Henry Liu, Contributing Photographer

Sweetgreen, a fast casual restaurant chain known for its salads, opened Tuesday morning at a long-empty corner storefront at The Shops at Yale on Broadway.

The new location at the corner of Broadway and York Street is the chain’s fifth in Connecticut. Sweetgreen opened a location in Canton in February and operates stores in Greenwich, Westport and Darien.

The Los Angeles-based food chain serves salads, grain bowls and protein plates. The menu includes a Crispy Rice Bowl for $14.95, as well as protein options like a Steakhouse Chopped bowl and a Miso Glazed Salmon bowl for $17.25 each. The New Haven restaurant currently offers Korean barbeque-inspired options for a limited time.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony began at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday with remarks from representatives of Sweetgreen, New Haven, Yale University Properties and community organizations.

“Whenever we do events at the Shops at Yale, we always ask students, ‘What else would you like to see?’” said Alexandra Daum, Yale’s associate vice president for New Haven affairs and University properties. “Far and away, Sweetgreen was one of the brands that was most requested.”

Carlos Eyzaguirre, the city’s deputy economic development administrator, called Sweetgreen a “high-quality, varied food option with a great price point,” something he said New Haveners have long asked for, too.

“It’s a really new concept for us but something I think we really need,” he said.

Lori Martin, the executive director of Haven’s Harvest, a local nonprofit that reduces food waste, highlighted her organization’s partnership with Sweetgreen. For every meal purchased on the restaurant’s opening day, Sweetgreen donated a meal to Haven’s Harvest.

The ceremony concluded with remarks from Armend Mehmeti, the general manager for the Sweetgreen location, and Melvin Narvaez, who supervises Connecticut’s Sweetgreen locations. Both emphasized the new opportunities the location would bring for both Sweetgreen and local customers, since the closest Sweetgreen location is over 25 miles away in Westport.

Daum presented Mehmeti and Narvaez with a plaque to celebrate the opening of the Sweetgreen location.

Following the ceremony, the store opened to the public, with giveaways for the first 100 customers. The gifts included New Haven art prints, mini kits for growing pizza toppings such as basil and tomatoes and Sweetgreen drawstring backpacks and mini totes.

Students were impressed by Sweetgreen’s location and food offerings, though some had concerns about the pricing.

“I really enjoyed my harvest bowl, and can definitely see myself stopping by for a late-night snack,” David Ortiz Ramirez ’28 said. “I think their prime location will attract a lot of students in August.”

The store is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the Sweetgreen website.

Henry Rugemer ’28, who also stopped by Sweetgreen Tuesday morning, noted that the menu prices seemed steep and said he likely won’t be a frequent customer.

Kai Zhang ’26 expressed similar sentiments.

“I’m unfortunately not the biggest fan of salad bowls, and considering the cost of some of their menu items, I think I’ll be better off eating my veggies at the Yale dining hall,” Zhang said.

The corner storefront was formerly home to a Patagonia store, which closed in August 2022.

Clarification, June 22: This story has been updated to make clear that Sweetgreen currently operates five stores in Connecticut.