Souplantation To Permanently Close Due To Coronavirus

SAN DIEGO, CA — Souplantation, the buffet-style restaurant chain founded and headquartered in San Diego, is permanently closing due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has 97 restaurants, including 44 in California. The company closure means 4,400 employees will lose their jobs, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurants, the parent company of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, had closed the eateries in mid-March due to the spread of COVID- 19. At the time, the shutdowns were announced as temporary closures.

"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 U-T. "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.

"We could've 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."

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Souplantation grew out of a single location that opened in 1978 in San Diego. But the self-serve model of the chain resulted in steep losses in business as the coronavirus crisis rapidly worsened in February and March, according to Robert Allbritton, chairman of Washington, D.C.-based Perpetual Capital Partners, a private investment firm that bought the company following a 2016 bankruptcy filing.

"We spent two years researching and trying to improve things and actually got the business turned around," Allbritton told the U-T. "We were growing the number of guests and were in the process of renovating the restaurants with new fixtures, carpeting (and) signage as late as January. We felt great about it. But I've got to tell you, when the virus hit, we went from 100 percent to 70 to 30 to 10 percent that fast, before the restaurants closed down and the company ran out of money in one week."

Also see:

• California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures
• Coronavirus In San Diego County: Latest News
• Retail Stores To Open Curbside Service In San Diego County
• San Diego County Unemployment Numbers Pass Great Depression Levels: Report
• County Coronavirus Cases Surpass 4,000; Retail Prepares To Open
• Beaches Stay Open; Golf Courses, Parks Can Reopen In San Diego County
• Some San Diego County Beaches Reopen After Coronavirus Closures
• San Diego County Makes Face Coverings Mandatory Amid Coronavirus
• San Diego Residents Urged To 'Stay The Course' Following Protests

City News Service and Patch editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report.