Zoup! brims with delicious soups and more

Why: The founders of Zoup! began perfecting soup recipes in 1997 and in 2003 opened their first franchise. Now Zoup! has more than 88 locations, including a new store in east Vancouver. The restaurant offers a comfortable dining experience in fast-casual style for the whole family. The menu offers 12 soups daily (from a rotation of more than 100), salads and sandwiches. Diners are encouraged to sample soup before deciding. The restaurant offers several gluten-free choices as well as low-fat and vegetarian. Nutritional information is available online.

What I tried: I paired the lobster bisque with a MTB sandwich on French bread. My dining companions tried the fiery chicken enchilada soup, the Sonoma salad, and the turkey club sandwich on French bread. Soups also come with diners choice of a fresh French, multi-grain, or sourdough roll.

The lobster bisque is one of the most popular soups at Zoup! and its taste made it easy to discover why. It had a chowder consistency and a cheese-rich flavor with seafood essence. Though it lacked sizable lobster pieces, tiny shrimp were easy to spot. The MTB (mozzarella, tomato, and basil leaves) had the farm fresh essence of a caprese salad with impressive, thick slices of quality mozzarella. I would order both the bisque and the sandwich again without hesitation.

My dining companion said the fiery chicken enchilada soup was appropriately named for its very spicy kick and the turkey club sandwich, made with sliced turkey, hickory smoked bacon, tomato, Swiss cheese, and mayonnaise, was messy but good. I noted that the bacon is a pre-cooked variety that is about half fat and half meat. The Sonoma salad consists of chopped romaine, spring mix, Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, and toasted almonds with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side to add as you please. There was a generous amount of all the ingredients.

All the bread (both sandwich and soup accompaniment) was fresh and soft.

My initial visit was for an early lunch; I returned the same day for dinner and tried the chicken and dumpling soup with a pesto three-cheese sandwich on toasted French bread. I found the soup to be very tasty, though a bit salty, and the sandwich, made with pepper jack, provolone, cheddar, tomato, and pesto was melty-warm and gooey, original and delicious. In my opinion, Zoup! brings another quality dining option to Clark County.

Atmosphere: Walls are painted muted orange, gray, brown, and rust accented with black trim and decorative lettering. Furniture combines dark and light wood tones with light gray upholstery. Attractive, framed photos of soup spoons and bowls add interest. Flooring consists of wood laminate around the perimeter of the carpeted dining room. As with some other newer franchise restaurants, foot traffic is directed to the left, toward the rear of the space for placing orders and then toward the right for payment, beverages, and pick-up. The dining room occupies the center of the space. Seating is mostly at tables and chairs. There are a few booths as well as a continuous bench and a tall window side counter. The menu is divided into three parts, making it easy to distinguish soup, salad, and sandwich options for pairing. The decor has elements of 1970s style refreshed with modern character.

Menu highlights beyond what I tried: Other soups in the rotation include chicken and wild rice medley, chicken pot pie, Italian wedding with turkey meatballs, tomato vegetable, cucumber gazpacho, and wild mushroom barley. Salads include Greek, chicken Caesar, Asian, a California tuna, and Cobb. Sandwiches include an albacore tuna, Southwest turkey, quinoa veggie wrap, and a maple ham and bacon. Pre-wrapped brownies and cookies are on hand for dessert. Beverages include Coke products and iced tea.

Other observations: I found the staff to be courteous and friendly and the atmosphere relaxing. The menu is noted with special symbols to guide diners toward lower calorie count, gluten-free and vegetarian items. Zoup! also caters.

Cost: Soup may be ordered in four different sizes (8-ounce, 12-ounce, 16-ounce, and 32-ounce) and costs from about $4.75 to almost $13. You may also opt for a bread bowl for about $7. Salads and sandwiches are available in half or whole sizes and range from about $4.95 to under $8.