Souplantation

My wife and I have been going to the Fountain Valley Souplantation for a few years now and the last few months they are not doing very well anymore. I don’t know what happened to them. The tray glide where you push the tray to get your salad selections was very dirty with food all over it. Then when we got up to the place to get our silverware there was no silverware and had to wait for them to get more. Then we had to come back to get soup-​spoons as they were all out of them too. They wouldn’t wait on us so I had to wait a long time just to get the spoons. Then when we went to find a table there were not very many tables that were clean. Half of the tables had dirty dishes on them and only one person was cleaning tables that I could see. The table we sat at had bits of food on the table and I had to clean that off. Then we ask for a manager to come over so we could tell them how bad everything was and that took 5 minutes for the manager to come. To me it looks like no one wants to work there. It’s a good thing I’m not the owner of this place as there would be a few people losing their jobs, manager too. Not too happy with this Souplantation anymore it was a nice place.

The cashier today was SUPER enthusiastic and cool. It made my day. Will be coming back cus of him but I forgot his name… Hopefully he’ll stick around cus I love seeing such positive vibes and such great enthusiasm.

We’d never been here before and didn’t know how it works (still don’t). My wife doesn’t speak English and despite having many Spanish-​speakers working right there at the buffet who heard us asking in Spanish, they just plain would not help us.
Finally I asked in English and the woman shrugs her shoulders and sends over somebody else, who gives us a four word, cryptic explanation of what to do and runs off before we could ask how the kids menu works for our kids.
We just looked at each other and walked out, nobody even noticed or cared that left.
ZERO desire to help new customers. Can’t comment on how the food is BECAUSE WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO EAT!!!

We like to come around 3:30 or so and pay lunch price and at 4 they add hard boiled eggs that we like. It’s a great place to come if you have a lot of time. I eat really slowly, and I can have one plate of salad, a baked potato and some soup (chicken in chicken noodle soup is good on potato with cheese from salad bar). A little frozen yogurt at the end and it’s a nice meal for $ 8 or $ 9 with coupons from the veggie club.

I have been to Souplantation every week for a year. I feel the service is getting worse. Also, the trays are always wet and the plates are dirty. Sometimes, some dishes are empty. If they improve, I will give 5 stars soon.

Had a lunch date here on a weekdays was really busy and wasn’t impressed with the food. The salad seemed old and wilted. The belt to get your food was covered with spilled food so you had to watch where you put your tray. Not much to choose from for your children. Soups and bread were good. Overall ok but not great.

Was here tonight. The place was packed. Food was good as always. Staff was friendly and hard working. Manager Arnold was nice, helpful and friendly. Will continue coming here.

We used to really love this place, but the last few times we’ve come here, we’ve been disappointed. Both salad bar lines feed into one register where there is only one cashier. She is scrambling trying to help everyone as the line builds and has customers waiting. Many of the food options were empty, for a while. We returned several times to see if they had been replenished, and they hadn’t. They employees behind the food counters we just standing there, almost like they had been instructed to to replenish food. However, the food options that were available, we mostly fresh.

Omn Omn Omn Omn! This place is my family restaurant; we always go here for family dinners!
I personally do enjoy dining here not only because I am a vegetarian, but also there is a nice little salad bar coming into the restaurant. Now, the ambiance here is really lively and informal. The staff members are extremely considerate; they helped me immediately whenever I had problem, and they are all hard workers, bustling around to make sure that all tables are clean so that all customers may be seated.
The restroom is really clean as well, so I have no problem with that at all.
Now, to the food! People usually pair the terms «salad, vegetarian» with the word «healthy.» I think that all restaurants try to sell their «health» card, but whether or not the options are healthy, it really depends on you and what you decide to eat, and this restaurant isn’t any different. However, souplantation is doing its part by limiting its options to «healthier» alternatives, such as baked potatoes instead of straight up french fries. It also limits your size portions by having smaller soup bowls so that if you are actually wanting more, you may come and get a second serving as opposed to wasting food.
As for what the food taste like? I love the salads that I throw together; it fits my taste buds just fine, and I love the blueberry muffin! It’s extremely delicious! Oh, and lastly, their strawberry lemonade/​lemonade is really really good as well :)
Happy eating! Remember that you decide what you put in your body, and lastly, it’s a buffet, so you do have the option to customize your salads to your liking :)

My first experience here was really great. We told them it was our first time and the manager even gave every person in my table a bag of cookies. I usually come here when I want to eat healthier. I signed up for their coupons, so they send me coupon like once a week. My favorite salad is the wonton salad and I always get seconds! The best soup are the clam chowder or the chicken pot pie stew. I wish they served the chicken pot pie stew more often, but it is only served in November and special days. This restaurant does not really have meat in anything besides the soup. It is perfect for vegetarians and vegetable lovers. I think the price is so cheap and worth it. My experience here is always good and the service is great!

Last time I went to a Souplantion was about 13 years ago, so it’s been a while. One thing I can say for sure is — I will never EVER be back! This was a really bad experience!
I went here for lunch on Monday. There were 3 pre-​made salads to choose from and the rest was build your own. Years ago I remember there being about 10 different pre-​made salads and they actually had chicken and meat in them, something I’ll get to later. Furthermore, the toppings were plentiful, but no hard boiled eggs? No blue cheese chunks? I’m sure there are several other things that were not available, I just can’t think of them right off the top of my head.
As for non-​salad options, it was very slim pickins. They had two types of focaccia bread with a little cheese on them, a baked potato, an apple, orange wedges, seven different soups, a few muffins/​bread and five different pasta choices (other than the plain stuff you could add to your green salads). AND THAT’S IT! That’s all you get! This was 11.00 for lunch by the way.
Pasta available:
Tarragon Tuna Shells — which had absolutely NO tuna in it that I could see.
Shrimp and Shells — had one itty bitty tiny shrimp that I had to really search for.
Fettuccine penne — tasted extremely bland. I had two bites and didn’t eat the rest.
Mac & Cheese — looked so nasty like the powdered kind in the box. The cheese was super runny.
Spaghetti — Might have been meat sauce, but it was so thinned out, there was not very much meat, or sauce for that matter.
Soups: (I tried four of the seven)
Loaded potato — really good.
French onion — really good, but no sliced cheese for the top.
Broccoli cheese — tasted burnt and metallic. Awful!
Chili — tasted like tomato soup with beans. And I didn’t see any meat in it. Awful!
WHERE IS THE MEAT??? Why don’t these people offer any meat? I don’t get it! Obviously, they are trying to save money, but at the price of losing customers? That’s not going to work. They will lose money in the end.
Horrible Horrible Horrible Experience. I will never eat here again and will tell anyone I talk to do the same!
The one star is for the two soups that were decent, otherwise I would rate 0 stars!

I love it here! I can get stuffed without feeling guilty. It’s a great place for the adults & kids. Every month is a theme for different types of food. I gave this review 4 stars due to service & seating. Hardly any seating & it’s so packed, the buffet area are messy. Breads are scattered, soup are left with broth only, & utensils have food spots. Other then having to search for clean utensils, I enjoy going to souplantation for lunch & dinner as long as I have coupons for every visit.

Needed to spit out a whole food label cooked with the tomato soup. I thought it was a piece of uncooked tomato skin at first and good thing that I didn’t swallow it; however, all the chemicals and color dyes were dissolved in the soup and in my system. Sorry won’t be back to this place ever. Also, there was no waiter/​waitress came to pick up dishes from our table… not a greeting or acknowledgement

Husband and I just went here for dinner… Salads on low… with the guy making a fresh batch of the one salad that didn’t need refilling… Plenty of open tables but we’re all dirty with a bunch of cups and plates still all over them… No longer have hard boiled egg available… The bathrooms looked unattended to as well as lazily stocked.

Nom nom nom… People usually say you’re eating healthy when you come here but ummmm… I don’t really think so it’s just as bad as any other buffet in my opinion. Still stuffing my face with food lol Yea and my food choices here are horrible.
Their salads are ok. Tastes like any other salad drenched in dressing. It’s just extra special because of all the yummy add ons you can possibly stack on your plate. Their soups are pretty good. Must try the clam chowder (add bacon), chicken noodle (add green onions), and chili (add onions and cheese). Mmmm. Also, dont forget to grab a baked potatoe and load it up with sour cream, butter, bacon bits, and cheesseee… (i know, that does not sound healthy at all.) if you want a chili cheese potatoe they have all the ingredients for u to make too. Their corn bread and muffins are tasty too! And last but not least have some ice cream… vanilla and chocolate swirls. Their cones are soo cute and tiny I could probably eat five of them haha buuut… I wont. No more room in my tummy. lol
Enjoy your «healthy» eating! Haha food coma up ahead!

I really like Souplantation but the other night my wife and I came and had dinner here and its was normally busy, nothing crazy we get in line get take the salad we want, then pay. You know that standard protocol. Then there’s this big sign i just posted a picture of that says Please Seat Yourself. As like any other time that’s exactly what you do. Well my wife and I go to find a table and one of the staff members is like you can’t sit here because there is a line to be seated.
I said what line basically you have both sides of the salad bar converging into the register area and everyone is pooling up because people are waiting to be seated. There was no order it was total chaos, people everywhere, people cutting in line, people being seated before us. I was like WTF. There was alt least 15 people waiting around and No joke i ate 80% of my salad at the register because i was waiting to sit down. It was awful. This place needs to work on the system because it’s very confusing and if its not seat yourself then take that sign down.
Overall i don’t really enjoy standing and eating but we finally got to sit down.
Not impressed and i don’t think i will be back anytime soon.

I came here to eat on New years because everything else was so crowded. I love souplantation because of unlimited soup and salad option. This particular location seems less sanitary. Most of the tables were filled with trays and dirty plates. We had to move dirty plates aside for a free table. The silverware and bowls for soup had food chunks on them, and we had to sift through them for clean ones. Out of all the soups i tried, only the piped vegetable soup was palatable. The clam chowder and chicken noodle, which are my two favorite, lacked in ingredients and taste. There were no baked potatoes. The only good part was the salad bar here. All the items were fresh. Unfortunately, i won’t be back here.

Best place to come and make a huge salad and not feel guilty. They have so many ingredients and pastas.
Place is very clean.
Love their soup bar they have about 7 different kinds. Also for you bread lovers there a bread bar.

NEVER pay full price people! Go online and find a coupon (there is ALWAYS one available) or sign up for their newsletter! This place can get pretty packed during dinner time, so try to come before peak hours… unless you don’t mind bumping into everybody.
I love the salads (esp. Asian Wonton ftw) and mac and cheese here. Their other pastas are alriiiight. good to try… once. The soups never look appealing to me; plus, they don’t taste THAT great either. Especially the chicken noodle soup. that never has chicken because someone *ahem* always scoops it all and leaves only the noodles and broth. But hey, you be the judge of your own soups! The baked potato is good with toppings (of course). While, the cheese or bbq pizzas are only good if you get the middle part (soft area with no crust). My favorite are the muffins; blueberry and chia seeds flavors are the best. Cornbread is hit or miss and you can’t go wrong with soft serve ice cream or tapioca «pudding». But, Jello is jello.
Their teas are a must try too! Passion fruit & mango or blackberry flavors are BOMB! If you’re not a fan of tea, then try the strawberry lemonade or acai fountain drinks.
Don’t forget to always clean your plates and utensils! Enjoy ~

I often come to this location since it’s near home. This place is great if you are «starving» but don’t like the feeling of feeling so guilty for eating a buffet, lol.
I love meat, meat, and more meat! However, souplantation has really changed my perspective. I love the salad bar, the fact that I can create the perfect plate myself. Although they have a few salads and other signature items, I still like to create my own.
Yes, they have numerous amount of soup selections (about 8?), pizzas (cheese, BBQ CHICKEN is new, etc), and loads of carbs for the dessert (corn bread, blueberry muffin). Salad is still my favorite.
Tip– I’ve noticed that since it has been getting extremely pack, the plates, cups, utensils appears to not be as clean as when I was going before. Always double check. Rinse things again just to be sure.
All in all, I’m extremely full but NO guilt here :) «healthy food» lol
Tip/​sign up for there e-​mail list to get coupons such as $ 10.99 for dinner w/​beverage, or $ 7.99÷8.99 lunch w/​beverage!