Kaye Brazier regularly ordered the tomato bisque at Zoup! before deciding to open her own franchise.
The grand opening of the new Talmadge Town Center location is planned for October. Brazier, a Toledo native, has been training in Detroit to open her first business after working 32 years in construction.
“The soup sells itself,” Brazier said.
Featuring a different 12 soups daily, customer favorites include Chicken Pot Pie and Lobster Bisque. Zoup! has 110 recipes total, Brazier said.
“You can come every day of the week and try something new,” Brazier said.
Sizes range from 8 ounce cups and 12 ounce bowls, on average costing six to nine dollars. There is an extra-large option, Brazier said, which is 24 ounces.
Zoup! is perfect for short lunch breaks, Brazier said, but does not limit to such. The wide range of soups takes many diets into account. Zoup! offers options that are low-fat (chicken noodle,) dairy-free (sesame noodle bowl,) vegetarian (tomato bisque and spicy Italian vegetable) and gluten-free (Zesty 3-Pepper.)
“[Zoup!] is conscious of recipes for people who are conscious of their diet,” Brazier said.
Zoup! also will introduce new soups to spice up the seasons, such as this summer’s gazpacho, a vegetable soup served cold. The fall season will feature new soups, including the Sicilian Pizza Soup, which has pepperoni, mushrooms, carrots, black olives and is topped with mozzarella cheese.
“[At Zoup!] soup is more of a meal rather than an appetizer,” said Paul Gilis, who opened the Dussel Drive location seven years ago. “We work hard not to make bad ones. They don’t sell.”
Gilis said his favorite soup changes depending on the day, but one of his favorites is the Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. He said the soup is flavorful and unique to Zoup!
Customers receive French, multi-grain or sourdough bread with their soups, Brazier said. The menu also features salads, sandwiches and desserts daily. Combination meals are available for customers to pair a soup with a salad or sandwich, any way of their choosing.
Other services Zoup! offers are catering for events and the “double-up” option, allowing customers to choose two different soups.
Zoup! also recently started making their low-calorie, low-sodium chicken broth available to customers for purchase in glass jars.
The soup isn’t all Brazier returns to Zoup! for. The customer service is welcoming, she said.
“The customer service is genuine,” Brazier said. “It’s a culture like no other. It’s a great concept for Toledo.”
As part of the guest service Zoup! strives for, customers are encouraged to try soups at the counter before purchasing, Gilis said. That is an act Brazier took advantage of.
“I was able to try things I never would’ve ordered,” Brazier said, one of them being the Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque.
Brazier also said Zoup! is a “fast, casual dining” experience, rather than fast food. The Toledo location will only differ in size from the Maumee store, Brazier said. The layout of the restaurant will be the same.
Zoup! is branching out from its current 50 stores, according to a press release.
“We look forward to growing our brand and feeding the local appetite with one-of-a-kind soup creations consumers love, but wouldn’t make at home,” Founder and Managing Partner Eric Ersher said in a press release. “In good times and bad, soup carries powerful and intangible qualities that provide comfort and promote a genuine sense of well-being for many people.”
Also in the press release, he promised Zoup! has a commitment to “uncompromisingly high standards” guaranteeing “authenticity and quality of every pot, bowl and cup served.”
“It’s a higher quality product as far as soup,” Gilis said. “Everything is from scratch.”
It was the selection of soups and the customer service that encouraged Brazier to open her own store.
“I wouldn’t have thought of opening another franchise other than Zoup!” Brazier said.
