Sweetgreen‘s premise is providing convenient meals that don’t compromise on health or flavor, and it appears it has succeeded in these areas.
Not surprisingly, the menu primarily consists of wraps, bowls and salads. I didn’t try any of the bowls during my visits, but they all seemed to have an elaborate array of toppings. For example, the chicken pesto parm ($15.95) comes with spicy broccoli, tomatoes, shaved parmesan, garlic breadcrumbs, golden quinoa, organic baby spinach, sweetgreen hot sauce and pesto vinaigrette.
Raw kale is raw kale, but the Kale Caesar salad ($12.25) was propped up by its components. For example, the parmesan chips and garlic breadcrumbs were a flavorful addition to the salad, and you get plenty of the diced chicken, which was nicely seasoned. The caesar dressing wasn’t that garlicky.
Among the three wraps available, I picked the chicken jalapeño ranch ($11.95). The excellent blackened chicken and corn salsa stood out. I also liked the jalapeño ranch dressing, but sadly, there wasn’t more than a tiny drizzle. Also, this wrap should not be cut in half, because the white rice and corn salsa spilled everywhere (they’re not as packed together as in a burrito from, say, Chipotle or Qdoba).
The caramelized garlic steak protein plate ($15.95) is listed under the warm plates section. The cubed steak was cooked to well done but wasn’t tough or chewy. I liked that the broccoli was tender and had some heat from crushed red pepper flakes. The grape tomatoes brought some brightness, the cubed yams broadened the textures, and the pesto sauce bound everything together.
Other warm plates include miso glazed salmon ($15.95) and hot honey chicken ($14.95).
I want to lament the loss of the ripple fries ($4.95), which boasted a tasty fried flavor from being air-fried in avocado oil. The fries were even better when dipped into the accompanying garlic aioli. Unfortunately, they were discontinued last year.
Sweetgreen is open for lunch and dinner every day.
Tags: American, downtown, near west, vegetarian
