Souplantation is coming home. The salad-and-soup buffet chain that vanished from Southern California strip malls in 2020 is set to reopen in Fountain Valley in 2027, taking over its own former restaurant space at 11179 Talbert Ave., a roughly 7,800-square-foot spot near the 405 Freeway in a shopping center anchored by a Costco.
A Careful, Years-Long Comeback
The revival has been in the works since the brand's 2020 acquisition, according to the Los Angeles Times. Marlee Lossing, who represents Sweet Tomatoes, told the paper the company is moving slowly and deliberately to get the revival right, and that it found an opportunity to return specifically to Fountain Valley. The chain is owned by ST Three LLC, headed by Mike Malone, which acquired Sweet Tomatoes in 2020 after the brand's collapse.
That collapse was sweeping. Garden Fresh Restaurants, the chain's former operator, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 14, 2020, permanently shuttering all 97 buffet locations nationwide and three distribution centers, a liquidation that eliminated roughly 4,400 jobs, as reported by Restaurant Business. Of those, 44 were in California, per the Los Angeles Times. Former CEO John Haywood said at the time that FDA pandemic guidance discouraging self-service buffets made operating the chain unfeasible while the company was burning through more than $1 million a week in holding costs on closed restaurants, the outlet reported.
From San Diego Roots to a National Name
Souplantation's story predates the pandemic by decades. The brand debuted in San Diego in 1978 and kept that name exclusively in Southern California even as it expanded nationally under the name Sweet Tomatoes, a naming quirk the Los Angeles Times traced through company history. The chain wasn't a pandemic-era newcomer to financial trouble, either: Garden Fresh Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2016 before private equity firm Perpetual Capital Partners bought it in August 2017 and invested in remodels and a 2-million-member loyalty program, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
Since the 2020 shutdown, the brand's return has unfolded gradually, market by market. Sweet Tomatoes came back first in Arizona in 2024, reoccupying the same Tucson building the chain had operated before closure, according to the Pima Post. It then returned in Florida, opening June 1, 2026, on South Tamiami Trail in Fort Myers inside a 1997-era former Sweet Tomatoes building after a soft-opening stretch, as reported by WGCU. The Fountain Valley location marks the chain's return to its home state after those two out-of-state test runs, per the Los Angeles Times.
The Menu Fans Remember, Plus Modern Payment Rules
Before any of that, interest was already building. Sweet Tomatoes teased its California return with a cryptic video on Monday that drew nearly 7,000 comments, the Los Angeles Times reported. The company says it will retain its original recipes, with dishes including the Wonton Happiness Salad, Joan's Broccoli Madness, Big Chunk Chicken Noodle Soup, macaroni and cheese, and blueberry muffins all expected to taste exactly as die-hard fans remember them, and the rotation of monthly specials is slated to resume in 2027. Souplantation is also weighing additional new or returning locations across California and other markets, according to the same report.
Diners should expect some changes behind the counter, though. Revived Sweet Tomatoes locations in Arizona and Florida have gone cashless, requiring credit, debit, or contactless payment, according to Tasting Table. It's a modernization that longtime regulars accustomed to the pre-2020 cash-friendly buffet counters will need to adjust to when the Fountain Valley doors reopen.
Why the Brand Still Resonates in Southern California
Souplantation built decades of devoted fans by serving salads, soups, pizzas and muffins in an all-you-can-eat format that became a Southern California mainstay. Los Angeles Times writer Sewell Chan has written that the first place he hoped to eat after pandemic-era restaurant reopenings was Souplantation, and food writer Charles Perry once said other restaurants could learn from how Souplantation was run. That lingering affection has already shown up elsewhere in the region: an independent, family-owned restaurant called Soup 'n Fresh opened in a former Souplantation building in Rancho Cucamonga in February 2024 and drew massive daily lines by mirroring the original buffet model, according to Foodbeast — evidence the demand for the format never really went away, even before Souplantation's own comeback.
Not every former Souplantation site is getting a second life as a restaurant, however. Some shuttered properties across Southern California have instead been claimed for housing: a former Souplantation site at 233 E. Huntington Drive in Arcadia is being replaced by a 214-unit mixed-use residential complex, reflecting the broader real estate pressures reshaping the region's old suburban restaurant footprints.
