Sweetgreen Rewards: Here’s the Fresh Truth

Restaurants

Aug 6

Sweetgreen didn’t invent the $20 salad; they just helped make it more popular. But millions of customers across over 900 restaurants don’t mind. Because let’s be honest—it’s expensive to eat healthier.

Known for their fresh ingredients and fully customizable bowls, Sweetgreen launched the current iteration of its loyalty program earlier this year. They used to have a surprise-and-maybe-delight model, where deals were elusive and inconsistent. Now? They’ve got a traditional points program that’s way more transparent.

But will it have you seeing green savings?

Let’s dig in.

🥗How it works:

Like almost all restaurant programs, you’ll need the Sweetgreen app to earn and redeem, whether ordering in store or in advance.

The program is extremely simple (a good thing).

· Earn 10 points per $1 spent

· Redeem points in 6 increments, ranging from sides and drinks up to a full salad or bowl (capped at an $18 entrée)

· Option to redeem for 50% off an entrée if you don’t have enough points for a full freebie

You decide when to convert your points into a reward, which gives you some nice control.

But there are a couple of not-so-fine-print items:

· Points expire after 180 days so hoard at your own risk.

· No reward stacking. Redeem a drink? Then you can’t redeem a salad in the same transaction. Ugh. This is a common limitation among restaurant programs, but we will not legitimize it.

What’s the Value:

(Note: by “return value” we mean how much you save relative to how much you had to spend to earn it. For example, if you spent $100 to earn enough points to redeem $10, that’s a 10% return value.)

The return value for a free entrée hovers around 7%, which isn’t bad. Most Sweetgreen orders are around $24 (per public data), so you’d need 10–11 visits to snag a free bowl. If you’re going twice a week, that gets you a freebie every other month.

Pretty good if you’re a regular. Less great if you only pop in occasionally.

If you visit once a week or less, you might wait 3–4 months to earn enough—and risk those points expiring.

(Disclaimer: Menu prices can vary among different Sweetgreen restaurants. The prices we used are estimated based on what we are seeing in our home city of Boston and available internet information.)

  
      Reward Item
      Points Required
      Spending Required
      Menu Price
      Return Value
    

  
      Focaccia
      350
      $35
      $2.45
      7%
    

      Crispy Rice Treat
      500
      $50
      $2.95
      6%
    

      Drink
      700
      $70
      $2.75
      4%
    

      Extra Protein
      1000
      $100
      $4–$6.30
      4%–6.3%
    

      50% off Entrée
      1500
      $150
      $9.00
      6%
    

      Free Entrée (up to $18)
      2500
      $250
      $18.00
      7%
    

For reference, here is how Sweetgreen’s return value compares to other fast-food restaurants. Now we know what you are thinking…’you can’t put a Taco Bell up against a Sweetgreen as the quality is vastly different (as is the healthiness of it).’ However, it’s still a reference point to show that Sweetgreen’s return value is not too out of whack vs. many other chains. (You can click on each brand to read our review of its program).

Return Value on points for other Restaurant Programs:

Cava: 5-9%
Chick-fil-A: 6%-12%
Chipotle: 5%-9%
Domino’s: 1%-7%
McDonald’s: 9%-26%
Starbucks (pay as you go): 3%-5%
Taco Bell (Hot Tier): 5%-11%
Wendy’s (9%-13%)

🕵🏻The fine print:

Third-party delivery is not eligible for point earning/burning
No stacking of Rewards (can’t redeem a drink and an entrée together)
Points expire 180 days after earning

summary & verdict👩🏻‍⚖️:

For simplicity, transparency, and a decent return value, we’ll give this our Rewarding rating. But it’s only for those who frequent Sweetgreen a lot (ideally multiple times a week), ya know…a loyal member 😜.

Just don’t hoard the points since they expire, and redeem them for a free entrée as that is the best return value.