Arena District's getting a fast-casual soup and sandwich shop

August 8, 2016

Zoup is still hot.

The fast-casual soup, sandwich and salad shop is working on its fifth Central Ohio site at 155 W. Nationwide Blvd. in the Arena District near downtown Columbus.

The 2,400-square-foot restaurant is expected to open in September, according to landlord Nationwide Realty Investors Ltd.

The franchisees are Denis Barboza and Poonam Barboza who were the first to bring the Zoup brand to Columbus back in 2011 when they opened a restaurant in the Huntington Center downtown. The Arena District space will be their second Zoup.

The brand, which is based in Southfield, Michigan, has three other outlets around Central Ohio — 522 Polaris Parkway in Westerville, 1543 Lennox Town Lane in the old Sabo’s Camping building and at 4189 Weaverton Lane at Easton Gateway — that are owned by franchisees Jim Weaver and Treva Weaver.

Zoup’s hallmark is its vast catalog of recipes with hundreds of soup varieties with a rotating mix of 12 on the menu daily. The brand, which was founded in 1998, has grown to more than 88 restaurants in 18 states plus Canada.

The addition of Zoup to that stretch of Nationwide Boulevard is the latest in a string of shops and eateries aimed more at quick service, not sit-and-stay dining. Nationwide Realty added both a Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches and Nelson’s Convenience Store.

See what you can expect from them this fall in THIS VIDEO!