Trendy Salad and Grain Bowl Chain Sweetgreen Opens at Ponce City Market

Trendy salad and grain bowl chain Sweetgreen opens Tuesday, June 8, at Ponce City Market next to SoulCycle on the North Avenue side of the complex. The Los Angeles-based, counter-service restaurant, valued at $1.6 billion, includes over 100 locations nationwide.

Seating around 40 people inside and six people on an outdoor patio, Sweetgreen serves a selection of salad and grain bowl combinations, along with celebrity chef-collaborative dishes and ingredients sourced from local food producers. The menu for the Ponce City Market location features a warm blackened catfish bowl with baby spinach, wild rice, assorted raw vegetables, and green goddess ranch dressing.

Over the next two weeks, Sweetgreen plans to offer free delivery within Atlanta via its mobile app. The first 50 people through the doors on June 8 will receive a free flower bouquet created by Quianah Upton, founder of sustainable events and food storytelling company Nourish in Black and owner of upcoming Atlanta greenhouse and cafe Nourish Botanica. For each meal sold on June 8, a meal will be donated to Old Fourth Ward shelter Our House.

Sweetgreen also partnered with local art organization TILA Studios, an incubator focused on showcasing work from Black female artists in Atlanta. The Ponce City Market restaurant features artwork commission by TILA Studios textile artist Honey Pierre highlighting the “changing seasons and rich history unique to Atlanta.”

In addition to Ponce City Market, Sweetgreen locations are also planned for Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead and at Colony Square in Midtown.

Sweetgreen

Six new food and retail stalls will open this summer in an expanded portion of the central food hall, including a stall from Vietnamese restaurant Vietvana and a rotisserie chicken stall called Nani’s Rotisserie Chicken from Chai Pani and Botiwalla chef Meherwan Irani.

The expansion adds an additional 5,000 square feet to the first floor of the food hall. Last year, Ponce City Market owner Jamestown announced a 500,000-square-foot expansion of the property that will include a 400-unit tower and 100,000-square-foot building featuring office, retail, and new restaurant stalls in the food hall.

In February, Slutty Vegan founder Aisha “Pinky” Cole opened Bar Vegan, a full-service vegan restaurant and cocktail bar located on the second floor of the central food hall. Cole teamed up with Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks owner Derrick Hayes to open Dinkie’s inside Bar Vegan, a takeout restaurant serving vegan versions of Big Dave’s cheesesteaks and egg rolls.

Correction, June 7, 12:45 p.m.: An earlier version of this story had the restaurant located in the former Brezza Cucina space inside the central food hall. Sweetgreen is located next to SoulCycle on the North Avenue side of the complex.

650 North Avenue, Atlanta. sweetgreen.com. Open daily, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Disclaimer: The latest CDC guidance for vaccinated diners during the COVID-19 outbreak is here; dining out still carries risks for unvaccinated diners and workers. Please be aware of changing local rules, and check individual restaurant websites for any additional restrictions such as mask requirements. Find a local vaccination site here.

• Ponce City Market Food Hall Expansion Includes New Stalls Serving Pho and Rotisserie Chicken [EATL]
• That Long-Planned Colony Square Food Hall Finally Opens in June [EATL]
• Nourish Botanica Aims to Bring a Sustainable Greenhouse and Cafe to South Atlanta [EATL]