Expands to California
Sweetgreen expands to California opening its first store in West Hollywood close to the Farmers’ Market.
L.A. has always been where we wanted to go. So much of what we consider ‘the sweetlife’ was inspired by L.A. and the way people live there.
Because it purchases its food from local sources, the menu is slightly different from stores on the east coast. Two new dishes are a salad called “West Roast” and a rice bowl called “Hollywood Bowl.” Each store has a chalkboard that lists ingredients and where they come from.
We had to get a much bigger board for California. It’s the same Sweetgreen, but a slightly different experience — but that’s how it should be, because that’s what nature created. . . .You don’t have to compromise. You can have great food that is also healthy and also affordable in a cool environment.
Opens second store
Sweetgreen opens its second store at Dupont circle in Washington, D.C. Several hundred guests are in attendance.
When we opened our second store, not doing any business, bought a giant speaker, set up outside on the sidewalk, something natural happened, it was no longer just a place to eat. We did our first block party and it was incredible. The block party turned into a bigger block party which turned into our first festival which was maybe 500 people.
Opens first store
Georgetown University graduates Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman and Nathaniel Ru open their first store in Georgetown. They want to connect with people through food. Because they have nowhere healthy to eat, they decide to start a healthy restaurant that is fun and also promotes their core values. They focus on creating a farm to table experience from food that is locally sourced.
Sweetgreen was born when we were still students. The three of us really bonded over the fact that there was something missing in our life — we had nowhere healthy to eat. . . . We wanted to create something healthy, that was fun. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was someplace that did our values. We shared this passion for creating something and we just decided to close our eyes and do it.
