I Loved Souplantation and I’m Not Embarrassed to Admit It
Mourning the loss of an adored California buffet
The last time I had a chance to go to Souplantation, a popular chain of soup-and-salad buffet restaurants on the West Coast and in the South, was in February.
For the whole week I visited my mother in Southern California, we dined out daily, eating everything from sushi to gyros to pho. But something held us back from Souplantation: the nagging feeling that maybe it wasn’t safe. Southern California had only one confirmed case of the disease that had yet to be designated a pandemic, but the idea of a self-service buffet seemed a little risky, even if the possibility of catching COVID-19 in early February seemed remote.
So, three months later, in early May, I was not surprised to find out that all 97 locations of Souplantation were closing for good. My best childhood friend Judy, who still lives in California, texted me with the news. She knew how much I loved the restaurant. It was part of our upbringing. Two surfers in San Diego, where I grew up, started the restaurant in 1978, the year after I was born. I can’t recall the first time I visited the restaurant, but from the time I was in junior high, it was my family’s default meal out.
