After 15 years since its inception, the sweet potato and fried tofu and almost absurd salad chain has finally arrived on Long Island.
In October, the chain opened its first Garden City location, a nail salon located between a bar studio and a restaurant on Seventh Street. Hot Tuesday at Woodbury, opening sweet second green.
The Garden City restaurant is funky efficient and very minimalistic, with lots of green and white tiles, industrial shelving, exposed pipes and a prep kitchen in the back where the vegetables and herbs (and their cutters) are visible through glass. . . .
"The active Garden City community has become a natural place for Sweet Green," said company spokeswoman Grace Demeritt, who added that the chain, which first opened in Washington in 2007, is making inroads into the suburbs. In New York, when you're barely out of town, it's already a staple meal. (There are about 200 in the country).
Those who found themselves in Garden City didn't seem to need to be introduced to the order, hot grain bowls filled with warm honey chicken or kale Caesar salad, hearty bowls of sweet vegetables, usually quick, green or grain-based. Dozens of ingredients, from grilled chicken and avocado to cauliflower, black lentils, sweet potatoes and parmesan fries. It also changes with the seasons. Most dishes are $10-$14. (Beverages in the lineup include soda, sparkling water, and half-off brau.)
At Garden City, a few whitewashed wooden tables seat 26 guests, and like many restaurants in the neighborhood, Sweetgreen had a few bistro tables.
Woodbury has 28 indoor seats as well as a seasonal patio. For every meal sold during Woodbury's opening day, which will feature live music and giveaways, Sweetgreen will donate a meal to Island Harvest, according to Demeritt.y).
Sweet Green, 191 Seventh St., Suite B, Garden City; 516-980-2500; 7969 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury, 516-548-8892; sweetgreen.com:
