Zoup!

There was a time during my first stint living in the D where Zoup was the default lunch place. When my art director and I would walk in the door, it was always a toss-​up which of the soups we’d order because they all looked so good. Maybe I just need to trade in my Jetta for a time-​traveling DeLorean to head back to that place, as the current model of Zoup! looks nothing at all like it was in the past. On the positive side, the sandwich and salad selection has been greatly expanded. But on the negative side, the quality of the soup has gone greatly downhill. When I was standing in line trying to figure out what to order, the lentil soup looked thick and like it had been sitting out for days. I was more in the mood for a brothy kind of soup, as I was there trying to fight off a summer cold. But nearly every soup on the menu had «bisque» after the main ingredient, and really was there a need for both a crab and a lobster bisque? In the end, I only had one choice: the turkey chili. And something was lost in the flavor translation from my memory of it, as it wasn’t nearly as flavorful.
It’s not uncommon for local chain places to jump the shark at some point. Sadly, it seems like Zoup has already donned the leather jacket and waterskis, taking the plunge into oblivion.

I used to go to the Zoup down the street from this one and received wonderful service. However, this location is just the opposite. They are incompetent and whenever you ask for a sample they just give you a blank stare. On one occasion I ordered a salad and instead of making the salad and simply handing it to me, they put it on top of the bread warmer. Awesome, let’s just put the salad in the plastic bowl on top of a hot bread warmer… sounds like a good idea. Every time I go here it’s the same old story…

I have been to this Zoup location a few times, and every time I receive lousy service. While at the register, I informed the cashier that I would like my order «to go» …the young man prepping the food then gave me my order on a tray. When I told him that I had ordered it to go, he gave me a blank stare and said «well, it’s going to be messy then» as he proceeded to dump my soup in a cup, overflowing on the sides. Every worker appears less than thrilled to service their customers, and whenever I go back to give them another chance, it’s the same old thing.

I wanted to love this place because I L-​O-​V-​E soups. And on a chilly fall day, what sounds better? Okay, so we were warm and cozy at the mall, but still – it sounded good. The selection of soups was impressive, and the salads and sandwiches sounded tasty as well, so I opted for the «Buy 2» deal which gave me my two choices of a cup of soup, a small salad, and/​or half a sandwich.
Soup samples are free, so I could have tested a bunch of them before deciding, but I honestly didn’t want to ask for 12 tastes, LOL, so I asked what soup was the most popular and was told the Chicken Pot Pie. I opted for the Macaroni & Cheese soup, because it sounded yummy. I then chose the Grilled Cheese sandwich. Hubby got the Chicken Pot Pie soup and the Tuscan Chicken sandwich. We both opted to upsize to from a side to cup of soup (8oz vs. 12oz) for an extra 99c.
The taste results for soup? Unfortunately, only meh to okay.
My soup tasted like macaroni and cheese… except the cheap variety with that somewhat «off» taste to it. And the noodles were SO overcooked they barely had any consistency at all (I was able to give them to my 8-​month old!). It was warm and cheesy, but overall disappointing. Hubby’s was better, and benefited from some type of «crust sprinkle» they put on the top. But neither were all that exciting – and definitely not worth the price. I had better soup at Panera.
The taste results for the sandwich? Much more unfortunately, meh to bad. My grilled cheese was pathetic. It reminded me of the grilled cheese of my youth, where you got one slice of barely melted processed orange cheese between two slices of bread, except this was two huge/​thick ciabatta slices so it was like eating dry grilled bread with a hint of some tasteless half-​melted cheese. I can make a 100% better-​tasting sandwich with my Aunt Millie bread slices and Velveeta. Hubby’s Tuscan Chicken had more flavor (due to the pesto) so his was on the meh end of the scale but still definitely nothing to write home about.
The only really good thing about this visit was that now I can cross it off my list and I never need to go back.