Sweetgreen Opens Its First Cambridge Location

Sweetgreen Pesto Portobello bowl. / Image provided

Harvard Square’s lunch scene has undergone a lot of changes this year, from the closing of an iconic Au Bon Pain, to the opening of a new Flour, changes at Café Algiers, and more. Now, it’s home to the latest outpost of a growing chain of salad and grain bowls. Sweetgreen’s first Cambridge location officially opens today.

“Opening a location in Harvard Square really aligned with the foundation of how we started and why we do what we do,” Sweetgreen area manager Jason Hopkins told the Harvard Crimson.

That means it’s a diverse, urban population that wants to make healthy choices. “Our mission is to be a catalyst for building healthier opportunities. It’s a very educated customer [in greater Boston] that really appreciates what we’re doing. From day one, we’ve been well-received there,” Sweetgreen founder Jonathan Neman told Boston last year, when his company was on the cusp of doubling its number of Massachusetts locations.

The Harvard Square location is the 10th Boston-area shop, and the last one for this round of development. It opens with Sweetgreen’s fall menu, with bowls like curry cauliflower with hot chickpeas; and roasted chicken and brussels sprouts, with chopped romaine, mesclun, sweet potatoes, and cranberry vinaigrette.

As is customary, Sweetgreen will donate today’s Harvard Square sales to the local sustainability education non-profit, the Food Project.

Sweetgreen, 39 JFK St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, sweetgreen.com.