Sweetgreen Just Opened in Princeton — and the First 50 Students in Line Eat Free

Princeton keeps collecting reasons to make your weekend drive longer than it needs to be. This time it's a salad.

Sweetgreen opened its newest New Jersey restaurant on Saturday, September 19, at MarketFair — 3535 Brunswick Pike, Suite 466 — and if you're a college student reading this, keep reading, because the first 50 students in line on opening day walked out with a free entrée on Sweetgreen's dime.

This is Sweetgreen's 10th location in New Jersey, and it's a real one — 2,440 square feet, open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., running the full signature menu: chef-crafted salads and warm bowls, protein-forward plates, and handheld wraps, all cooked from scratch. Sweetgreen likes to say it sources ingredients from farmers it actually knows, and whether or not you buy the poetry, the food is fresh and the bowls are built like they mean it.

But the timing is what makes this one interesting, because the Princeton opening landed right on top of Sweetgreen's new Fall Harvest Menu. Alongside fan favorites like the Crispy Rice Bowl and the Miso Glazed Salmon, the fall lineup brings the Autumn Harvest Bowl plus two new seasonal offerings: a Maple Glazed Salmon plate and a Roasted Bacon Brussels side. If you were ever going to do a Sweetgreen run, doing it the week a fall menu drops is the move.

Opening day wasn't just a ribbon and a register, either. Sweetgreen gave the whole thing a real Princeton-style sendoff. Guests at MarketFair got complimentary treats and giveaways from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. while supplies lasted — matcha from Ooika, flowers from Bloombox Flowers, and ice cream from Nicholas Creamery. And for the students: the first 50 in line who showed a valid college ID at 11 a.m. got a free entrée, up to a $20 value, one per person, first come first served, until noon or until they ran out.

Here's the part I actually respect the most, though. For every meal purchased on opening day, Sweetgreen donated a meal to Share My Meals, the nonprofit fighting food insecurity in the township. That's the kind of thing that turns a grand opening into something the neighborhood actually remembers — not just free matcha, but meals on the table for people who need them.

A couple of quick practical notes if you're thinking of pulling up: people who RSVP'd got a sneak peek with a complimentary meal on September 17 and 18, so the soft opening already worked out the kinks. And if you're one of those people who says Sweetgreen is too expensive — fair, it's not cheap — but the fall menu with a Maple Glazed Salmon plate and a Roasted Bacon Brussels side is about as good a value play as that menu gets.

Sweetgreen operates nearly 300 restaurants now, and New Jersey keeps getting more of them — this is number 10 in the state. Love the concept or not, you can't argue with a buildout that feeds the neighborhood while it opens. Princeton got a solid one here.