Sweetgreen Prepares for Tuesday Opening

After months of anticipation, eager Sweetgreen fans flocked to the chain’s new Harvard Square location last week to attend “soft opening” events in preparation for the salad chain’s official opening Tuesday.

The Square’s latest culinary addition is located at 39 JFK St., a building owned by Hong Kong billionaire and prominent Harvard donor Gerald Chan. In anticipation of the opening, Sweetgreen has held numerous casual events aimed at drumming up buzz.

Plans for Cambridge’s first Sweetgreen location were announced last March. According to Sweetgreen spokesperson Amy Clark, the eatery was originally scheduled to open this past summer.

“Opening a location in Harvard Square really aligned with the foundation of how we started and why we do what we do,” said Sweetgreen area manager Jason Hopkins. “People are excited to be here and we are excited to be a part of it.”

The chain’s pre-opening events—which featured free salads for customers who registered to attend online—garnered local interest.

Sweetgreen will host its last pre-opening event on Monday which the company calls a “neighborhood day,” an occasion for giving out free salad to Cantabrigians.

“On Monday we are going to have a neighborhood day to invite the neighborhood to come in and have lunch on us,” Hopkins said. “This is really our introduction to Harvard Square.”

Sweetgreen is an east coast-based salad chain founded in 2007 by three Georgetown graduates. Since then, the chain has expanded, with locations in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Sweetgreen’s Harvard Square opening marks the chain's 10th Boston-area store and first Cambridge location.

Hopkins said all the proceeds from the store’s official opening on Tuesday will be donated to the Food Project, a non-profit organization that educates teenagers on sustainable agriculture by employing them on farms located in Lincoln, Roxbury, and the North Shore of Massachusetts.

“It is an incredible organization and really aligns with who we are,” Hopkins said. “We are truly going to give back everything that we can on Tuesday.”

Riya N. Patel ’18 attended one of the pre-opening events and said the eatery exuded “good vibes” and was “excited” for another healthy option for meals in the Square.

“The staff was super energetic and friendly, and I loved the atmosphere of the place,” Patel said.

—Staff writer Junina Furigay can be reached at junina.furigay@thecrimson.com. Follow her on twitter @junina_furigay.