Sweetgreen, the mission-driven restaurant brand focused on making healthy, fresh food available at scale, is expanding its footprint into Utah with the opening of its first restaurant in the state. The new location will officially open on September 8 at 2188 Highland Drive, Suite #103, in Salt Lake City’s popular Sugar House neighborhood.
The opening represents another step in sweetgreen’s broader strategy of entering new markets while building connections with local communities, farmers, suppliers and creative partners. To mark the occasion, the restaurant will host a week-long series of events and collaborations designed to introduce the brand to Salt Lake City residents and celebrate the local culture.
The 3,160-square-foot restaurant will operate daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., giving guests access to sweetgreen’s full menu of chef-crafted salads, warm bowls, protein-focused plates and handheld wraps. The restaurant will also offer several of the brand’s latest menu additions, giving Utah customers an opportunity to experience both familiar favorites and seasonal innovations.
Among the signature dishes available at the new location are the Crispy Rice Bowl and Miso Glazed Salmon. Guests can also explore sweetgreen’s expanding wrap lineup, which takes the restaurant’s familiar ingredients and flavors and presents them in a convenient, portable format.
The opening will coincide with the brand’s limited-time Fall Harvest menu. Seasonal offerings include the Autumn Harvest Bowl, a new Maple Glazed Salmon plate and a Roasted Bacon Brussels side. The menu is designed to highlight autumn-inspired ingredients while giving customers additional options as the season changes.
Fresh Ingredients and Local Sourcing
Freshness and ingredient sourcing remain central to sweetgreen’s restaurant model. The company prepares its food daily in an open-kitchen environment, allowing guests to see the preparation process while emphasizing the brand’s focus on fresh ingredients.
Each sweetgreen restaurant also features a source board that highlights the farmers and growers responsible for the ingredients used in its food. For the Salt Lake City opening, sweetgreen is partnering with Nicholas and Company, a nearly fourth-generation, family-owned foodservice distributor, to support the restaurant’s ingredient supply chain.
The partnership is intended to help connect the Sugar House location with growers and suppliers while strengthening sweetgreen’s relationships within the local foodservice ecosystem.
“Opening our first sweetgreen in Utah is an exciting step for the brand as we continue to thoughtfully grow into new markets,” said Ryan Slemons, chief development officer at sweetgreen. He noted that Sugar House offers a strong community and lifestyle that closely aligns with the brand’s emphasis on food and wellness.
According to Slemons, the company views the opening as more than simply adding another restaurant. Sweetgreen plans to establish a long-term relationship with the Salt Lake City community as it continues to develop its presence in the market.
Art Becomes a Centerpiece of the New Restaurant
The Sugar House location will also feature a major original artwork created by multidisciplinary artist Jason Hackenwerth. His artistic practice encompasses painting, sculpture and installation, and his work has been exhibited internationally.
Hackenwerth has previously collaborated with sweetgreen on the artwork for the company’s restaurant in the St. Petersburg Edge District. That project featured one of the largest paintings displayed in a sweetgreen restaurant.
For the Sugar House location, the restaurant team again turned to Hackenwerth because of his ability to create large-scale work that interacts with and transforms its surrounding space.
The new artwork was created using acrylic on canvas and will be installed directly on the restaurant wall. The large-scale piece is expected to serve as a prominent visual feature within the new restaurant, adding an artistic element to the customer experience.
Hackenwerth, who is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has received several notable grants and fellowships, including a 2011 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Creative Pinellas Professional Artist Grants in 2018 and 2022, and the 2024 Palladium Theater Creative Fellowship.
Week-Long Grand Opening Celebration
Sweetgreen’s Utah debut will extend beyond opening day, with a series of events scheduled throughout the week. The programming brings together food, fitness, creativity, wellness and family activities through collaborations with Utah-based and local organizations.
The grand opening celebration on September 8 will feature a Soda Float Bar created in partnership with OLIPOP and The Creamery. Guests will be able to enjoy OLIPOP soda floats made with ice cream from The Creamery, a Utah dairy brand connected to local family farms.
The opening-day celebration will also include limited-edition water bottles, sweetgreen x Junes tote bags and postcards created with Craft Club SLC, a Salt Lake City creative community known for bringing people together through arts, crafts and local pop-up events.
On September 9, sweetgreen will partner with Salt Lake City Run Club for a 2.8-mile community run. The route will begin and finish at the new restaurant, with menu samples available afterward for participants.
The festivities will continue September 10 with the “Shades of Green” event. Guests can receive complimentary aura photos from Ignite Your Aura while also visiting a plant pop-up hosted in collaboration with Cactus & Tropicals.
Families will have an opportunity to participate in the celebration on September 12 during Kids’ Day. Children will be able to customize sweetgreen tomato bucket hats using fabric markers, stickers and other creative materials.
Sweetgreen noted that the promotional offerings and activities will be available while supplies last and require the purchase of an eligible menu item, including a bowl, salad, wrap or plate.
Supporting Food Security in Utah
The restaurant’s opening will also have a community-focused component centered on food insecurity. On opening day, sweetgreen will donate one meal for every meal purchased to WasteLess Solutions, a Utah nonprofit organization working to address food insecurity and provide nourishment to people across the state.
The initiative reflects sweetgreen’s broader effort to connect restaurant growth with community impact. By tying the Utah opening to a local nonprofit, the company is providing customers with an opportunity to contribute to food-access efforts simply by dining at the new location on opening day.
Rewards and Ordering Options
Customers visiting the Sugar House restaurant will be able to place orders in person, online or through the sweetgreen mobile app.
Guests can also enroll in SG Rewards through the app. Members earn 10 points for every eligible dollar spent, with points contributing toward personalized offers, perks and free menu items.
With its first Utah restaurant, sweetgreen is bringing its combination of fresh food, seasonal menus, local partnerships and community-focused programming to Salt Lake City. The Sugar House location is positioned as both a new dining destination and a starting point for the brand’s relationship with Utah customers.
The September 8 opening will introduce the brand’s chef-crafted salads, warm bowls, wraps and plates to the local market while the week-long celebration provides multiple ways for residents to engage with sweetgreen and its community partners.
From the OLIPOP and The Creamery Soda Float Bar to the community run, creative workshops, plant pop-up and food-security initiative, the launch is designed to make sweetgreen’s Utah debut a community event rather than a conventional restaurant opening.
As sweetgreen continues its expansion into new markets, the Sugar House location demonstrates the company’s approach of combining its core menu and sourcing philosophy with local collaborations. For Salt Lake City diners seeking fresh, customizable meals, the new restaurant will o
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