Zoup!—a leading fast-casual soup concept restaurant with award-winning soups and made-to-order salads and sandwiches—got its start in 1998 with a single restaurant in Southfield, Michigan. On Thursday, the flagship Zoup! will welcome a second location to Southfield, marking yet another momentous milestone—the opening of its 100th restaurant.
The new restaurant is located at 25254 Evergreen Road, in Southfield’s City Centre II complex. This will be the 8th Zoup! in the greater Detroit area and the 17th in Michigan.
“I’m truly honored to open the 100th Zoup! in the system and equally as thrilled to introduce our beautiful new restaurant to the Southfield community,” says franchisee Tonisha Bryant, who owns the new restaurant along with her husband, Vincent. “Zoup! is an absolutely wonderful and unique restaurant concept, with award-winning recipes. We know Southfield residents love Zoup! and thought they deserved to have more than one option for getting their award-winning soup, salad and sandwiches.”
During its first week of business, all customers of the newest Zoup! will have the chance to win Free Soup for a Year. There will be a drawing that day in which ten lucky guests will receive 12 free bowls of soup (one per month for a year). To continue the opening day fun, the first 200 customers will receive a reusable canvas bag.
One day prior to its official grand opening, on March 15, Southfield’s new Zoup! will host a fundraiser between 5 and 8 p.m. benefiting the Southfield Police Department. For a $5 donation, guests will enjoy a bowl of their favorite soup, a big hunk of fresh-baked bread and a small fountain drink, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting the organization.
“Every new Zoup! opening is special, but this one is a little different,” says Eric Ersher, Zoup! founder and CEO. “When we first created Zoup! 18 years ago, after discovering that really good soup was hard to find, we knew we were onto something. As we approach the opening of our 100th restaurant, I’m reminded of how far we’ve come to enjoy this milestone right here in our backyard. And I know for certain that none of this would have been possible without the entire Zoup! team that has worked tirelessly every day to bring really good soup—and the intangible qualities of comfort, warmth and well-being often associated with soup—to our guests all across the country. While we’re so proud of the quality of our soup, the authenticity of our culture and our business model, in the end it’s our team and franchise partners who have brought us to this exciting moment in our history.”
Zoup! features hundreds of award-winning soup recipes with 12 rotating daily varieties, including soups that are low fat, low calorie, made with gluten-free ingredients, vegetarian and dairy free, all served with a hunk of freshly baked bread. Customer favorites include Chicken Potpie, Lobster Bisque and Vegetarian Split Pea. The menu also features made-to-order salads and sandwiches, and all menu items are available in convenient catering sizes for groups of 10 or more.
To help customers select from the daily soups, sampling is encouraged. And, for those looking to save time, a daily soup menu and online ordering are available. Customers also can sign up at zoup.com to receive a daily email menu.
Zoup! currently has 96 franchised and three company-owned restaurants in 19 states/provinces throughout the United States and Canada.
The new 1,800 square foot restaurant in Southfield will employ 17 team members and will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
