The doors at 7greens Detroit Salad Co., the scratch-made salad shop that has anchored Library Street in downtown Detroit since 2014, have been locked for about a week, and no one seems to know exactly why. The restaurant's phone number no longer works, its online ordering system is down, and founder Kelly Schaefer has not responded to requests for information about what's going on.
According to the Detroit Free Press, which first reported on the closure, a restaurant staffer said the location was closing after business last Tuesday. But the paper could not confirm that account, and there has been no known activity at the shop since that date. The Free Press, reported by writer Susan Selasky, says 7greens typically operates from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, making the sudden and unexplained closure especially conspicuous for downtown lunch-goers used to grabbing a scratch-made bowl on a weekday.
A Health-Food Pioneer on Library Street
Schaefer opened the Detroit location in 2014, per the same Free Press account, founding 7greens to offer wholesome and healthy options in a downtown that, at the time, had few similar choices. The menu includes salads, bowls, soups, and wrap sandwiches built around a scratch-made flexitarian approach, featuring homemade soups and bread, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken, organic cage-free eggs, and natural sweeteners, along with vegan, paleo, and many gluten-free options, according to the Free Press. Schaefer, who graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York, designed the restaurant to promote a healthy, balanced eating lifestyle without relying on on-site freezers, a detail earlier detailed by Natural Awakenings Magazine, which noted Schaefer gained restaurant experience in Chicago and Nantucket before opening 7greens.
The Library Street storefront sits on the ground floor of The Z, a 10-story Bedrock-owned parking garage and commercial development known for its multi-story public art murals, according to Model D Media. Bedrock developed the retail space specifically to draw street-level dining and retail, and 7greens opened there in August 2014 as part of a broader Bedrock recruitment push that brought four new dining concepts downtown, including Freshii and Wright & Company, per the same outlet's reporting on the era.
Downtown's Fast-Casual Landscape Has Shifted Fast
Whatever is happening on Library Street, it's unfolding as downtown Detroit's fast-casual scene gets a lot more crowded. Sweetgreen opened a location on Woodward Avenue about two blocks from 7greens, inside the One Campus Martius building, according to The Free Press — a spot that Detroit Metro Times reported opened on December 9, 2025, as the chain's sixth Michigan location and its first inside Detroit city limits.
CAVA opened a location on Woodward Avenue near Campus Martius in 2025 as well, the Free Press noted. That spot, at 636 Woodward Avenue next to Shake Shack, opened on September 26, 2025, marking CAVA's second Michigan location, according to Patch. Toastique, meanwhile, opened its first Detroit location at 89 Monroe Street near Campus Martius in October 2025, offering smoothies and a coffee bar alongside its toast menu, the Free Press reported — a debut detailed in a release carried by PR Newswire.
The influx isn't a coincidence. Bedrock Real Estate has actively leased Central Business District spaces to national fast-casual chains including Sweetgreen, CAVA, and Toastique to refresh its retail tenant lineup, according to 94.7 WCSX. Downtown Detroit's Central Business District is home to roughly 75,000 office workers concentrated around Campus Martius, a daytime population that heavily dictates sales for lunch-focused spots in the area, per Toastique's own account of the neighborhood.
An Airport Outpost Stays Open
7greens itself isn't vanishing from the region. The brand has a location at Detroit Metropolitan Airport's McNamara Terminal, operating in a shared space with Wahlburgers, per the Free Press. That outpost traces back to July 2024, when the Wayne County Airport Authority announced 7greens was selected to open a health-forward café as part of an $18.8 million concessions overhaul, a project Hoodline previously covered as part of 20 new storefronts coming to DTW.
Whether the airport café's continued operation signals anything about the future of the Library Street shop remains unclear. Schaefer previously ran a second 7greens storefront in downtown Birmingham, Michigan, before telling city commissioners in November 2020 that fast-casual dining faced operating hurdles in that suburban market following Panera Bread's local departure, according to meeting records from the City of Birmingham. For now, the downtown Detroit doors stay locked, the phone stays disconnected, and Schaefer has not said what's next.
