Schaumburg sweetgreen restaurant to be first with pickup window for app orders

The sweetgreen restaurant Schaumburg trustees approved Tuesday night will be the first of the specialty salad chain's many locations across the nation to feature a drive-through pickup window for customers ordering and paying on its app.

The forthcoming location will replace the former PDQ restaurant after a renovation of its building at 1320 N. Meacham Road.

Though the building already had a drive-through system in place, PDQ's order window will be replaced by a round observation window through which motorists can watch employees preparing the meals while in line for the pickup window.

Representatives of the restaurant told village officials that there will be no way to order from the outside line. The app will be the only way to place orders and pay for meals delivered to the pickup window.

To-go orders may also be placed inside the restaurant, where dine-in service will be available. Current expectations are for about half of the sweetgreen location's customers to order inside and the other half to use the app.

Michael Klingl, the design director whose Des Plaines-based company JSD Professional Services Inc. is working on the location for sweetgreen, said the restaurant has not yet made any announcements about when the Schaumburg site would be completed and open.

Sweetgreen's existing suburban locations in the Chicago area are in Deerfield and Oak Brook, with several more in the city itself, Klingl said.

The chain has defined itself through the use of fresh ingredients in its salads and "warm bowls," its support of small and mid-size farmers, a commitment to sustainability, and volunteering with local nonprofits.

The Schaumburg location is planned to have about 13 full- and part-time employees working during peak hours, and no more than 25 total employees at any given time.

The restaurant also will offer off-site delivery via panel trucks.