Sweetgreen Opens First Order-Ahead, Drive-Up Locale in Suburban Chicago

Sweetgreen (Los Angeles), a health food restaurant brand, will opened its first store with a drive-through pickup window, dubbed the “sweetlane,” in Schaumburg, Ill.

The new configuration is the latest iteration of the company’s evolving restaurant experience, which involves testing new formats to meet customers where they are, the company says in a news release.

According to internal research findings, 52 percent of existing suburban customers find it challenging to locate fresh, quality food to order on-the-go, and the new format is designed to address that need

“Innovation is in the sweetgreen DNA, and meeting customers where they are is the key to our brand mission – connecting people to real food,” says Jonathan Neman, CEO and Co-Founder of sweetgreen, which has about 100 outlets. “We hope this new experience provides ease and accessibility for the community craving deliciously fresh and healthy plant-forward food.”

The new restaurant opens Nov. 15. As guests wait in its car lane, they can observe sweetgreen team members preparing orders with fresh ingredients through a round observation window. (Dine-in and pickup inside the restaurant are also available.) Other visual features of the freestanding building include continuous “green dip” paintings around the building and a large-scale mural by Chicago artist Cody Hudson.