellness workshops impacting more than 2,500 students annually — and Sweetgreen is excited to bring the program to the West Coast to reach even more students. When guests pay with the Sweetgreen rewards app, 1 percent of purchases are donated to FoodCorps to help make “sweetgreen in schools” a reality.
