A salad chain backed by Shake Shack's founder is expanding to New York City — here's what it's like

Tender Greens wants to give Sweetgreen a run for its money.

The Los Angeles-based salad and comfort-food chain just announced its first outpost on the East Coast, located in New York City's Union Square neighborhood. The expansion has been in the works since 2015, when Tender Greens received a minority investment from Danny Meyer, the founder of Shake Shack and CEO of one of the most successful restaurant groups in New York.

The chain, founded in 2006, has 25 locations in California. In 2016, it made over $80 million in sales — and company executives say annual revenue is growing 20% year-over-year.

We stopped by Tender Greens in downtown San Francisco to see what the buzz is about.

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In 2015, Shake Shake founder Danny Meyer said in a statement that he visited a tiny California salad chain and loved the idea so much "that I wish I'd thought of it myself."

Source: Business Insider

Meyer's restaurant company, The Union Hospitality Group, made an investment of an undisclosed sum in Tender Greens — its first time taking stake in an outside concept.

I visited a Tender Greens location in downtown San Francisco during the late afternoon. During the typical lunch hour, long lines wind outside the door.