Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes

Sweet Tomatoes, operating as Souplantation (/ˌsuːplænˈteɪʃən/ SOO-plan-TAY-shən) in Southern California, is a United States–based chain of all-you-can-eat buffet-style restaurants.

[4] The company, owned by Garden Fresh Restaurant Corporation,[5] temporarily closed its 97 locations in March 2020 in response to government mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dennis was impressed with the new concept and introduced Steve Hohe, the Springfield Restaurant manager, and Ron Demery, a bail bondsman and friend of John and Scott.

[11] In 2005, an affiliate of the private investment firm Sun Capital Partners purchased Garden Fresh and with it the restaurant chains.

[16] In 2017, Garden Fresh and its restaurant chains were purchased by the New York City–based private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management.

[18] On May 7, 2020, the company announced it would be closing all Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes locations permanently amid concerns that new federal guidelines recommending an end to self-serve stations would prevent local health departments from granting permits to restaurants with salad bars and buffets.

[19] Garden Fresh Restaurants, the parent company to both Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation with the United States bankruptcy courts the following week on May 14.

[27][28][29][30] Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes specializes in fresh salads and soups, and pasta, as well as bread, muffins, cornbread, and focaccia, baked on the premises.

Featured menu items were rotated monthly and were typically themed, such as Asian, Greek, Italian, and customer favorites.

A long buffet line with a man checking out at the end
A Sweet Tomatoes in Kendall, Florida
A Sweet Tomatoes Location in the Night with a long line wrapped around the building
Sweet Tomatoes Re-Opening Night at their Tucson location