Another Sweetgreen opening in NJ and it’s going to be a battle

Perhaps you’re old enough to remember when the epic business battle between Coke and Pepsi became known as the Cola War in the 1980s. (Coke was always better. Sorry, Pepsi.)

Then there were the on-again, off-again Burger Wars with comparative advertising between McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s.

Well, get ready for Healthy Salad Wars.

OK, this may be more of a skirmish than a full-blown war. Time will tell. But here’s what’s going on.

A seventh Sweetgreen location is opening in New Jersey. They have about 200 locations across the country and they’re becoming kind of a big deal.

Getty Images

It started back in 2006 between three friends in college. Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman were attending Georgetown University and all agreed the campus food choices were not the best. They longed for something healthier but still tasty. It’s what young, busy college guys needed to keep up their energy. It didn’t exist, so with venture capitalists, they willed it into existence. They made it happen.

Their seventh Garden State location opens Tuesday, Sept. 10 in Montvale, Bergen County. The new location is at 340 Market St. The kicker is that this is less than a mile away from Chopt.

Chopt Creative Salad Co. is a similar concept serving healthy salads, warm bowls, etc.. They also have about the same number of locations in New Jersey with many more across the country.

You can see where this gets ugly. Was this mere coincidence or is Sweetgreen https://www.sweetgreen.com drawing a line in the sand and telling this other joint this American market’s not big enough for the both of us? Have we a Healthy Salad War on our hands?

Sweetgreen’s latest location is 2,853 square feet, which can accommodate seating 40 indoors and an additional 30 in an outdoor patio. They’ll be open daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.