san diego california usa number of locations 104 2016 area served mainly western united states parent garden fresh restaurant corporation & sun capital partners inc. website www.sweettomatoes.com souplantation store front souplantation is a united states based chain of all you can eat buffet style restaurants . the first souplantation opened in 1978 in san diego california where the company is headquartered . the company was incorporated as garden fresh corp. in 1983 . the company went public in 1995 1 but was taken private in 2004 . 2 outside of southern california souplantation operates under the name sweet tomatoes . the company is owned by garden fresh restaurant corporation . 3 contents 1 history 2 format 3 in mass media 4 bankruptcy 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the first souplantation restaurant opened on mission gorge road in san diego in 1978 . it was the idea of dennis jay who was a bartender at the bull & bear in el cajon . he had a dream and talked with two friends of his . one was an attorney and the other a bail bondsman . 4 this restaurant and a second one were purchased in 1983 by garden fresh restaurant corp. founded by michael mack to operate the chain . the company has expanded across the west and southwest and has locations in several southeast states including 28 restaurants in florida . they also have stores in illinois missouri kansas colorado and utah . 5 all restaurants are company owned . 6 in 2005 an affiliate of the private investment firm sun capital partners purchased garden fresh and with it the restaurant chains . 7 as of 2012 update the company had 112 restaurants in 15 states and claims to have served 300 million guests since 1978 . 6 in 2016 some souplantation restaurants filed for bankruptcy causing many locations to close . format edit this section contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . july 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message souplantation and sweet tomatoes restaurants specialize in fresh salads and soups offering a large salad bar homestyle soup pasta as well as bread muffins and pizza baked on the premises . they are open for lunch and dinner . the salad bar includes a wide variety of vegetables fruits nuts croutons and other salad condiments as well as a few prepared featured salads which change monthly . other sections include up to eight soup selections a small bakery offering muffins and pizza foccacia a pasta section with a few different pasta and sauces and a dessert section offering fruit puddings and soft serve ice cream . featured menu items are rotated monthly often along a theme while the standard offering remain unchanged . themes named according to the type of food being served include asian greek italian and customer favorites . the company s home city of san diego often serves a test market for trying new ideas and innovations and is home to souplantation s corporate offices . for example some souplantation and sweet tomatoes locations are open sunday mornings for breakfast . in 2011 the company launched its first quick serve restaurant called souplantation express in carlsbad california . 8 in mass media edit in 2007 a souplantation restaurant in orange county california was linked to an outbreak of e. coli . 9 10 the restaurant closed temporarily while authorities investigated the outbreak . 11 bankruptcy edit in october 2016 garden fresh restaurant corp the owner operator of souplantation and sweet tomatoes filed chapter 11 bankruptcy . garden fresh is nearly 175 million in debt . 12 current plans may close 30 of the approximately 100 restaurants . see also edit fresh choice sizzler souper salad restaurant chains references edit souplantation is putting stock in a piping hot future los angeles times may 29 1995 garden fresh completes move to private ownership san diego union tribune march 11 2004 company overview of garden fresh restaurant corp. . bloomberg businessweek . company website 2008 11 10 . soup plantation . our company . retrieved 2008 11 10 . soup plantation map of locations 2008 11 10 . map map check url value help . our company . retrieved 2008 11 10 . a b company website 2008 11 10 . soup plantation . our company . retrieved 2012 03 16 . investors buy sweet tomatoes souplantation . south florida business journal . 2005 10 21 . retrieved 10 march 2012 . souplantation express celebrates 1 year souplantation blog january 13 2012 e. coli outbreak linked to oc restaurant abc money april 3 2007 o.c. closes restaurant tied to e. coli cases los angeles times april 8 2007 two more e. coli cases reported in orange county san diego 10 news april 8 2007 garden fresh restaurant corp files for bankruptcy . wall street journal . october 2016 . retrieved 5 october 2016 . external links edit official site v t e sun capital partners portfolio as of august 10 2013 retail catalog and direct marketing hickory farms department stores shopko grocery & convenience marsh supermarkets specialty and apparel bonmarch dreams gordmans jacques vert the limited sharps bedrooms restaurants boston market friendly s johnny rockets smokey bones souplantation consumer products apparel american rec kelty kellwood company general kraco loud technologies food and beverage creekstone farms premium beef industrial coveris advanced coatings retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title souplantation & oldid 743675298 categories private equity portfolio companiesbuffet restaurantsrestaurants established in 1978companies based in san diegorestaurants in san diego county californiaprivately held companies based in californiarestaurant chains in the united statesregional restaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants in floridahidden categories pages with url errorspages using infobox company with unsupported 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