Sweetgreen is celebrating five years in the salad and yogurt business, having expanded from one shop on M Street to 12 in three states and the District. The first location at 3333 M St., NW opened Aug. 1, 2007.

Nicolas Jammet, Jonathan Neman, and Nathaniel Ru were still students at Georgetown University when they came up with their winning business concept.

In an earlier interview with Patch, Jammet said the three "planned everything throughout our senior year, and the grand opening was two months after we graduated."

"We wanted to make a place that we would want to go to eat," he explained.

On their restaurant's blog the owners thanked all those who made their venture a success, "We wouldn’t be here without our incredibly sweet team and staff," they wrote.

They also offer a Q&A with Georgetown Sweetgreen staff member Vilma, who has been serving Georgetowners salads and froyo since the store opened in 2007. Check out photos of two of the three owners making salad for one another. They left the salad-making for customers to the experts, like Vilma.