Sweetgreen's Summer Menu Features A New Take On Teriyaki

Whether you love or hate the salad craze, it's here to stay — at least as far as Sweetgreen is concerned. Entree salads are famously (or, perhaps, infamously) knocked as being "model-food" — overpriced and falling short of delivering those health benefits you signed up for.

Salad-chain Sweetgreen might be an exception. The New York restaurant website The Infatuation jokes that it isn't uncommon for many salad-fans in the boroughs to "spend more time in a Sweetgreen than they do in their own apartments." According to Seamless, the menu offerings pack real nutritional value. Its fish taco bowl features steelhead salmon (which is loaded with omega-3s, per Healthline), avocado (rich in potassium, according to CNN), and cabbage (packed with Vitamin C, via WebMD) at just 715 calories.

Salad fans, rejoice. Starting this week, Sweetgreen is rolling out two new menu items (and bringing back an old fan favorite, per news media outlet QSR) just in time for summer. The chain is reintroducing the Peach and Goat Cheese Salad and introducing the Summer Teriyaki Bowl and the Pesto Summer Veggies side dish. Sweetgreen describes the new summer menu as showcasing "leisure-enhancing flavors" and a "new savory take on teriyaki."

What makes Sweetgreen's new teriyaki different from other versions of the classic sauce, QSR says, is a secret ingredient: sesame tahini. The sesame tahini provides a fresh take (pun intended) on a classic favorite by adding an extra creaminess to the freshness of the salad. 

This seasonal menu will be in effect through August 10, per QSR, so get it while it lasts. Sweetgreen shared pictures of the Teriyaki bowl on its Instagram, and users in the comment section are already excited — and asking for the return of last summer's Elote Bowl, inspired by Mexican corn.

Per Sweetgreen's self-professed commitment to "building healthier communities by connecting people to real food," the Summer Teriyaki Bowl will feature squash and zucchini as its veggie base in most locations. But a selection of restaurants throughout the south will feature locally-sourced okra and sweet onions in their teriyaki bowls from new agricultural partners in Florida, Texas, and Georgia, via QSR. Whether you live up north or down south, the salad craze is in full heat during the summertime — and Sweetgreen is here for it.