Wednesday, September 16, 2020

[EXCLUSIVE] Salad Shop Sweetgreen Secures First of "Several" Spaces in Atlanta

Healthy quick-serve eatery Sweetgreen will soon make its long awaited Atlanta debut.  The D.C. born and now Los Angeles-based eatery has secured space in Ponce City Market for their first metro restaurant.  Established in 2007 by then recent Georgetown University grads Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman, the company has since grown to more than 100 units across the country.  

At Ponce City Market, Sweetgreen will open between SoulCycle and Binders in a roughly 2,900 square foot space previously part of Binders before their downsizing last year.  The space provides up-front parking and visibility from North Avenue as well as from Atlanta BeltLine.  

The menu at Sweetgreen is a mashup of sorts between Wildleaf and Flower Child, with a variety of salads and warm bowls but also "plates" which feature assorted proteins paired with a variety of grains and vegetables.  We tried Sweetgreen this past fall on our visit to Hudson Yards and found our salad quite good and surprisingly not outrageously expensive.   

Sweetgreen joins several local and national players in the healthy salad/bowl-centric restaurant category that have existing locations open in the Atlanta area.  

Among the local operators are Upbeet on the Westside and Wildleaf with two locations in Buckhead (temporarily closed due to COVID-19) and a third coming soon to Coda in Midtown.  

Chopt entered Atlanta in late 2018 at Toco Hills and has since opened  locations in Buckhead and Midtown too.  A fourth Chopt is expected to open late next year in the Publix-anchored Perimeter Marketplace shopping center along Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody.  

Flower Child, developed by True Food Kitchen creator Sam Fox, also entered the Atlanta market in 2018, with locations in Buckhead and Sandy Springs, and as ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported in April 2019Flower Child plans to open a third unit in the market at Westside Provisions District. 

In addition to what building permits indicate is a confirmed lease at Ponce City Market, sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that a second Sweetgreen is planned for Colony Square in Midtown.  The restaurant would occupy a space outside of the planned food hall where Shake Shack was previously slated to open.  The Ponce City Market Sweetgreen location is reportedly targeting a "spring 2021" opening followed by Colony Square in the summer/fall of 2021.  The initial two locations are the first of "several" that that are reportedly planned for metro Atlanta in the next couple of years.  

Have you ever been to Sweetgreen?  What is your favorite salad shop?  Where else in Atlanta would you like to see Sweetgreen open?

Please share your thoughts below.  

7 comments:

"Tyrone" said...

Sweetgreen is great. They have a location in San Francisco I go to for lunch whenever I visit my corporate office. Always a line, which tells you something. The custom salad restaurants are getting a bit saturated but I think Sweetgreen can hang as it does offer plates and sandwiches. The line does move more quickly than at, say, Salata where people agonize over 100s of selections - Sweetgreen is pre-configured, much faster.

Anonymous said...

Sweetgreen is a must for me when visiting LA or NYC. No other salad restaurant in Atlanta compares besides Upbeet. Their warm bowls are delicious.

Anonymous said...

My wife and I just moved from NYC to Old Fourth Ward, and first time in Ponce City Market we both were like "Sweetgreen would kill it here!". And joked about calling corporate to let them know. Well here ya go. Great salads, fast, affordable. Look forward to Sweetgreen in Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

I eat at Sweetgreen multiple times when I'm in NYC (and always search for one in cities I visit). An absolute must-eat place for me. Just love it...

Snikki said...

Hallelujah!! It’s about time!!! I’ve been emailing them and DM-ing them for three years (since moving from NYC to Atlanta). Nothing like it here and it’s much needed!! Can’t wait!!!!

Anonymous said...

About time.

Anonymous said...

Nothing like it here? How about Chopt?

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