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| - I haven't seen a Zupas since I moved from the western United States so I was excited when I stumbled upon this location. I had several above average dining experiences at Zupas with friends while going to school in Utah, but that was many moons ago. I was wrong to assume that it would be just as I remembered it. Let's just say, either my palate has changed dramatically or this place has gone downhill. I'm going to venture that my poor experience here has more to do with the latter. Like other reviewers, this place is trying too hard to be cool, trendy, fresh, healthy, whatever. It wasn't like that in the past, but I guess in recent years this chain has been trying to reinvent itself to appeal to a certain audience. The music is so loud that it's just annoying. I did not have to wait in line since the place was surprisingly empty at 7:00pm on a Friday night. I ordered the half soup/half salad combo with lobster bisque and strawberry harvest chicken salad. I love lobster bisque but there was something very amiss with this bowl of soup. First of all it was way too salty. Secondly, the texture was all wrong. The base was was not smooth and velvety as it should have been. Maybe it wasn't pureed enough or maybe the cream had started to separate from being in an overly hot steam tray. Whatever the deal, the consistency was off, making it rather unappealing. The French baguette that comes with it was nothing more than a generic bakery dinner roll. I will say the salad, albeit boring, was still the best part of this meal. Thank god the greens weren't overdressed. The meal comes with a chocolate covered strawberry, which was always a nice little treat I looked forward to, but on this particular night I had to pass. The strawberry was far from ripe to the point of being inedible. Cover that sh*t in chocolate all you want, it's not going to make it better. Okay, the last part of the meal was a rocky road brownie and I will admit it was good, but not good enough to give this place more stars.
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