The Decline of Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes...What Happened?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Sweet Tomatoes and Souplantation were the names of two identical restaurant chains that as of 2020, no longer exist. This video highlights three separate declines of the company, including the final one.
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My daughter literally cried when the Souplantation around the corner from us closed down. This restaurant was our mommy/daughter lunch date favorite. She loved making salads with all the fixings and the breads and soups. I did not think she'd react the way that she did. I guess because we created so many memories there together.
I cried too
I literally just commented the same thing about my daughter!!! 😭😭😭😭😭
My kid did the same. It was our favorite healthiest option to eat at for daddy/daughter time. 😢
My seven year old daughter was so sad when we told her that her favorite restaurant has closed. A couple of times during the pandemic, at her request, we would drive by, stop and get out of our car to go to our Souplantation. We would stand outside to view the inside of the empty restaurant. We did have a lot of good memories there. We went almost every week.
I cried too it’s my favorite that’s so sweet I’m sorry
"A real sense of optimism going into 2020" is such a heartbreaking phrase
Famous last words
It would have made a good delivery only restaurant a few months into the pandemic when everyone started gaining weight from being home all the time and gyms being closed. So many people not knowing how to cook and ordering so much pizza.
@@MilwaukeeWoman A nice website where you can build your own salad. Yea that would have worked.
I’m so sad they closed, I’ve been going since I was a kid.They had the best blueberry muffins and soups/salads! I really hope someone brings this company back to life 😢
Same! I loved their blueberry muffins, my mom would literally take home extra ones for us in her purse 🤣. And they would always give us free cookies if we stayed until close. But yea I do rly hope someone can bring this sacred franchise back to life ♥
@@tylermeinhold6384 I swear, they had the Midas touch with carbs. Forget the soup, that cheese bread and mac and cheese were addictive AF! Man, I miss that place.
Have no fear! The new owners plan to reopen one I. La mesa CA. Only because the HQ is in CA. But if all goes well this could be good
@@reaganpoole7779 are you sure that Is not toys r us?
That was a ruse, it wasn't new owners, just a private citizen wanting to use the brand name, obviously it didn't work, so they're opening a different restaurant. It seems that person just wanted the publicity @@reaganpoole7779
My brother, who has autism, LOVED eating there. It was one of his favorite restaurants and where we saw him eat the largest variety of food we had seen. He'd eat corn, peas, all kinds of pastas, and baked goods. He hasn't touched those kinds of foods since. He's incredibly picky. He had a hard time coming to grips with and understanding that it was gone for good. Everywhere. I have rarely seen him truly weep, that was one of those days
Same, also autistic, it was my one safe place 😓
phhuckk this hits hard. wifes and I favorite easy healthyish place to go eat.
Phly, do you think you might be able to mention it on Phly Day tomorrow? Maybe a nice little sendoff for it
There is a hole in you left wing
Nice pronunciation of ####
same I loved going there so much
clam chowder and blueberry muffins 🙁
If there’s one thing Company Man has taught me, it’s to feel a deep sense of dread at the sound of the phrase “private equity firm”.
I was kind of feeling that. This time it's etched in my brain. Private equity firm: bad.
I think Sun Capital Partners has played the villain in other companies Company Man has covered. Maybe, maybe not. The name is familiar.
Great comment! So many companies have been ruined by PE firms. That would be a great video.
Many of these PE firms are like hideous parasitic wasps- they survive and reproduce by killing businesses in a truly horrific fashion. Just as a wasp can turn a healthy caterpillar into a lifeless husk, the hedge fund will consume the innards of a health business and leave a debt-riddled husk behind. The profits going into the creation of more bankers & hedge funds.
Leveraged Buyout is also a red flag a company could be on borrowed time.
There's this video where the host was walking around town and ask every nice car owner what they do for a living, I recall about 50% said "private equity". That says enough.
My condolences to Mrs. Company Man
@Ballers he means because Company Mom lost her favorite restaurant.
@Ballers my man do you not pay attention?😂
@Ballers how are you in the comments if you didn’t watch the video???
@Ballers stop it.
*@Ballers not found*
Man, this hits hard. Souplantation was pretty much a weekly ritual for me and my family. It didn't matter if we had a tough week or a great one, once we went in for dinner it was like a reset button for the next. I don't think we'll ever find a replacement for Souplantation, but I truly hope someone else takes up that mantle.
yeah same here, seeing one of the pictures in the video of the seating area, just the color of the lights and the red and green seats, tore my heart.
🙏🏼 it was the best
Black lives matter
My mom never wanted to go to Sweet Tomatoes because she thought it was boring. Once I dragged her there, she tried the oyster soup and said it was the best she’d ever have. Now she misses Sweet Tomatoes as much as I do. RIP Sweet Tomatoes 🍅 💐
Rest in peace
I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother sounded like a good woman even though she raised a weeaboo. RIP in peace
@@TheScienceguy77 Her mom didn’t die
Seems like everyone's mom liked this place. My best friend's mom introduced to this place when she gave me a gift card for xmas one year
*ever had.
RIP Souplantation you are missed.
alexa!! nice to see you here!
Nah
Literally never heard of them
I drove by one nearly every day for eight or so years and never once considered going in, because I assumed all they served was the worst parts of a meal, soup and salad.
@@thenostalgiabusiness Their soups were some of the best, especially the Clam Chowder and Chicken Noodle,... Also their seasonal soups like Corn Chowder and Chicken Pot Pie were EXCELLENT! Their salads were always fresh and clean, and their veggies were always crispy...
Their breads, their focaccia,.. omg was so good...their blueberry muffins were awesome and had strong blueberry flavor. And their strawberry lemonade and dreyer's ice cream machine was unusually thick and delicious....
For the price they were some of the best meal you can get!
This video kind of made me want to cry, I’m still not over this. Sweet Tomatoes was my go-to restaurant. I’m going to miss it forever
Same 😓
they put literal crack into their mac n cheese and chicken soup cuz that shit was addicting
Im convinced the noodles in the soup was laced with something because i could never have enough of it!
FACTS BILLY
@@arson3630 it’s 8illy
I too couldn’t have enough of that chicken soup. Sometimes I just had the soup, no chicken or noodle.
literally. I really need the recipe
I've never been to Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes but now I miss it
The boy!
I too have never peen the Sweet Tomatoes.
Same n same
I've never PEEN to sweet tomatoes neither
Minecragt
Sweet Tomatoes was my family’s favorite restaurant, we went there for my birthday at the beginning of 2020 and it’s one of my last memory’s of Pre Pandemic life and I’ll miss it vary much
Yup mine too- I went for dinner just as the pandemic was starting and they had hand sanitizer by the door at the front of the salad bar... Was my last time sadly
😪 so sad. The pandemic really ruined a lot of businesses
Rip sweet tomatoes
Same
it honestly feels like i lost a family member.. i've been going there since i was a child. i was really hoping they'd open back up or someone else would pick it up..
Me, too!
Same.. I didn't go there often but every summer as a kid when we'd visit my grandparents in San Diego I'd beg to go to "Soup Land Nation." I feel like I lost a piece of my childhood.
Same 💔
i miss you so much Souplantation :( maybe one day we will meet again
Heaven will turn out to be a souplantainon
@@briannelson3830 I believe that.
fr :(
apparently they’re coming back in a location in san diego this summer :)
They’re reopening one in San Diego
I'll never get over how I'll never be able to eat their Mac and Cheese again. I'm still not over it
Same! Their mac n cheese was delicious
The Mac and cheese carried the restaurant to it's glory, if only it carried it for longer :(
There was a sandwich place near me which has since closed that made an amazing turkey sandwich that I havent had in over a decade and I still think of it from time to time
REALLY bummed they closed down, loved thier salads, everything was always fresh, still not over it
It's so sad 😭
i will never forget the smell, that long salad bar, the soups, the muffins, that amazing ice cream machine,,,, sweet tomatoes will always be apart of my childhood memories man, RIP
You took me back with the smell...Fresh bread and soup, ugh I'd buy that Glade plugin.
This was the biggest heartbreak I ever experienced. For 10+ years my family and I would drive up almost every week to have lunch. Nothing will ever compare to their Cesar salad or their ranch... god the ranch.. I literally cried for a couple days when I found out they were closing for good.
Their ranch was so good I used to dip noodles in it
@@ryanc8412 me too!
Thaey had the BEST ranch dressing! I'd get one of the little paper cups and fill 3 of them with ranch
Yea 😓 shoot, crying again.
Oh yes their ranch was divine!!!!! So flavorful, creamy, liquidy enough to coat EVERYTHING but not too too thin to just, fall off.
I miss eating there, sooo much!
The pain of losing this restaurant hits me so hard. When i was little and my family was broke, this was our go-to celebration restaurant. Ill miss it forever 🥲
😓 yes. I remember being 17 and not having money for lunch there one day with a bunch of classmates. The manager on duty pulled me aside and asked why I wasn't eating and when I said I had no money he comped my meal. 🙏🏼
I gotta admit , as someone who went to Sweet Tamatoes all the time back then , this is genuinely sad to hear.
GAGAGAGAGAGA! I will now count to 3 and then I am still the unprettiest TH-camr of all time. 1...2...3. GAGAGAGAGAGA!!! Thank you for your attention, dear nate
@@AxxLAfriku is there any TH-cam page you don’t troll?
*admit, as
*Tomatoes
*then, this
@@alvallac2171 Are you compelled to be a dick, or does it just come naturally?
Blame Capitalism.
Their grilled cheese focaccia bread dipped in their tomato soup simply can't be beat.
Was the soup made from sweet tomatoes, thus making it taste sweet? If so, that sounds hella lit.
I miss their focaccia so bad
Their Focaccia and Clam Chowder..... Fuckkkk ... I cant believe I will never have it again!
@@tigerjonn Learn to make foccacia and clam chowder. Evan Funke has probably the best foccacia and shares his recipe. Homemade clam chowder can't be beat. I feel this way about the zellers diner in Canada. Can never have it again so I try my best to recreate it
@Don Clark Sorry, force of habit. Grew up in the ghetto.
I’m late to this video, but I’m always willing to talk about Sweet Tomatoes, even if it leaves me in a state of depression by the end of it.
My friends I would go there at least once a week. Dinner after work? Sweets. Hungover? Sweets. Just got back from the beach? Sweets. The cashiers and servers would know us by face and name and would give us discounts, free meals, or extra helpings of their chocolate chip cookies at dinner. Were we the youngest people there that didn’t have kids? Yes. But we loved it anyway.
From the time we started going there, to the bitter, bitter end, only a few things changed. The price changed a lot over those years. It would be about $7 for lunch, and by the end it would be $10. They also started to give smaller discounts on their usual coupons, and they stopped giving feee meals for birthdays. The quality of the food stayed consistently good throughout all of it.
Ugh, I wish I could go there right now. Thanks for the memories ST, you are loved and you are missed 💔
😓 yes! it was the best. It was my safe place...ugh crying so much reading these comments
This was easily my favorite buffet and was one of THE go-to places for special occasions. It was so incredibly tasty. The salad and pasta was like no other, the focaccia bread was delicious, the muffins were among the best parts of the experience, and they even had Oreo crumbles for their soft-serve. Aw man do I miss Sweet Tomatoes.
Yes incredibly good, and the fresh bread and whipped butter options in the little cups...ahh
Back in third grade, we all had to do an essay on our favorite restaurant. The vast majority of answers were souplantation/sweet tomatoes.
Lol
Wow, kids that liked a salad bar restaurant? Was it the ice cream machine?
@@MilwaukeeWoman it's the Mac and cheese and lava cake
:)
RIP Souplantation, the only place my entire family could sit down and eat despite dietary differences
Same here. My wife adopted a vegan diet about three years ago, yet both of us could find plenty we both liked at Sweet Tomatoes here in Portlandia. I will definitely miss them... good food and a great value.
@@JBM425 Eh, can't really complain when it's her fault for choosing a malnourshing, planet killing (forced to ship in "exotic" goods and supplements which contributes to pollution) economy ruining (raising the price of staple foods like quinoa and demanding the removal of animal agriculture) diet.
Maybe next time just don't pretend to be a herbivore and she won't whine about not having specialized places to fit her difficult and entirely voluntary diet. Oh, but then she couldn't feel superior to everyone else.
@@LickMyMusketBallsYankee People are vegans because they don't like killing animals. Get bent.
@@LickMyMusketBallsYankee you have no idea wtf youre talking about. being vegan isnt malnourishing at all.
@@LickMyMusketBallsYankee Sir she just wants to eat plants instead, whats with the manifesto.
My boyfriend and I live in Arizona and we were moving into a new apartment sometime early 2020. It was a fairly tough move, but we both said "at least we'll be closer to sweet tomatoes!" And it literally was already closed and we just didn't know about it yet😭 talk about true heartbreak😭 RIP Sweet Tomatoes u had the best soups and pizza flatbread
We ate at the one in Gilbert on Power Rd. Introduced to Sweet Tomatoes in Irving, Texas when we lived there. Loved that place! 😢
Aw im so sorry 😩
The one on the other side of, well, what used to be, Metro, NB side of I-17, was the one my mom & sis used to mostly go to. The building/signage is still there, which is why I searched if they were planning to reopen, because of that fact, but.
moment of silence for souplantaion... Gone but not forgotten
it was a routine bro, so sad
This guy was born to narrate
I'm in love with his voice. Great videos as well.
He has a bit of a monotone, but I don’t mind too much
You can hear the voice being cut if you listen closely. There's a lot of little pieces throughout all the videos.
Just like Brandon Jones or Tim Kitzrow.
Having been a sub since the beginning his quality has gotten much better over the years. I really like his presentation skills and I disagree with the monotone. You can tell he’s from somewhere around Michigan tho lol. Great vids every Wednesday and look forward to watching them.
I worked at Souplantation in Southern California at the Tustin location in 1987. Met Michael Mack and Tony Brooke. Michael Mack was this sweet tiny guy with the nicest smile. Everyone was great. My general manager was Frank. Mike was the kitchen manager. Can’t remember all the names but the nicest coolest bunch of people to work with. I joined Marriott after I left Souplantation and sadly never kept in touch with anyone. Hope everyone is doing great!! This was 1987-1989??
Wow!
I have visited America a few times. A dinner at soup plantation on the evening of our flight had become a bit of a tradition. I’m sad to hear they’ve filed for bankruptcy.
I was so saddened when Sweet Tomatoes closed. It was my favorite restaurant. There will forever be a hole in my heart now.
I’d think your posting was foolish if I didn’t feel the exact same way.
Goddamnit sweet tomatoes I miss you
Same... hole in heart
My mom and I would go to souplantation every other week. It was our favorite restaurant and we had so much bonding time through it. It made us really sad to see it go
That use to be me and my dad. We bonded at souplantation, he died a few years ago and now that they’re closed. 😢
Same. I'm off in Fridays and my son and I would go at least every other Friday for lunch. We loved it. The consistency and quality, the variety, fresh everything... we have missed it already throughout the pandemic. So bummed it won't be back. Never is a long time.😭
I used to take my daughter to SP when we visited OC annually-loved it. As a finance guy, let me explain: when private equity takes over, expect leverage (total debt to EBITDA) of over 5x easily, then you add the leases as debt, which pushes leverage up debt even more. Then sale leasebacks by PEs means they are sucking the cash out of any owned real estate to either fund other expenses or to pay themselves thereby incurring even more debt (even more leases), so it would appear that the signs were there well before CV-19. Thanks for the overview- great job
I have SUCH fond memories tied to Souplantation, my favorite being the celebratory lunch I had there with my family after passing my driver's license test as a teenager. I was so so sad to hear they wouldn't reopen post-pandemic 😔
My friends use to pick on me for wanting to eat at a salad bar buffet but that place was bomb. It was the Cici’s Pizza of salad bars.
Ur pretty
@@jadam.2410 ... And you're kinda fucking creepy... O_o
@@Cooe. damn😭😭
@@Cooe. bruh, you like anime wtf lol you're creepy as hell
@@bobr9207 What the hell does liking anime have to do with Jada creeping on women... (Also, it's not even from an anime dumbass, it's a video game). -_- What the fuck is wrong with you? Lemme guess, grossly cat calling women is a favorite pastime of yours too, right?
I'm actually depressed about this cause my location in houston is absolutely amazing. They had the best soups, pizza and mac and cheese. Hell I even got into their salads more. Me and my mom were literally discussing about going to sweet tomatoes after the pandemic, but now hearing this has crushed me. Because it was the only buffet I knew of that had such high quality foods that were healthy, and the salads were honestly addicting once I became older in my teem years. It's my childhood restaurant that me and parents would go to atleast twice a year. Comment if you feel the same and had parents that would take you there as a go to family outing.
I think i visited that location once, and it was pretty good. Sad to see it go. Loved their chicken noodle soup and sourdough bread.
Used to go all the time for everything! I will miss the clam chowder and special seasonal salads, and ofc the peach ice cream they had once. I really wanted to go back for my birthday but I drove by my local sweet tomatos to see if it was open and looking into the windo and seeing how the whole joint was just barren and a former shell of itselfs, was just,,,,,idk really dishearting. Made me pretty sad, the food was absolutely fuckn delish
We live in The Woodlands and went to ours all the time. Miss them so much!! I wish someone would purchase the trademark and bring them back. They had a loyal following and have not found any other restaurant like them.
Yes I spent the pandemic dreaming of the first visit when they reopened, broke my heart
Souplantation closing down made me so sad and literally so little people around me had no idea what I was talking about. Fair, but real ones know 😎
Even if they raised prices to $50 for a family of four I wouldve kept going. Buying fast food for four is getting up to the $30-$40 range depending on the restaurant(say McD's vs Chick-fil-A). LOVED their blueberry muffins and soup selections. Please come back!
*sigh* - I was so sad when our Sweet Tomatoes closed, but with the pandemic, I just knew it was coming. You could get your kids to try so many different sorts of veggies and food.
My kids love veggies and my wife tries to eat 30 different foods everyday. This place was paradise to her.
I did that too!
Yes. Souplantation (I’m a San Diego native) was THE best place to take your babies! Along with just an all around fun place to visit while growing up.
There was a Fry’s Electronics right near a Sweet Tomatoes where I used to go. I used to visit both when I went for one or the other. Needless to say its been a painful few years lol
And now within a space of a year, both are gone. Fry's had been in decline for a couple of years and it seemed closure was inevitable for them, but I was definitely caught off guard when Sweet Tomatoes shut down... truly one of the first casualties of the pandemic.
Souplantation was a childhood staple! I miss their cooked spiral pasta, hard boiled egg slices, potato salad, ranch and fried noodles -- and those are just some of the salad items. Also loved their cornbread / other mini baked goods and their lime jello! Love that they offered a selection of fresh cut fruit too. Now I'm sad, and hungry.
i've never heard of this company before until watching this video, but it's heartbreaking to see how many businesses who were at such a prime get absolutely destroyed by the pandemic.
You missed out! :(
I am from San Diego and have been to several Souplantation locations over the years, and they never seemed to decline in either quality or popularity over the years. They were always pretty full when you were inside. No problems with understaffing. I never would’ve assumed they would close.
YEA! The Souplantations by my house in Orange County were usually quite busy... But with that buffet style of operation not really not allowed, maybe forever, i dont know if that type of restaurants will ever come back..
There was a souplantation my family went to on mission gorge that we didn’t like. But we went to one in La Mesa and we loved it so much
Same - They were so busy, I always had trouble finding a place to sit.
souplantation was my favorite restaurant and every time i remember its closed i almost cry
This was my favorite restaurant. If you love salad, it was THE BEST. They also had really nice drink options. The regular stuff like soda and tea, but there were fancy iced teas. Plus I think it kind of gave me, childhood cafeteria nostalgia. A la Quincy's and Piccadilly.
We loved Sweet tomatoes here in Chicago. My daughter who was 7-8 at the time literally cried when they closed. Lol. I could have cried too tbh. Damn.
I miss the salad bar, chili, cheese bread, and brownie muffins😔
the brownie muffins 😖 I wish I can go back just one more time
Oh the Focaccia bread
I enjoyed the pasta dishes as well
Ngl brownie muffins sounds extremely good, never been to one coz I didn't live anywhere near a location
There wasn't anything that they had on their menus that I wouldn't eat gladly. I'm always going to miss their (8 grain Indian)? bread and whenever they had that Asian inspired Ginger broth. And I've never had a side like Joan's Broccoli Madness that made me want to exclusively eat raw broccoli! It was a great buffet if you were on a diet, too, (keto for me) as strange as that sounds to say. There's no place like Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation--past, present or future.
This was my wife and I’d favorite restaurant. We went on our first date here and it was the last place we went before quarantine. RIP
Hilarious!
My wife and my favorite too. Get served like 3 whole meals on the salad line (to which you want more) then baked potatoes over these with bacon cheese and chives, to oh what're these soups? Let's try em, to icescream for the kids. I miss Sweet Tomatoes :/
I'm a San Diego native, and had gone to souplantation since I was a kid... I think part of the problem they had is all their customers started dying- OF OLD AGE. their menu offerings were always so outdated and they rarely ever brought out anything special or new. That and it was literally a soup and salad joint, no brisket, no ham, no chicken wings etc. I had a friend who worked there for many years, and they treated him well- they even let him get a meal at any restaurant for like $3- so every time we went on a road trip, we would stop at another location. At the end of the day though, because it was just soup & salad, I was always hungry again an hour later. Still it was a local icon, and it sucks to see them go away, mainly because 2020 sucked all the fun out of the world...
Just got news that a location is reopening in La Mesa and if it holds a candle to the Souplantation of old, I couldn’t possibly be more thrilled. This is the only restaurant where I’ve ever craved or thought about tuna tarragon, inhaled freshly-baked blueberry muffins, and overfilled soup bowls with soft-serve after a solid meal of soup and salad. Lotsa family memories at Souplantation over 40 years!
Really?? Any update? Mayve I've found my next vacation spot
@@RainbowMigraines Solid summary - I should've updated after my comment a while ago as I was following that madness. Still holding out hope we get Souplantation back in SD in the future, as slim as that hope is!
@@RainbowMigraines thanks. Ugh...
I was bummed to hear that they decided to close down. Souplantation was our favorite restaurant, the first restaurant we took our daughter to, our go to family night out place because it was close to the malls, movies, etc. This was a place our kids would actually eat something other than chicken nuggets/tenders
There was a Sweet Tomatoes in Hollywood Florida that was across from a Souplantation. No one ever went to Souplantation because they thought it was a Sweet Tomatoes rip off.
Like how Hollywood Florida is a knockoff! Haha
@@y2kvaporwave Florida has always been the real California. You guys suck ass!
Mia Strong well... you’re saying Florida is the real California, so obv u wanna be us...? No one in California is saying they wanna be Florida lol
@@i.t1698 No one in California will admit that they suck ass. Florida is the fun place that is like every beach movie you see from the '60s. California is a third world hell-hole.
So sad when they closed. They were my absolute "go to" to the point I would research the locations whenever I had a trip planned. Nothing like it has replaced it.
Loved Souplantation! My first job was there as a Salad Chef in the 1990's, making that Cesar and Wonton Chicken salad. I was 17 years old. I always said, you know the food was fresh and clean when you go eat there after seeing all the
'behind-the-scenes" as an employee. It was even our favorite casual dining place to take our 4 kiddos many years later. R.I.P. Souplantation.
I was 18 working there in the mid 90s
Best Caesar salad I’ve
Ever had😢
Sweet Tomatoes is where my wife and I went for our first date... ah nostalgia.
Many dates were spent here, truly sad to see it go. I hope when the world becomes normal again some company can revive the concept
I almost dropped legitimate tears when souplantation closed. I live in San Diego and it was heartbreaking.
There was a sweet tomatoes on the way back from church and we would eat there every sunday for yeeeears. We knew a lot of the staff by name and loved their food. R.I.P. you will be missed
I live in San Diego and remember well the first Souplantation. It had a salad bar, soup and fresh muffins and baked bread. Really good muffins. That was it. I loved it. Then they expanded to all kinds of foods. I think they were just as good when they had a smaller, high quality simpler menu. "Keep it simple" seems to contribute to business longevity.
I was online for months trying to recreate their recipes because I miss it so much. there is literally nothing that will ever beat their salads and pizzas
Do you know their mac n cheese or chicken noodle soup recipes by any chance? 🥺
@@bellapham1140 yahoo answers had a good imitation recipe
Yes their pizza was the closest thing to the delicious pizza we had at my middle school cafeteria. I miss it.
Yeah I'm still looking for the Cesar salad recipe it was like crack or something literally could not stop eating it.
So sad to see. Not even the mildly large companies can stay afloat in times like these. They will be missed.
To be fair, they were in financial ruins years before the pandemic. I worked there for over 5 years. They restructured their loan, boosted sale number for investors, while opening new store fronts that didn't really sustain themselves. New ideas that failed miserably. I remember talking to the GM, which was the son of a VP, telling how they spent over 300k on a commercial that never aired. Small business, with no direction and mismanagement of funds. That's how I see it.
No buffets are coming back for a long time after this pandemic. Everything will have to be more like when you order at Subway or Qdoba.
@@MilwaukeeWoman new buffets will start popping up between 3 and 10 years from now. in the short term probably not.
I was sad to learn that they closed down. I remember when I was younger my grandmother used to live down in the woodlands and we would have family gatherings at the Sweet Tomatoes near where she lived. I loved that place (hopefully they can come back bc its still a unique idea concept even to this day)
As a former employee I loved working there. The bosses and crew were the best. I was treated with so much love & respect from everybody there. Even the customers were the best And having the customers tell me how satisfied they were with my services as a Dining room attendant, a salad maker, Cook and baker. I loved seeing their reactions. but sadly underneath the good times trouble with the company was unfolding because the bankruptcy filing wasn't the first time that the company had done that. back in late 2016 I received a notification saying "Souplantation is closing soon the company lost money and was expecting to close by early 2017." But then got another saying "company is no longer closing." And I remember getting a sign of relief because it meant that I still had a job there and all my friends still had jobs there. And everything went back to being as normal as possible. And very quickly the incident was almost forgotten. Of course everything was going great. It wasn't until In early 2020 just 2 months before Covid hit, I got another letter saying that the company owed a lot and was filing for bankruptcy again. So when covid-19 hit and we were closed for 2 weeks every day the company was losing millions of dollars. To me Covid-19 in my opinion was just the icing on the cake as to why the company closed its doors. It's sad because I sometimes passed by the location that I use to work at (Brentwood CA near the city of Santa Monica ) and it does break my heart that the location is no longer there. 2 years later it still breaks my heart. I spend almost 4 years working for that company it was a great company to work with I love the reaction of the customers I was able to make some friends there that I still keep in contact with. I have a lot of beautiful memories of working there. About 90% of the customers were friendly to me. And just like how the customers say that they have beautiful memories of being there well coming from a former employee so do I. I have a lot of beautiful memories of working there. Two and a half years later those memories are still there with me and I will always cherish those memories and times that I had working there.
Bless you, you brought many moments of joy to the community
@@js2010ish thank you 😊 to me obviously because I got along with everybody there I didn't see the job that I was doing as work I just saw it as something that I enjoyed doing that was fun. Even my bosses were amazing. But sadly covid kind of forced us to move in different directions with our lives. But I know one thing for sure that each and every single one of us will always cherish the times that we had together as a team working there and seeing the customers happy faces with our services. And oh thank you for your comment that really means a lot to me and have a wonderful day :) 😀
@@josephmendoza9523 Certainly. Youre in our hearts. I miss my local (south florida) staff dearly. A gift bag of cookies always made my night.
@@js2010ish I was ok with the cookies I mean don't get me wrong the cookies were good mmm but man the red velvet cake 🎂 or the carrot cakes we use to make I would sometimes (if I was given permission) take it home with me and oh my God those cakes were delicious 😋 the pizza breads were another story 😂 I heard that one Souplantation has opened up and that's all the way in the city of La Mesa California but that's too far for me to go and experience Souplantation all over again. I don't know if that location that's opened up is a sign that maybe some Souplantations are opening I don't know. But if thats the case and the one that where I used to work opens again you can guarantee that I'll go back again not as an employee because obviously I already have an amazing job right now but I will be going as a frequent customer and remembering all the good times that I had as an employee
@@josephmendoza9523 ah we never had the cakes, sound great
I live in southern California and I loved going to Souplantation, they actually had good food unlike other buffets I've been to, and it's sad to see it go 😭
I’m really upset that sweet tomatoes is gone. I used to go there with my grandparents all the time. It was my favorite place
I miss this place so much. Sunday Lunch with mum, ranch and spinach salad with clam chowder, focaccia bread, and strawberry lemonade. RIP
I cried when I learned they closed.... 😓 There is nothing like it, I’m distressed !!!
THE best buffet. Now we are stuck with crappy Golden Corral 🤮 as our only buffet option
I would kill for their strawberry lemonade, I also didn't know they had a name other than Souplantation which is interesting.
The strawberry lemonade was amazing.
You must be from California then!
I need to stop reading these comments, they're just making me more sad. That strawberry lemonade was so fucking good 😭
How many times have we seen Sun Capital as being part of a fall, it's like they're a grim reaper of business.
"If you have any idea what happened..." When a business becomes a target of vulture capital firms like Sun Capital, you can start counting the days. Especially when they start doing leasebacks of their property, which is one way to take serious cash out of a business. At least when the Mafia does a bust-out, everybody involved knows what they're in for.
Had no idea Sun Capital was behind this. A lot of companies have disappeared because of them. Mervyn's, Sun Coast Music, etc. They should make hedge funds / capital firms illegal.
Ignaz S. These people own the politicians. Hell, some of them ARE the politicians. Look into how Mitt Romney or Nancy Pelosi got rich, just to see how "bipartisan" that rot is.
I worked for them as a GM for 4+ years in Miami up to the very last day we operated. I loved working for the brand and the last ownership group. The culture was great, upper management was sound and fair. My group was a special group to work with everyday and it didn’t feel like a job. It felt like a family. We were apart of the community. We still have a group chat where every person on the payroll from my unit stay in touch and check in. There was no viable way for the concept to survive the pandemic and no plan could have saved the concept to operate and remain viable in a post pandemic world. That’s why it was closed.
The Miami location I frequented was excellent, much more younger families than in swfl locations
I went to the one on SW 88th St weekly for years. It was my favorite place to eat that did not involve a Cubano. Such great memories of friends and family going there. Can you PLEASE tell me how to make that amazing House Ranch??? Also, maybe the Tuna Taragon and where you get your Tapioca pudding? So much good food, but that Ranch lives in my dreams, as crazy as that sounds.
i loved it in arizona when I was a kid. very nice people, and very fond memories of this place. i loved their bread and salads and soups. very sad that sweet tomatoes is no more 😢 i wish there was something we could do to bring it back.
Whenever restaurants I liked closed near me, I'd be like "that's a bummer." Sweet tomatoes is the only one that felt like a gut punch. I still feel the pain whenever I drive past that empty building.
It was a shame that Souplantation shut down. My mom, loved going there and it was one of the few American restaurants she enjoyed going to. When Mother's Day arrived, I would always take my mom there and treat her for lunch. Was a tradition we did for the past 7 years.
Sweet Tomatoes was pretty much the restaurant my parents would take my brother and I when we were younger. I remember always being fascinated by the place because of how high quality the experience was for what was a buffet restaurant. After they announced bankruptcy, I genuinely felt like I lost a family member or something.
Rest in peace Sweet Tomatoes,my childhood wouldn't have been the same without you 🍅
🙏🏼
I only visited a Sweet Tomatoes one time and that was in Orlando, Florida in 2012 while I was on a senior trip. I had an incredible experience. Great service, fresh and delicious food, and just all around quality vibes. I was in love, but sadly didn’t live near one.
For years, I’ve told my wife that we were going to go there someday if and when we visit Florida. We visited Florida last year in September and I drove around trying to find a location, but found they had been closed. I was so sad. I’ll cherish my one visit there forever.
:(
Better management? Bruh, our manager would openly yell at us and humiliated people in front of guest. To this day (10 years later) if I see this man. It's on sight.
That's your problem for not flippin him the bird and walking out of the damn place. The best part about working restaurants is there's always another.
I used to work at Souplantation. Can confirm the management was horrible. Either were never there or micromanaged the fuck out of everyone. Fuck that place.
@@imahoare4742 Finding a decently managed restaurant is like finding one of a dozen bottle caps in a hay stack. Its possible but you either gotta get really lucky or dig pretty hard.
Several STs had poor management, but Chad and others in Pembroke Pines and Boynton Beach were excellent. West Palm Beach was worst, at least from the perspective of this customer who has been to at least a dozen stores in Florida, Texas and California
I miss Souplantation's food so much. I went to a few in SoCal with the original name and it was everything you described. I would go with friends and sports teams and it was always filling in each and every bite. The secret to the ice cream was crushing the overally small waffle cones into a bowl of the ice cream, not use them to hold the ice cream. One of my favourite restaurants are gone forever.
Hot muffins straight from the oven with soft serve and caramel sauce...😋😋😋
Thanks for the update! I loved souplantation. It was our favorite restaurant to go to during lunch or birthdays! As well as weekends for Sunday brunch. I truly wish they wouldn’t had closed them all down. I was a regular customer & number one fan because I would eat there at least 2 to 3 times during the week. I surely do miss Souplantation! One of my favorite restaurants!
We just loved out Sweet Tomatoes in pleasant hill, ca. Had multiple family gatherings and business meetings there over the years. Always felt healthier eating there than somewhere else. I never lamented over the closing of a chain but this one was really special for us.
I used to go to Sweet Tomatoes near Disney while I was in Florida, I remember my grandma always taking me and my brothers to either McDonalds, Olive Garden or Sweet Tomatoes every Sunday after church and she would always give us the choice to which we would’ve liked to go to, those were some good times and I’m gonna miss Sweet Tomatoes 🍅 🦑
I live right by that location! It’s so sad driving by it now, it’s like a graveyard :(
I didn’t realize Sweet Tomatoes went out of business, and I don’t think I’ll ever be okay ever again.
In California there were also buffet chains called Sup Exchange and Fresh Choice. I was young when they were last in business, but remember them to be nearly the same as Souplantation. The Souplantation nearest me actually had to-go containers, so I was very disappointed that they couldn't keep some open and offer some kind of take out option... but then it wouldn't be a buffet anymore.
The San Bernardino location was perfect. I loved the salad bar. Every vegetable you could imagine was there. The soups were delicious too, specially the French onion!
At this point Company Man is basically the Millennial/Gen Z Obituary section of businesses past.
My little brother (whose birthday is today, he's 13 now) was supposed to be born on April Fools Day, but for whatever reason, he wasn't quite ready yet. Sweet Tomatoes was the last restaurant my mom went to before she finally gave birth to him, and I'll always miss Sweet Tomatoes.
Your brother: "Am I a joke to you?"
@@majorfrozen
Dude no
@@majorfrozen nearly
I was talking to my friend about going to Sweet Tomatoes today, they told me that the near by one was closed, I looked up Sweet Tomatoes and then I found this video. I cried a bit, RIP my favorite childhood restaurant.
I use to work for souplantation the one near Santa Monica in L.A CA and it was one of the best jobs ever. I was the Room attendant which is me picking up plates customers were done using. I would just as pure fun i would talk in cartoon voices for kids and to see them laugh was worth it. I loved making kids happy. That was one of the best parts of the job. And to see the families eating together was wonderful. All of us were family. It was beautiful. Our manager was the best ❤. He was really cool and as long as you did what you were supposed to be doing he didn't really get at you. I worked there for almost 4 years until covid 19 shut us down. But before covid shut us down. The company filed for bankruptcy so they were already considering closing but when covid happened, well that was the icing on the cake. Now i work for a company in which i now manage and its a fun job but it doesn't compare to the fun i think not only me but all of us who worked there had. It was pure magic. I do miss seeing the customers that use to go there. And i hope they're doing ok
RIP Sweet Tomatoes... you were the only, not gross and dingy, buffet in my town.
Yet hometown buffet is still around.
Add me to the list of people sad about Sweet Tomatoes closing. I loved their restaurant; salads were great, soups were great, Mac and cheese was great, everything was great and I used to eat their every month. So very sad.
It wasn't "haute cuisine," but it was good food and a great value at roughly $10-13 per person.
I first went to Souplantation when I moved to San Diego in 1996. It instantly became my favorite restaurant, bar none. I used to go at least once a week for a workday lunch with co-workers, and then a weekend dinner. Souplantation had a half dozen San Diego locations and I was delighted when I got a girlfriend who, among other excellent qualities, was also a Souplantation fan. We dined regularly at store #1. Over time they added things like Sunday Brunch Buffet and the mix-your-own soda machines that were such a hit in movie theaters. But mostly what kept me going back again and again was the endless selection of fresh salad fixings, a half dozen tasty soups, fresh breads and bakery items, pasta, baked potatoes, etc. Occasionally they would bring around to your table chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven. And you could go back as many times as you wanted, all for one low price. The newspaper inserts always had coupons, then they switched to a free club that e-mailed you coupons. It’s rare for me to feel such attachment to a business, but losing them was truly heartbreaking.
This is one that actually hit me hard. Lots of memories of going there with my grandma after my martial arts lessons. Good times.
"The Decline Of..."
(...videos always include the words...)
"Private Equity Firm"
A 55 foot salad bar is my idea of heaven, sad I never got to experience this.
i never got to experience it either. i guess that’s a sacrifice you make for living in a small town like i do.
it was disgusting
@@ToriUptown depending on where ur location is or how they manage their restaurant
@@ToriUptown the location where I lived was always fresh and amazing
It was the best. The salads, the from scratch soups and everything in the bakery......chef's kiss....
“Bought by a private equity firm”
DUN DUN DUNNNN
California resident here. I LOVED Souplantation growing up. It was me and my family’s favorite place to go, I loved their lil twisty pastas in the salad line and would always get the soup and cheese breads after I was finished with the salad. I never noticed any change or decline in the restaurants, it always had such a nice, relaxing atmosphere and me and my family were heartbroken when it closed during the pandemic
I forgot what it was but there was this macaroni salad thing that I loved there along with their chicken soup. Rest In Peace souplantation.
bro their chicken noodle soup was the one thing that made me want to go there every week
genuine sense of grief seeing this youtube video show up and remembering the loss.
My wife’s favorite spot when she was preggers. RIP Souplantation 🤙🏽
My heart still breaks that this place is gone forever. So many good memories with family and friends not to mention the food was spectacular!
i’m so mad because i loved their mac, muffins, soups and those crunchy won ton noodle salad toppings i never found anywhere else
And that Tuna Tarragon Pasta Salad
OoOoO yea! They had that Asian Chicken wonton salad at the front of the salad bar... That was definitely great!
Their mac and cheese was addicting and it didn't taste like store bought shit. Not evem mentioning their pizza bites, loved them