Sayonara, Souplantation
Colby:
Though buffet-style restaurants have been on a decline, especially as of late, there’s always been one chain that stuck out to me. Souplantation was a restaurant that I held somewhat dearly in my heart. Were it not for my first experience at Souplantation, when I was about six years old, I probably wouldn’t have developed a taste for salads. As I grew up, I got to try more and more of their dishes, such as their soups and brownies, both absolutely delicious. As a buffet, the system itself encouraged you to play with your food - an ideal bound to piss parents across the nation off. But, what it did for me was allow me to explore. I got to try many combinations of foods only my childlike wonder and infinite curiosity a kid my age could have thought of, like bacon in chicken noodle soup, or vanilla ice cream atop my brownies (which, looking back, is nothing too unusual).
I mean, if you look at it on the grand scheme of things, Souplantation wasn’t really anything that special. Aside from their admirably unwavering dedication to freshness, and little quirks in their brand (like their very casual, informal flip cards on their tables), their food was, as a whole, alright. As I grew up, and my choices in food developed, my preference for Souplantation got pushed to the wayside, to where it became merely an afterthought. Now that it’s gone, in a sense, I kind of took it for granted. So, I guess this is goodbye - and I guess that, to repeat an age-old adage: “You never really know what you have until it’s gone.”
Keane:
As far as buffets go, Souplantation was, in all of the best respects, comfortably average. Not in a bad way, there is a beauty in simplicity that the place offered, without falter. Just about everyone has that one restaurant-you know the one. You go there for the same things every time, it's more of a hangout place than an eatery and the best part of the experience is the time you spend with friends (the true meal is the friends we made along the way). Souplantation was one of these restaurants for me, and I spent more than a few afternoons making bad decisions there. Some memorable highlights include making a pie using only bread, ice cream, and whatever else was in the dessert bar, finding out our state testing scores at the table, and evenings after water polo, hungry and damp but in good spirits.
I guess I can’t complain. After high school, I had less and less reason to go and the familiar comfort of the place was soon superseded by the excitement of new restaurants and places to go. It’s a little sad to know we won’t be able to go back to it again, but in a way, I’d almost prefer to keep my experiences preserved forever, untouchable now that only memories remain.
Alex:
Souplantation was a weekend staple in my family's rotation of restaurants we liked to dine out at. I remember lining up for a Sunday lunch at least once a month, cruising down the salad bar. I was a picky eater as a kid so I usually skipped the vegetables and filled my salad plate with corn, peas, eggs, noodles, and wontons. Having visited Souplantation as an adult I can say that it was pretty average. Some of the soups were bland and gloopy and the pastas were, to put it bluntly, gross. But, I grew up with this. Souplantation held a special place in my heart and I still wanted to support it even if I didn’t think it was that great.
After hearing that Souplantation would no longer be opening their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was heartbroken. It’s like I've lost another piece of my childhood. I knew that Souplantation wasn’t doing so well about a year before the pandemic but they really were turning things around and trying to renovate their restaurants and menu. However, they never got to fully explore that chance. The news doesn’t only break my heart but also worries me. If Souplantation can be shut down from this, what other franchises that we thought were untouchable, will we lose forever?
