Dive Brief:
- Souplantation sister brand Sweet Tomatoes is planning to return to California with a new location expected to open in Fountain Valley, the company said on an Instagram post Wednesday.
- Media reports estimate that the restaurant will open in 2027.
- Garden Fresh Restaurants, the former owner of Sweet Tomatoes and Souplantation, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and closed its 97 restaurants after losing over $1 million per week amid dining room closures.
Dive Insight:
Sweet Tomatoes has been slowly coming back since 2024, and California has long been on the company’s radar, Marlee Lossing, director of corporate affairs at Sweet Tomatoes, wrote in an email to Restaurant Dive.
The company wants to make sure that each location will be successful so it has been very discerning with site selection, Lossing said. The location in Fountain Valley cropped up and the company determined that site was ideal.
The company currently has two Sweet Tomatoes locations, one in Tucson, Arizona, and another in Fort Myers, Florida, according to its website…