Café Zupas — Restaurant in Mesa

I have never been to this place. We only came because Jimmy John’s was closed. I went in into Dana park location at 8:15pm. Michael the manager was cleaning the lettuce station. We walked up happily and said hello. He said I’ll be right with you. I told him to take his time as we didn’t know what we wanted since we never been here .I even let some other patron go ahead of us. Once we figured out what we wanted I apologized to him for taking our time. I place the first order then wanted the second order the same however, differently due to allergies. He got flustered as he explained to the worker what sandwich. He had to explain three times and he kept saying two turkey avocado with mayonnaise. I told him no it’s going to be the same sandwich but each sandwich would be altered. He sighed and then asked again what. I felt like he was annoyed and then I apologized again for having a large order. I finally got to my 5th order which was my husbands and told him that I was sorry that my husband was indecisive. He didn’t once say no worries, it’s ok, or anything to make the situation comfortable. I looked at the clock and it was 8:23pm and said that luckily there was still time to order. He looked at the clock still not acknowledging the uncomfortableness that he us feel. At this point after apologizing and still feeling overwhelmed and pressured and discriminated I asked if he was the manager. He said he was. I asked who his immediate boss was and he said Jason. I asked for his contact info which he responded that he couldn’t give me his info but an email. I finished ordering the sandwiches and at this point I felt like all the workers were looking at me and I feel embarrassed and again apologized for having such a large order and that I normally order ahead of time at places since it’s a large family. I said I was gonna go to Jimmy John’s but that they happen to be closed. Again apologized and everyone still looked annoyed. Once at the register Michael asked if I wanted the strawberry and the bread for our combo. In which I replied that I thought it was part of the combo and if it was then yes I did want it. The bread and strawberry are part of the combo and or meal per your website. I felt so discouraged, embarrassed and not welcomed coming to this establishment for the first time.

We got home and to my amazement the food was ordered Incorrectly. The CHICKEN ENCHILADA CHILI comes with Red & Green Enchilada Sauce, Cheddar Cheese, Corn Tortillas, Roma Tomatoes, Black Beans, Fire Roasted Corn, and chucked . It had none of this it was just pieces of green chili and tomatoes. Which I took a photo of. The lobster bisque was mixed with chicken noodle and had no chicken, no lobster and was just some really smoosh noodles, my sons sandwich had tomatoes in which he allergic and the honey mustard which he does not like mustard , my daughters sandwich had no mustard which was the sandwich that needed the mustard and only half the sandwich had bacon. My husbands sandwich I asked for lettuce and was not given any. My baby’s chicken strips were cold. And last but not least I specifically pointed to the piece of corner brownie I wanted, the only brownie I wanted and he gave a middle piece. I am so sick alright from gastritis, I haven’t been able to eat for day and just wanted a quick jimmy johns salad. It’s ugly how I was treated and to add salt to the wound all this was $65 just to be thrown in the trash.

Again I am extremely upset, felt discriminated and Michael was being so rude that I don’t ever want to return to this...

Okay, this was my first time to Cafe Zupas since I moved to AZ last year. First, the servers did not understand the order. I ordered a salad, my husband ordered a sandwich. This was not a combination soup/sandwich order. I wanted a full salad for myself, so this was 2 separate orders. The salad was very good and he said the turkey, bacon, avocado grilled sandwich was fine. The chocolate covered strawberries were very good. Drinks were satisfactory. Here is the problem. It was 4:30, close to dinner time. The table tops were dirty and there was food on the chairs. The area were you put your tray and dirty dishes was stacked 5 and 6 trays high and the garbage container was full. There were dirty cups, dishes everywhere and this is right where you serve yourself to drinks and condiments. Underneath the stacked dirty trays where the bins with dirty dishes that looked like they were left over from the lunch crowd. Was the dishwasher broken? Or was someone not doing their job to keep that area clean and neat, too lazy to take the dirty trays and dishes back to the kitchen? On top of this, there were dirty dishes and trays on the outdoor tables and food on the sidewalk area. There were all kinds of birds on the tables trying to get to the food left there. Don't get me wrong, I like birds, but they are dirty creatures and don't belong in the outdoor dining area of a restaurant. They would not be there if this area was cleaned up. My sole reason for trying this cafe is because I am hostessing a luncheon for about 12 people in a couple of weeks. I am sorry to say I won't be having my luncheon at Cafe Zupas. It would serve you well to keep this place a little cleaner and neater, because first impressions are lasting...

This Zupas location is good, don’t get me wrong - just don’t get takeout in the evening, the service lacks. Last night is the second (and final) time we’re going to this location due to the lack of cleanliness from the staff. There is a young, Hispanic kid that has prepared our food and I've had to remind him to change his gloves before preparing our food.

4/8/24 (evening) - He was at the register handling cash and touching the screen. He went to prepare our food when I had to stop him and requested him to change his gloves. He changed his gloves and prepared everything correctly. It's an honest mistake and I let it pass.

6/4/24 (last night) - My wife and I ordered the Southwest Avocado Bowl and the Try 2 combo. The same kid wked into the food prep area holding a dirty mop bucket when he was asked to prep my sandwich. He placed the bucket on the counter next to the bread, grabbed the piece of bread (without changing his gloves) and started to prepare my meal.

I had called out to him and requested he change his gloves. He didn't say anything and replaced his gloves. I had to remind him to get me a new bun since he grabbed that one with the dirty glove. He said, "whatever" and got me a new bun. The female cashier rolled her eyes and gave us our food.

These two experiences left a bad taste and I'll be going to a different location. I've never had a negative experience with Zupas except at this location. Paying $28.14 and having an experience like what we've had, isn't worth it. Hope this helps anyone...