“Sweet Tomatoes / Souplantation 2020 (all 97 locations) Ultimate unlimited salad-bar buffet chain; self-serve model already felt dated pre-COVID, then became impossible during the pandemic. Liquidated, never reopened.”
They were very good n fresh salads. Always had chicken noodle soup with lots chicken in it. So i got my protein fill that way. The were stressing out pre-C19 panic, and used C19 as an excuse to close, I assume under optimum favorable terms.
They should have waited 14 months when most places were re-opening. There was all kinds of FedGuv loans n forgiven loans to tide them over to survive. And pay their employees whom I saw for years there.
We had a “Fresh Choice” place near us that specialized in salads. I thought it was really good. But that failed.
Restaurants must be the hardest of all industries! Huge competition, fickle customers, changing tastes and trends, lots of external forces you can’t control, horrible labor market with high turnover.