Arugula To Go: Sweetgreen Will Open Its First Drive-Thru Next Year The healthy-food chain hopes to appeal to the suburban crowd.

By Jonathan Small Edited by Jessica Thomas

Sweetgreen

The first-ever Sweetgreen drive-thru restaurant will open early next year in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

The chain, known for its warm grain bowls and $12 salads, announced that the pilot restaurant will be supported by "tech-enabled ordering and innovative design." There will be a standard drive-thru lane, a drive-in area where you can order in your car (like Sonic), and a dedicated lane for in-app ordering.

Sweetgreen's decision is part of an overall trend of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) adapting to the Covid and post-Covid world. With so many offices closed and less in-store dining available, QSRs need new ways to entice the lunch crowd to eat at their stores.

Sweetgreen also wants to appeal to the suburban crowd. The chain, which launched in Washington, D.C. in 2007, started as an urban lunch hub for millennials looking for a little healthy and convenient grub. But now it's expanding to the burbs, where people drive cars — not scooters — to get around. And suburbanites just love their drive-ins. Drive-thru orders grew by 24 percent across the restaurant industry in October, according to The NPD Group.

Related: Sweetgreen Success: From Dorm Room Startup to Fast-Casual Salad Empire

Disappearing salads

Sweetgreen is also hoping to cash in on another QSR trend — the disappearing salad. During the pandemic, restaurants such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Subway had to cut down their menu items to make service smooth. The first casualty has been items like salads, which can slow down the kitchen. Enter Sweetgreen, which makes fast salads an assembly line science.

The drive-thru model shouldn't be much of a stretch for Sweetgreen customers. They already make 50 percent of their orders through the app. Instead of driving up and asking for fries and a shake, they'll ask for a pesto sweet potatoes and a hibiscus iced tea.

Jonathan Small

Entrepreneur Staff

Founder, Strike Fire Productions

Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he has worked as a sought-after storyteller for top media companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Entrepreneur, and Condé Nast. He has held executive roles at Glamour, Fitness, and Entrepreneur and regularly contributes to The New York Times, TV Guide, Cosmo, Details, Maxim, and Good Housekeeping. He is the former “Jake” advice columnist for Glamour magazine and the “Guy Guru” at Cosmo.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business Ideas

What My First Failed Startup Taught Me — and How I Finally Got It Right 20 Years Later

Launching a startup two decades after a failed first attempt brought clarity, humility, and a deeper understanding of what it really takes to build a sustainable business.

Business News

Here's How Much Google Software Engineers, Product Managers, and Data Scientists Make in a Year

Data revealed in federal filings shows how much Google is compensating its employees.

Health & Wellness

Nobody Was Talking About Nasal Breathing for Sleep Until This Former NFL Player Built a Brand Around It: 'You Feel So Much Better'

Todd Anderson had no entrepreneurial experience, but he had a nose for a good business idea.

Business News

Here's When the New Apple iPhone 17 and MacBooks Are Being Released

Apple also has a home device in the works. Here's when to expect a new lineup of Apple products.

Growing a Business

The Best Domains Are Gone — But Here's How Savvy Founders Still Snag Them

Why do so many founders fail to land premium domains? Because the best ones are already taken, priced sky-high and nearly impossible to secure — unless you know how to play the game.

Leadership

How to Recover from a Bad Business Decision (and Rebuild Trust)

When you're the one calling the shots, you're going to get things wrong now and then. Thankfully, getting it wrong can be just as instructive as getting it right.