Sweetgreen Nomad Shuttered By the DOH, Must Undergo Pest-Preventing Renovation

The Nomad location of Sweetgreen, the hip, salad-slinging chain from DC, is currently closed after a damning inspection from the Health Department. A tipster alerted Eater to the situation, which has been confirmed by Sweetgreen representives. The windows are currently papered over, and a sign on the door explains:

In our company manifesto, we talk about keeping it real. This is one of those moments, and there's nothing more we can do but be real with you, our customers....

...We discovered flaws with the construction of our facility that have led to pest issues. These issues had no direct impact on the food we served our customers. We're working around the clock to fix these violations and will be back up and running as soon as possible.

At least that's a little more up front about it than the standard, vague, "Closed for Renovations" excuse.

The most recent DOH inspection, which is no doubt to blame for this sudden closure, isn't available online yet, but the restaurant did bomb its last ungraded inspection, on January 20. At that inspection, Sweetgreen racked up 40 violation points, and sure enough, an inspector found evidence of mice and "filth flies." The inspection also notes that the space contains "Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist." So it sounds like the Sweetgreen guys are telling the truth. No word yet on how long it will take them to get everything in ship shape again.

Meanwhile, though the Nomad outpost was the first Sweetgreen to explode onto the office lunch scene in NYC, there are now other locations in Tribeca, Nolita, and Williamsburg, which are all doing just fine.