Sweetgreen is gearing up to open a new location inside Emeryville Public Market on Nov. 17, bringing the salad and grain bowl chain's scratch-made menu to the shopping center at 5959 Shellmound St., Suite 85. The company is inviting the public to try a complimentary meal on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 before the doors officially open, and for every meal sold on opening day, Sweetgreen says it will donate a meal to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
The Nov. 17 date has been described with varying degrees of certainty in local reporting. According to Berkeleyside, Sweetgreen is holding a grand opening for its latest location inside Emeryville's Public Market on Nov. 17. An earlier local update from the E'ville Eye characterized the timing as still tentative, reporting that the chain was tentatively targeting November 17 for the grand opening of its long-awaited Emeryville location at Public Market. A company PR representative told that outlet, “If all goes according to plan, the grand opening date is planned for Tuesday, November 17.”
What's On the Menu
The E'ville Eye reports the restaurant is expected to offer Sweetgreen favorites including its Crispy Rice Bowl and Miso Glazed Salmon, along with the chain's newer lineup of wraps. Those additions build on a menu that, according to the Mercury News, already spans salads, grain bowls, protein-forward plates and handheld wraps — including an Autumn Harvest Bowl with blackened chicken and maple-glazed Brussels sprouts, a Kale Caesar Salad with parmesan crisps, and an Omega Glow Bowl built around miso-glazed salmon, romaine, umami rice, corn salsa, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, roasted almonds and a miso sesame ginger dressing. The Mercury News, which first reported details of the opening, also notes that Sweetgreen plans to announce new seasonal menu specials soon.
Per the Mercury News, the Emeryville restaurant will span 1,833 square feet and is slated to hold a grand-opening celebration beginning at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17, with paying customers receiving DIY flower bouquets and tote bags customized through live sewing by a local artist. Once open, the location is expected to run daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
A Long-Planned Bay Area Push
The Emeryville opening has been in the works for months. Back in May, The Mercury News reported that an Emeryville restaurant would open in the fall, to be followed later by locations in Redwood City and on San Francisco's Battery Street. That same report placed Sweetgreen's then-new El Paseo de Saratoga restaurant as the chain's 17th Bay Area location, noting three more were coming at the time.
The Mercury News, whose reporting forms the basis of most of the menu and company details here, also notes that Sweetgreen already counts more than a dozen other restaurants across the Bay Area. The chain traces back to 2007, when it launched its first store in Washington, D.C., founded by three recent business-school graduates. Sweetgreen describes its mission as reimagining fast food with scratch-made food and a transparent supply network, and the company says its menu is built around fresh, high-quality ingredients prepared daily in an open kitchen.
Sourcing and Neighbors at the Public Market
Sweetgreen restaurants feature a source board highlighting the farmers and growers behind the food, according to the company. In California, Sweetgreen says it partners with Jayleaf for organic baby spinach and organic spring mix, and with Sweet Valley for organic sweet potatoes.
The new location will join an already crowded food lineup at Emeryville Public Market, which includes Super Duper Burgers, Ramen Hiroshi, Mr. Dewie's Cashew Creamery, Mamacita Cocina Mexicana and Tease Southern Kitchen, per the Mercury News. With complimentary meals offered Nov. 13 and 14 and the grand-opening celebration tied to Nov. 17, Emeryville diners will have more than one chance to sample the chain before it's fully up and running.
