Sweetgreen reopens at Bethesda Row

After being closed for two months for remodeling, Sweetgreen finally met a reopening date it could keep yesterday at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. The lights are back on, and there are even tables out front for hardy souls. Perhaps the only tears being shed at the sign of the fast-casual salad restaurant's front door swinging open again were at CHOPT up the street, which has had a monopoly on salad lunches for eight weeks. Salad shooters at ten paces: The competition begins anew!

Sweetgreen to reopen Monday at Bethesda Row (Photos)

The window coverings have come down at Sweetgreen at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. There is also now a scheduled reopening date for the fast-casual salad restaurant: this Monday, February 6, 2023. Sweetgreen has been closed since early December for remodeling, and the project ended up going seriously beyond the originally-planned December 27 reopening date. Here is a sneak peek at the new Sweetgreen:

Sweetgreen "almost ready" to reopen at Bethesda Row (Photos)

Sweetgreen is "almost ready" to reopen at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. The fast-casual salad restaurant has been closed for renovations since the beginning of December 2022. It had originally been scheduled to reopen on December 27, which will have been a month ago tomorrow. Here's a sneak peek at the updated interior:

New sign installed at Sweetgreen, still renovating at Bethesda Row

If you were getting a little nervous that Sweetgreen might never reopen, you can rest a bit easier today. A new sign was installed above their storefront at 4831 Bethesda Avenue yesterday. When night fell on Bethesda Row, the new sign was lit. Sweetgreen was due to reopen from a major renovation on December 27, 2022, but the project has fallen substantially behind schedule.

Sweetgreen Bethesda Row renovations update (Photos)

Sweetgreen at 4831 Bethesda Avenue is now two weeks behind schedule on its renovations. The fast-casual salad restaurant had planned to reopen on December 27, 2022. Here's a sneak peek at where things stand inside. Does the interior look new enough for you?

"We'll be back," Sweetgreen promises at Bethesda Row

After missing a December 27, 2022 reopening date, Sweetgreen on Bethesda Avenue is trying to reassure customers that it will indeed reopen. A new sign was stuck in the covered windows yesterday, as a major renovation project continued inside. "We'll be back," it promises with strong Terminator vibes. One beneficiary of the extended closure has been rival Chopt, located less than a block away from Sweetgreen.

Sweetgreen renovations fall behind schedule at Bethesda Row

Sweetgreen has missed its target reopening date at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. The fast-casual salad restaurant has been undergoing extensive renovations, and had been due to reopen December 27. That did not happen, and the windows are covered with brown paper. No new reopening date was posted Thursday evening. There will apparently be a new logo sign over the storefront, as the existing one has now been removed.

Sweetgreen Bethesda Row renovation update (Photos)

Here's a look at the renovation work being done inside Sweetgreen at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. As you can see, the project is quite extensive, and more than just a fresh coat of paint. Sweetgreen is scheduled to reopen December 27.

Sweetgreen closed for renovations at Bethesda Row

Sweetgreen has temporarily closed at 4831 Bethesda Avenue at Bethesda Row. The fast-casual salad restaurant is undergoing a major renovation. It will reopen for normal business hours on December 27, 2022. Now, sometimes restaurants will say they are renovating when they're really closing, but there's no need to worry in this case - they have the construction permit in the window for the renovations.

Sweetgreen, Five Guys remove boards at Bethesda Row

Sweetgreen and Five Guys removed the boards from their storefronts Sunday on Bethesda Avenue. As of Sunday night, other businesses that had boarded up out of fear of looting were still sporting plywood at Bethesda Row, however. Boards remained on some businesses at Pike & Rose, as well Sunday night. Here is a look to capture this historic moment, as I've never seen stores boarded up for riots in this area in my lifetime.

Chipotle to radically overhaul restaurant interior as Bethesda businesses refine coronavirus protocols

X marks the spot at Sweetgreen

Bethesda restaurants are introducing and expanding new protocols to limit the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus as Montgomery County officials hesitate to reopen the economy here. As a result, service continues to be takeout-only, although Gov. Larry Hogan's lifting of the Stay-at-Home order for the majority of the state has boosted traffic and caused some shuttered eateries to decide to reopen for takeout service in recent days. A Bethesda bar employee testing positive for the virus in recent days reminds us that the coronavirus is still very present in our community.

Sweetgreen

Chipotle in downtown Bethesda is making one of the most dramatic changes in how it will operate, but expect these seemingly-radical protocols to become standard in our new abnormal. The burrito restaurant at 7600 Old Georgetown Road is preparing to rip out a counter, wall sections and several pieces of kitchen equipment. It will then a second preparation line in the kitchen, and install a dish sanitizer and an additional handwashing station. In the customer area, Chipotle will install a new counter, a new sneeze-guard system, and new pick-up shelving.

Sweetgreen

At Bethesda Row, Sweetgreen has placed markers on the sidewalk along Bethesda Avenue for customers to stand on as they await pickup of their orders. Neighbor Quartermaine Coffee Roasters has a similar set-up, but at a counter with social distancing. Maryland's mask order remains in effect, and Quartermaine even has official Quatermaine logo masks available for $8 at their Bethesda Row store.

Quartermaine Coffee Roasters face masks

The Chipotle changes give a hint of how restaurants will have to change the preparation process as much as the order fulfillment process. But this will be a major challenge for many mom-and-pop restaurants. Many kitchens are small by nature. Social-distancing is nearly impossible without either a slowdown in service and/or layoffs of extra prep cooks, or without the kind of renovations Chipotle is pursuing.

Social distancing counter outside Quartermaine

Dine-in seating will be a whole other issue. Spacing of tables and masks certainly reduce the risk compared to traditional operations. But they are also largely psychological, as masks must come off to eat and drink, thereby defeating their purpose. Diners will still be in an enclosed space for a lengthy period, one of the major risk factors for Covid-19 transmission. And just how already-squeezed restaurateurs are going to pay Bethesda rents at 1/3 or 1/2 of capacity each day is truly puzzling.

Some economists have warned that as many as half of the restaurants in America may not reopen or recover from the nationwide lockdown. That's got to be additionally concerning in moribund Montgomery County where profit margins for restaurants are razor thin, and the industry has remained flat even as nearby jurisdictions have enjoyed growth in their dining sectors over the last decade, according to the Restaurant Association of Maryland.

Sweetgreen opens at Pike & Rose

Sweetgreen opened yesterday at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda's Pike District. The upscale, fast casual salad restaurant donated the proceeds of the grand opening sales to the non-profit FoodCorps. Some lucky patrons received free baked goods from Sweetgreen's future next-door neighbor, Sunday Morning Bakehouse. Sweetgreen is located at 11875 Grand Park Avenue.

Sweetgreen to open at Pike & Rose

Federal Realty has signed another big name to its roster of restaurants at Pike & Rose. Fast casual salad concept Sweetgreen will open between Burger Fi and Sunday Morning Bakehouse on Grand Park Avenue.

The restaurant will be in the ground floor of the Canopy by Hilton hotel/930 Rose condo building. Speaking of which, the Canopy hotel is really going full steam now. When I was at Pike & Rose this past weekend, cars unloading luggage at the front of the hotel were backing up down Rose Avenue toward Grand Park Avenue. 

Canopy by Hilton reviewer on TripAdvisor says the
Pike & Rose hotel "exceeded all expectations!"

License plates included New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And not necessarily the hip crowd the hotel is targeted toward, but families with kids, and the general tourist types. So it seems the hotel has become really popular since its opening in March. Canopy scores 4.5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor, 4.4 on Google Reviews, and I can't find a Yelp listing for it on Google.