Souplantation permanently closing all restaurants due to coronavirus

The buffet-style chain Souplantation said on Thursday it is permanently shuttering all of its restaurants, as its business model cannot be sustained in a world changed by the coronavirus.

The chain, founded in San Diego in 1978, offered an all-you-can eat salad bar, soups, pasta, and a baked potato bar. Its parent company, Garden Fresh Restaurants, will close its 97 Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, leaving 4,400 workers unemployed.

"The FDA had previously put out recommendations that included discontinuing self-serve stations, like self-serve beverages in fast food, but they specifically talked about salad bars and buffets," Garden Fresh CEO John Haywood told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "The regulations are understandable, but unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to reopen. And I'm not sure the health departments are ever going to allow it."

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He said the company could have "overcome any other obstacle, and we've worked for eight weeks to overcome these intermittent financial challenges, but it doesn't work if we are not allowed to continue our model." The closure is especially difficult because of the chain's loyal fanbase, Haywood said. "We've had positive guest counts every year," he told the Union-Tribune. "Every measurement of operations had been higher. It really is a wonderful company and concept and magic for a lot of kids. It's their first memory of where they can do their own thing."