Sweetgreen to Open Inside Prudential Center on Monday

Sweetgreen’s colorful salads are coming to the Pru. / Photo provided

Attention, Back Bay lunchgoers: The lines at Boston’s first Sweetgreen are about to get a little more manageable. The locally-sourced salad and grain bowl company is opening its fifth Boston-area shop inside the Prudential Center on Monday, December 7.

Washington, D.C.-based Sweetgreen launched in 2007 and has since opened 37 locations in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, California, and Massachusetts. The Boston area has been a prominent market for the company since it put down roots here in 2013, and it has more locations on the horizon.

This spring, Sweetgreen will open at 13 School St. in Downtown Crossing, and a Fenway store could open early this summer, cofounder Jonathan Neman said. His company has the corner storefront of a Samuels & Associates development, the Fenway Triangle Trilogy, at 132 Brookline Ave. It’s still being designed, but Neman is excited to offer outdoor seating at this location.

“Our mission is to be a catalyst for building healthier opportunities. It’s a very educated customer [in Boston] that really appreciates what we’re doing. From day one, we’ve been well-received there,” Neman said, adding that the company has solid management in place. 

“One of the ways that we decide is our rate of growth has to do with our internal capacity of great leaders, and we’ve been able to find amazing people. From our area leader to our community associates, all around, we just have a great team there, which gives us the confidence to open locations,” Neman said.

The Pru’s shop is located in the hallway between Hynes Convention Center and the Prudential at 800 Boylston St., just steps away from the constantly busy shop at 659 Boylston St. “For Sweetgreen, the idea is to make healthy eating accessible, so it’s great that it’s busy, but we also want people to be able to get in and get out on a daily basis. When you think about bridging the gap between health and convenience, this will help us do that,” Neman told Eater Boston in July.

The 17 seat-shop is optimized for grab-and-go customers with a streamlined in-store pickup area, Neman said in an interview this week. “With every single location, we believe it should be customized to the neighborhood. This store has an emphasis on the mobile and online ordering, and from a store design perspective, it has better flow,” he said.

It also has an open kitchen, a feature Sweetgreen has rolled out in Fort Point, Chestnut Hill, and new Lynnfield locations. “All the dressings, proteins, and everything is made in-store every day. We weren’t showing customers it was happening. We want to be transparent not only about where our food comes from, but transparent about where our food is made,” Neman said.

Sweetgreen opens with the company’s fall menu, featuring Lanni Orchards’ Lunenburg-grown pears in the apple, pear, and cheddar salad; and Brussels sprouts from Czajkowski Farms in Hadley in a roasted turkey and Brussels sprouts bowl. Crystal Brook Farm out of Sterling and Ward’s Berry Farm also continue to source a variety of Sweetgreen products; in January, when the winter menu debuts, Neman looks forward to showcasing hubbard squash from Jim Ward’s Sharon farm.

All proceeds from opening day on Monday will go toward the Food Project, a socially-driven organization centered on sustainable agriculture that Sweetgreen has partnered with as long as it has operated in the Boston area.

Sweetgreen at the Prudential will be open daily from 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Sweetgreen, opening Monday, December 7 at 800 Boylston St., Boston; sweetgreen.com.