UPDATE 1/25: This article has
been updated to include a statement
from a Sweetgreen spokesperson.
Dozens
of
University
of
Michigan students and community
members lined up along State
Street
Tuesday
morning
in
anticipation of the grand opening
of
Sweetgreen,
a
fast-casual
salad chain focused on seasonal
ingredients and local partnerships.
Kinesiology
senior
Brooke
Harrison and Kate Kikilo, U-M
alum and Ann Arbor resident, got
in line around 9:30 a.m. — an hour
before the restaurant’s scheduled
opening. Harrison is from Boston,
which has 86 Sweetgreen locations.
Harrison said she is excited to see
Sweetgreen expanding into Ann
Arbor, and expects to be a regular
customer.
“Sweetgreen’s
kind
of
a
household name, especially with
the East Coast and slowly in the
Midwest,” Harrison said. “It’s nice
to have a place (in Ann Arbor) that
you know (you can) come in and
get good food.”
In an email to The Michigan
Daily, Sweetgreen spokesperson
Grace Demeritt wrote about why
the company chose to open a
location in Ann Arbor.
“The Ann Arbor restaurant is
in the heart of the University of
Michigan’s campus, offering a
healthy and convenient option for
busy students,” Demeritt wrote.
“Beyond opening a new location,
sweetgreen is looking to be an
active member of the Ann Arbor
community. Commissioning art
from a University of Michigan
graduate for the restaurant and
lifting up student athletes in the
area are just a couple of examples
of what’s to come from the
restaurant.”
According to Demeritt, the
State St. location employs 15 U-M
students and sources ingredients
from a number of local suppliers
such as Zingerman’s Bakehouse,
Rosewood Products and Planted
Detroit.
In advance of opening day,
Sweetgreen hosted two tasting
events on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22 in the
State St. location where a select
number of students could sign
up to receive free salads from the
Ann Arbor store. LSA sophomore
Mariya Jahan attended the Jan.
21 event, which was her first time
trying Sweetgreen.
“I didn’t know it was that
popular because I personally have
never heard of Sweetgreen before,”
Jahan said. “Then all of a sudden,
I see that all my East-Coaster
friends are super excited about
it, and I have high expectations
because it seems like so many
people want it.”
The Ann Arbor location is
Sweetgreen’s third restaurant in
the state of Michigan. The other
two locations, in Birmingham
and Troy, opened in August and
December
2022,
respectively.
A second Ann Arbor location is
expected to open later this year at
Arbor Hills Mall.
The
opening
day
featured
collaborations
with
local
and
student vendors, including UMich
Apparel, an online resale company
for vintage U-M gear.
LSA senior Abby Miars, owner
of UMich Apparel, said one of
Sweetgreen’s student ambassadors
approached her in advance of the
opening in hopes of collaborating.
As part of this partnership, the
first 50 customers on Tuesday
received a free clothing item from
UMich Apparel, and could also
enter a raffle for one of five jackets,
which Miars said were her five
favorite items in her inventory.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic,
residents
of
Ann
Arbor’s
Old
West
Side
neighborhood
say
their
community
was
close-
knit, characterized by neighbors
laughing
with
each
other
on
streets and porches. But pandemic
lockdowns put a pause on all that.
On one hot summer day in 2020,
Nadine Hubbs, a Women’s and
Gender Studies professor at the
University of Michigan, was staying
in her house in the Old West Side.
All of a sudden, Hubbs heard the
sound of mariachi music slipping
through her open window, leading
her to discover what would become
one of historic neighborhood’s new
charms: its local food trucks.
“I knew it was mariachi music
because
I
studied
Mexican
American country music bands,”
Hubbs said. “I came down here and
I saw the (food) truck. And then my
neighbor, John Carson, who is in
the (U-M) History Department, was
walking by with food. I must have
been sitting on my porch and I asked
what’s up and they explained to me,
and then John gave me the email so
that I could join their email group.”
Hubbs had stumbled across one
of the trucks in her neighborhood’s
“food truck series,” where local
vendors whip up different food
options in the back of their
trucks along Murray Avenue to
serve to residents. The event was
first organized by Art & Design
professor Rebekah Modrak and real
estate broker Marygrace Liparoto.
In an interview with The Michigan
Daily, Modrak said she was inspired
to start the food truck series after
witnessing the challenges so many
local food businesses experienced
during the pandemic.
“My husband and I used to like
going to Ray’s Red Hots,” Modrak
said. “During the pandemic, we went
over to get a hot dog, and they told
us that they were really struggling.
They mentioned that they have this
food cart and that it can go out into
neighborhoods, so we invited them
to come to Murray Avenue on a
Tuesday and sell hotdogs. It was
hugely successful. Everyone came
out because we (had) all been in our
homes and were just so excited to
have something happening on the
street.”
Modrak
said
the
list
of
food trucks that come to the
neighborhood has now expanded
to include 14 different vendors,
including cuisines such as Latin
American, Asian and Soul food.
Throughout the year, Modrak said,
the trucks cycled through a rotation
with a different one coming to the
neighborhood every Tuesday —
even in the winter. Modrak said
they are also working to increase
vegetarian options.
“We kind of lean towards having
more trucks that have vegetarian
options, so they have kind of like
slightly healthier food,” Modrak
said. “There is a completely vegan
comfort food truck that now comes
… To be honest, it’s gotten to the
point where we almost have more
trucks than we can handle.”
Among the vendors who frequent
the neighborhood is El Mariachi
Loco, a local food truck selling
traditional Mexican food which is
often accompanied by live mariachi
music. Gabriel Hernandez Maya,
the owner of the truck, has been
living in Ann Arbor and working
in the food industry for more than
26 years. Hernandez Maya has
established
a
regular
presence
both on Murray Avenue and at
the Ann Arbor Farmers Market in
Kerrytown.
“It was fun doing business (on
Murray Avenue),” Hernandez Maya
said. “During the summertime, they
sometimes invite mariachi bands to
play music. You know, Mexican food
plus Mexican music.”
Liparoto told The Daily that
Hernandez
Maya’s
dedication
to
serving
the
neighborhood
exemplifies the relationship the
residents have built with Ann Arbor
food vendors over the years. She
said residents know that they can
always rely on El Mariachi Loco
to provide them with a warm taco,
even on a cold winter night.
“There was once when we had a
power outage overnight in winter,”
Liparoto said. “That might not even
(have been) a Tuesday. I called
(Hernandez Maya) and he came so
everyone could have a meal at their
doorsteps.”
Despite Murray Avenue being
more than 10 blocks away from
Central Campus, U-M students
have also made the trek to visit the
food trucks on occasion, Hubbs
said. She said she enjoyed the cross-
cultural relationships she has built
with students over diverse cuisine
options thanks to the food trucks.
2 — Wednesday, February 1, 2023
News
Ann Arbor food truck series in Old West Side
neighborhood
BUSINESS
Sweetgreen opens first Ann Arbor location
Every week, a new type of cuisine “rolls in” for residents to try
The campus community has been eagerly awaiting the restaurant’s
grand opening
BUSINESS
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