Sweetgreen Reopens School Street Restaurant [Updated]

On the same day Sweetgreen debuted its newest location on Summer Street in Downtown Boston, the DC-based salad chain voluntarily closed down a nearby restaurant on School Street after a city health inspection turned up violations, according to WCVB. It has since reopened.

Inspectors visited the restaurant Tuesday after receiving reports of a customer experiencing fever and vomiting after ordering food last week, The Boston Globe reported. The violations included evidence of fruit flies, incorrect temperatures for food storage, and improper cleanliness of surfaces. This location opened in May.

A statement from Sweetgreen president Karen Kelley was provided to WCVB:

Today, Sweetgreen agreed to voluntarily close its Downtown Crossing location after a customer complaint and a city inspection. While the City provided us a week to address the issue, we chose to fix the problem immediately. We then took the proactive step to close for today to allow additional time to review all of our kitchen equipment and our ingredients, as well as conduct an on-site training with our staff. The safety of our guests is paramount and we are currently working with the Boston Health Inspector so we can reopen as soon as possible.

Another Sweetgreen location at 659 Boylston St. was temporarily closed in August due to similar circumstances, but it reopened soon after correcting the issues inspectors raised.

Update, 10/19, 11 a.m.: Sweetgreen has officially reopened. President and COO Karen Kelley provided Eater with the following statement:

This morning we reopened our Downtown Crossing location after having voluntarily closed on Tuesday. We took this step out of an abundance of caution for our guests and are pleased that the City reinforced our efforts this morning.

Over the past few months our company has made significant investments in our infrastructure and our people. We have conducted rigorous food safety training classes throughout our company - including more than 10 here in Boston. In addition to ServSafe Certified staff at each of our stores, we are working with local and national third-party consultants to continue validating our food safety standards.

Our Boston community is our family - we have a team of more than 500 employees and a loyal customer base that has become an integral part of the Sweetgreen story. Our commitment to this community remains strong and we look forward to the future.

This story has been updated accordingly.

• Another Boston-Area Sweetgreen Shutdown After Violations Found [WCVB]
• Sweetgreen on Boylston Reopens After Temporary Closure for Health Violations [EBOS]
• A New Sweetgreen Is Now Open in Downtown Crossing [EBOS]