Healthy, Gourmet Fast-Food. It Exists at sweetgreen

Seasonal eating: hardly a novel idea for Angelenos. Here in LA, we’ve been championing the concept for a minute; it’s kind of our thing. But what’s ethical and healthy for the consumer can be expensive and fussy when you’re dealing with an hour lunch break. Not anymore, if a few guys from Georgetown have anything to say about it.

Oddly enough, one of the first businesses to successfully implement the farm to table concept for a fast-food model actually originated in DC. But this past spring, sweetgreen finally opened the doors to their West 3^rd Street and Santa Monica locations, with plans of expanding to Hollywood and Downtown LA. sweetgreen’s two Los Angeles restaurants mark their 30^th and 31^st nationwide eateries—all focused on the same mission: to disrupt the fast food industry with fresh, healthy alternatives.

Like any forward-thinking entrepreneurs, founders Jonathan Neman, Nathaniel Ru, and Nicolas Jammet elicited the help of local authorities on the matter. From beets from Babe Farms and tomatoes from Beylik Farms, to cucumbers from Milliken Family Farms, the folks at sweetgreen met with local farmers before even signing a lease. sweetgreen’s goal is to change the way we think about food through seasonable and simple recipes by sourcing ingredients from growers who value sustainability and transparency.

This fall, sweetgreen’s Chef Michael Stebner brings out the big guns by joining forces with Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook (Animal and Son of a Gun fame) to collaborate on a featured dish. The Za’atar salad is a thoughtful culmination of flavors from both Mediterranean and California origin. The guys boast, “The sweetgreen team is like us in that they do things differently, and we respect their local and seasonal approach to their menu. sweetgreen has been a great addition to the LA food scene.”

sweetgreen will be rotating their seasonal menu five times throughout the year to correspond with annual growing seasons. Each menu will showcase the best of each harvest, utilizing California’s generous resources—a well-conceived and sharply executed concept that sets them apart from the other chains.

Want proof? Check the board. Each location features a chalkboard delineating what’s in the seasonal recipes and where each ingredient comes from.

Photo: Kelly Elaine Photo for sweetgreen

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