Souplantation

I love this place
Carbo loader galore with delicious soups like duck lip and chicken feet broth that make me feel at home in South Georgia.
Don’t forget the chiltlins.

The Encinitas Souplantation is a favorite!
It is clean, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the food is fresh and beautifully displayed.
The new manager is regularly checking in with guests and seems to be sincerely interested in making sure that we are enjoying our meals.
Even though we know that Souplantation is a self-​serve restaurant, she has offered to bring us drink refills!
Great service!
We have taken out-​of-​town guests here and they requested a return visit. .. no Souplantation in their hometown!
Although the Encinitas location is smaller than other locations, it is highly recommended.
It never disappoints!

Got to love their chicken noodle soup, where the chicken is virtually non existent, and the ‘hearty’ chili, which is watery and hardly contains any ground beef. The focaccias and pastas are about as good as you will get in a crappy elementary school cafeteria.

I made my first visit back to the store (sat night) in a few years after moving and was impressed with the changes. The salad bar with the single inserts instead of the multiple bins and the overall salad bar selection was a thumbs up. Plates had moisture though and I picked some dish washed food from it as well. Lines moved quick and cashiers were friendly. The soup bar and bakery where on point. The tall gentleman working the ovens was knowledgable and helpful and the entire bar was stocked sufficiently enough to keep up with demand but not for food to get «old» or dry. The ginger broth was so good as well. Not much change to the desert bar but it doesn’t need to be tinkered with in my opinion. Our plates and bowls were never cleared during our whole visit but Overall happy with the food and overall cleanliness of the restaurant.

This particular Souplantation is always clean, well stocked, and fresh. The vacant tables are always clean and the employees offer help beyond what you’d expect.
On my last visit, Alyssa stood-​out to me as a model employee. She was engaging and friendly. Her attitude was reflective of what you’d hope to experience when you go somewhere «fun» to eat.
I took a minute to compliment Alyssa to the restaurant manager, Mahee, who was as upbeat and affable as Alyssa had been.
The positive attitude and great customer service always start with the person leading the team and Mahee clearly gets it.
Great work!

There are two positives I have for this place: price and cleanliness. I get that it is a buffet and that makes it more interesting to try different things. I get too that their breads are homemade and soups from scratch. However, the quality is so bad that you really have to ask yourself is this how you want to consume 900 calories? The soup lacked luster and tasted equally the same out of the can. The «pizza» was more like thick focaccia bread with a thin piece of cheese. Very bland tasting. Even my two little kids couldn’t stomach the Mac n cheese and one opted to not touch dessert.

The staff here is always friendly! Tonight, they had a special curry lobster bisque, and they were passing out samples to promote it. A member of the crew stopped by with a sample and asked us if we would like to play a game for a free meal. The game was to memorize the 16 ingredients of the bisque and recite them a few minutes later. Success! We got one free meal. Super fun and entertaining.
My fav salad is the wonton happiness salad and they always have it. yum!
Blueberry muffins are always fresh and warm!
Always leave stuffed and happy.
Thanks soup plantation :)

My fiancé is 35 weeks pregnant and is doing a tremendous job eating healthy. She decided she’d like a splurge buffet meal and we opted for Souplantation so that at least the food was freshly prepared with less preservatives and such.
It was our first time here and our immediate reaction was this place is big, wide open and clean! There were a lot of families which was good to note to bring our future little guy.
The food was good and didn’t taste buffet-​ish. The salads were fresh (make your own if you want less dressing). The citrus salad with Clementines and cashews was great and the lady really enjoyed the Caesar. The highlight for me was the clam chowder WITH BACON! I mean, it was San Francisco Fisherman’s Warf level, but pretty close and had BACON! The breads are all delicious and we liked the Rosemary creamy potato soup as well.
But the main reason this place gets a full 5 stars is the staff. I’ve never experienced a chain restaurant where all of the staff seemed to legitimately enjoy working there and providing a good experience. The guys behind the soup counter smiled as they wiped up drips of soup people left behind after filling their bowl. The people refilling the soup bowls and side dishes smiled as I walked past them with a tray full of tasty grub. The young man picking up the used dishes from our table was courteous and in a joyful mood. I don’t know if we just caught the A staff or what, but I actively sought out the manager (Gina Marron) to let her know how impressed I was by the entire staff. She was a sweet lady, gracious in accepting the compliment and thanked us for our patronage.
I’m not one of those tough to please foodie types, but I’ve never been blown away by a dining experience where there isn’t a $ 90 fillet on the menu. Guess there’s a first for everything and can’t wait to come back.

In the beginning where you get your salad was good. when I went to go get some soup the employee took my spoon out of my hands to stir other soups. RUDE! The soup was cold and other food taster burnt.

I live in Carmel Valley and frequently visit the location near my home but my boyfriend and I ended up hungry in Encinitas and decided to give this one a try. The set up is different and it seems that the Encinitas location is a bit smaller than the Carmel Valley one. We ate during the post-​lunch, pre-​dinner time though so we had no trouble finding a seat.
The salad bar is fully stocked with practically everything you could ever want to put on a salad. I’m obsessed with Souplantation’s ranch dressing and wish I could buy a jug of it to keep at home. It’s really that good!
I know some people love their soups but I’ve never been a big fan. The chicken noodle soup is far too watery for my taste and I love clam chowder but don’t eat bacon. I’ve liked a few of the rotational soups, like the ginger broth and a cheese tortellini, but sadly I can’t count on those to always be there.
I did like the seasonal chocolate chip muffin though and it would be great if they’d make that a permanent item.

I had dinner there with my husband tonight and noticed that the signs above the seat where I was sitting had some cobwebs dangling over my head. So I knocked a star off for that. But the food was still delicious like it always is. So why one star you ask? Let me tell you the story…
After being so very careful with what I was eating… only vegetables, no trips to the soup bar. No trips to the bread bar. No trips to the muffin bar. No trips to anywhere except the actual salad bar… with some balsamic dressing and the tiniest bit of prepared salads, my calorie tracker said that I had a few calories left.
So I went to the dessert station and saw tapioca pudding with a sign that said 25 calories per ½ cup. Wow! I thought, it must be sugar free, or full of chemicals, but so what? I deserve some dessert after eating so carefully! And since it’s only 25 calories I might as well get a full cup of the stuff, and splurge for 50 calories! Yum it was delicious too!
I get home and needed to look up those prepared salads that I had eaten about ½ cup of, and decided to go ahead and check some other calories too, including the tapioca pudding. Well, what do you know? It’s not 25 calories per half cup. It’s not 50 calories per half cup. It’s not 100 calories per half cup. It’s a whopping 140 calories per half cup. So I’ve eaten 280 calories when you promised me I only ate 50! And before you start telling me that I was looking at the wrong one, that I got mixed up because this was sugar free or dairy free, or whatever free, no. There is only one tapioca pudding on the Souplantation website.
Shame on you Souplantation! Why would you lie to me like that?

My husband and I frequent this location often. The staff is always friendly and the restaurant is always cleanly! We are particularly impressed with the dinner staff and the manager Raul! Raul has always been very personable and accommodating! We have a 4 month old baby and in the past 4 months we have found it convenient to go the «Souplantation route». Raul always notices when we have our hands full among many other things. We are so happy to feel that we have such a «family feeling» sort of restaurant down the street! What a convenience! I have been to many Souplantations in San Diego county but the staff in encinitas really makes this one stand out! Of course the food is always yummy and interesting with the monthly theme. 10 stars if I could!!! Thank you Encinitas!!! See you soon! :))

New to this store, usually go to the one by the 78 freeway.
Pros: great looking produce, very fresh. Constantly being stocked. everything being made fresh is a surprise, I don’t even do that at home.
Clean restaurant, staff speaks clear English which is not so common these days.
CIENNA is the definition of customer service. Helping anyone with their tray and finding them a table with a smile. She should be commended for her work ethic.
Cons:
Asked manager a question on what kind of tuna they used, She walked by my table 5 more times even said he was going to check, never did. Actually kind looks like she hates her job.

I didn’t mind this small location. I am used to going to the one closer to me in CV. They had most everything, very clean and not loud like the CV one. Hot teas, sodas, frozen yogurts, all the soups and muffins, pizza, mac n cheese. I didn’t see anything missing. Lots of parking in the lot. Fresh salads and very friendly staff. Not someplace I’d go for a date but for a lunch with a friend is cool, especially if you are feeling like a healthy option and aren’t sure what you want. I do this at Whole Foods too but I must say, this is a lot less expensive!

This location is one of the few that we prefer to go to in the county. We come here at least once a month.
When we came in tonight I wanted to use a coupon that was issued for my birthday. Due to technical problems we weren’t able to use this coupon but when I approached the manager with this problem I was treated in a very courteous manner and with respect.
I was comped for my meal and my party received one of my regular discounts. This kind of customer appreciation is rare.
For the menu, i love their salads and ever new dressings. The soups are delicious. I also appreciate that they serve a sugar free dessert.
And if one comes in for an early dinner one can avoid the loud kids.

I love Souplantation, it’s awesome. This location tends to get a bit busy, but they handle it very well. Their staff is al aye on point and their smiling faces always make you want to return. They actually just opened their back room at this location, which made it available for large parties or overflow seating. The food is always stocked well and fresh. Love the assortment of teas here. :-)

Used to love this place and hadn’t visited in several months. No more ice cream sundae bar. Only tiny mint cone and sprinkles. Smaller salad plates. Less toppings for salad. Less staff to remove used plates. Less choice. Mostly all vegetarian. So disappointed.

Cafeteria environment and with dozens of kids. Friendly employees, just not enough to keep up with demand.
Apparently if you have kids wanna sit down to eat and let them eat out of the serving display, instead of their plates at the table then this is the place to be.
Please let me know if this review was useful, funny or cool. Thank You so much

Frankly, we were to hungry to go to the grocery store! So I did what any #supermom would, grabbed my new cookbook «bonne femme french cookbook» and a tray and piled high a salad for a meal planning session. Souplantation never disappoints, it’s clean and if you skip the soft serve it’s low cal but who does that, right! ?!
There’s always a coupon so why not?

I love Souplantation. It’s quick and easy and one of the only buffets you won’t feel guilty about eating afterwards.
My kids love it and all of them can find something they like no matter how picky they are.
I like that they’re adding more variety into the mix. A couple of months ago they had a coconut & lemon gluten free muffin that was really yummy-​I hope they bring those back soon!
I tend to come every couple of weeks when I get a coupon because it’s such a great deal that I can’t pass it up.