New Restaurant, 'Tender Greens' To Open In Chestnut Hill

CHESTNUT HILL, MA — A fast casual restaurant that aims to serve healthy, high quality food at an affordable price is opening its very first Boston area location on Monday, April 9. Doors open at The Street in Chestnut Hill at 11 a.m. just after a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Two chefs and a foodie who started the chain were inspired by meals they had when their friends came over complete with good food, good pairings and great energy. And then there was the promise that on any given day they'd eat or drink something we wouldn’t find anywhere else. So they opened Tender Greens in 2006 in California to start "a food revolution," said Erik Oberholtzer and his two co-founders, Matt Lyman and David Dressler on their website.

The backbone of their mission? Sustainability.

"We believe that good food, whole food, real food should be accessible to everyone," reads a post on their website.

Each restaurant is helmed by a classically-trained chef executing its core menu offerings (plates, sandwiches, salads, soups, and sides) -- as well as twice daily market-driven specials.

Executive Chef Todd Renner will be taking the helm of the Chestnut Hill spot and sourcing from the local New England area with some of Massachusetts’ best family-owned purveyors, such as wild shiitake mushrooms from Martha’s Vineyard Mycological in Chilmark, sweet potatoes from 108-year-old Swaz Potato Farm in Hatfield, non-homogenized raw milk blue cheese from Great Hill Blue on Buzzard’s Bay in Marion, and microgreens from urban agriculture company 2 Friends Farm in Attleboro.

When you show up expect to see menu items that range from $12 to $16 plates include a protein, side, and greens. You can grab a sandwiches, salads or a market-driven special. The Backyard Steak, Salt & Pepper Chicken, Herb Brushed Albacore Tuna, Happy Vegan Salad, Fried Chicken Sandwich and Mashed Potatoes. Unique to Chestnut Hill and the Boston area will be a Harvest Salad, where the chef puts hyper-local ingredients on the spotlight in that salad.

The backyard steak plate is their best-selling menu item at $14, they say.

Tender Greens CEO Oberholtzer, Chestnut Hill location's executive chef, and Newton-Needham's Chamber of Commerce Membership Director Lise Q. Elcock will likely be on hand at the ribbon cutting on April 9, if you get there early.
There are 27 other locations across the country and now the Chestnut Hill spot is the first of two planned Tender Greens for Boston (The other will be at Copley Place on Huntington Ave). And the second outside of California.

• HOURS: Set to be open daily for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

• SEATING: The restaurant seats 60 guests inside the 3,000 square foot space and during the summer months an additional 25 on the outdoor patio. There's also a 14-seat chef’s counter.

Take a look at their adorable video:

Look for them at 49 Boylston Street.

Photo courtesy.