Café Zupas — Restaurant in Maple Grove

I went to this location a couple days ago for the first time. When I got to the front of the line where you ordered your salads and sandwiches, a lady in a red Zupas uniform failed to greet me and my sister, was very rude, and acted like we didn't deserve her attention or time. I would understand it a little better if there had been a line behind us, but we were the only ones in the line. I think her name was Marisa or something like that. Anyways, when we got up to the line, I was examining the menu (because, again, it was my first time), and right away, she said in a very rude tone, "sandwich or salad." No "Hello" or greeting. When I mentioned a soup, she said,again, very very rudely, "I said, 'Salad or Sandwich.'" I then asked her what their best seller of each was, and she told me them, albeit in a very bored voice, as if it was a bother. Me asking that question clearly showed that I was new, therefore she could've told me about the menu or how the ordering system worked. Or, if she wasn't sure I was new, she should've asked. It's not like a ton of people have heard of Cafe Zupas as they only have one other location in Minnesota. Regardless of my being new, she should NEVER act like that to a customer. I know, because I have and am working in the food business and there is never a good excuse short of a traumatic event for that kind of behavior. That service alone made me feel insignificant and dumb for not knowing about their menu even though, need I repeat it again, I was new. If it wasn't for the food, I would never come back just on that terrible experience alone. The other people working (the cashier and guy who served the soup), however, were nice and accommodating, but I was so put off by the experience, that at that point, I just wanted to get my...

I'm hoping I just caught them on a bad day for lunch, because if this experience is typical, I don't see them staying open very long. The menu looked appetizing. The operation seemed efficient. The people were very friendly and helpful. The only complaint there is that I asked the cashier if they had WiFi, and she said "I don't know." I don't think asking if there is WiFi is an unusual question these days, and I would have expected her to know (or to ask someone).

The soup I had, on recommendation of the server, was tomato basil. The sandwich was a turkey, bacon, avocado.

First, the soup was not hot. Not ice cold, but definitely only barely warm. Worse, it was sweet. Really sweet. I've had tomato basil soup, I've made tomato basil soup, and I've never had it sweet. It was sort of curdly in texture, not smooth, and I wonder if this was because of the sweetener / sugar. It was truly awful. There was no taste of tomato or basil, because the sweetness overpowered it.

The sandwich looked like something that came out of a vending machine. It consisted of processed turkey slices, some avocado spread and a little bacon (not much, and the little that there was seemed undercooked, not crispy). It was more like a panini, not very large, and pressed very flat. No lettuce, onion, tomato, nothing like you would expect on a sandwich. This with a soda cost me almost $12, horribly overpriced. I'm not...

I'm on a pretty strict diet right now and looked for a healthy restaurant to ever so slightly 'cheat' at and WOW did we find the right place! Everything was delicious, satisfying and affordable! My boyfriend is not a fan of salads in general but he was pleasantly surprised (times a gazillion) by how much he liked what he ordered. It was something Thai-ish with a peanut butter sauce and noodles, and a Korean BBQ sandwich; two meals worth of food in one. He even liked the sandwich I got with avocado, though he dislikes avocado outside of guacamole. I dislike BBQ and thought his sandwich was better than mine. Neither of us is on the younger side of life, and their menu was a bit difficult to read, even with glasses, and seemed better online than in person. The "seasonal" menu could have been better displayed, so much so that I suggested we should go elsewhere because I didn't want to waste my diet 'cheat', but at the end we were both 100% happy we ate here.

The service was very good; efficient, friendly and informative. There's a sign where you order that says something about how they clear tables for you but the tables were no so clear or clean. The location where trays are returned was overly full and the dining room was generally not so clean but I'm sure they're just going through the same worker shortage everyone is now. All in all, would eat here as often...