Zoup! Eatery. Firestone CO. Mid-Sept, 2026. We arrived at our hotel in Firestone in the early…read moreevening, after having spent a few nights camping in Rocky Mountain National Park and with me feeling a little under the weather with an upper respiratory infection (URI). We looked online to see what our nearby dining options were for a nutritious and relatively fast dinner. Given my URI, my husband cajoled me (ok, insisted) that we try Zoup!, a restaurant that we were not familiar with.
Zoup! is a fast-casual restaurant chain (in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ontario) that specializes in a rotating daily selection of soups, fresh salads, sandwiches, macs, flats, spuds, grilled cheese, smoothies, and desserts. You order at a counter (or kiosk), and the food is delivered to your table.
My husband and I each selected the Pick 2 Option, with each of us selecting a soup (8 ounces) and a half-portion of a sandwich. (There are other Pick 2 combo options with salads, flats, macs, etc.). I selected the Black and Blue Steak Half-Sandwich ($7.65), with savory steak on a toasted ciabatta with sliced tomato, Gorgonzola, and a kick of horseradish mayonnaise. For my soup, I selected Chicken Noodle ($7.49) -- chicken bone broth with carrots, celery, onions, fresh dill, and egg noodles. My husband's Pick 2 combined the Lobster Bisque ($7.49), with a Cali Chicken Half-Sandwich ($6.49). The bisque was a real cream soup with lobster, crawfish, butter, and a hint of sherry. His toasted sandwich featured grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, avocado, white cheddar cheese, and a jalapeño ranch dressing. Each of the Pick-2 meals also came with an additional ciabatta roll with a packet of butter. Our check totaled $36.59, including sales tax and 18% gratuity.
PROS. * All of the food was served hot and was very tasty -- though light on meat in the soup and on the sandwiches. * We had specifically come into the restaurant because they offered soups, and we were pleased to see that they offered 12 different soup options. * The restaurant is in an unassuming strip mall with free and sufficient parking, and was easy to access from the main road. * There is in-restaurant seating, as well as options for take-out.
CONS. * A first visit to the restaurant is over-whelming with so many food and combination options. In retrospect, I wish we had sat at a table with a menu to understand our options before going up to the counter. * I learned from their website only later that they offer free tastings of their soups before ordering. We were not aware of, nor did our server tell us, about that option. * Prices are a bit expensive for half-portions. Our soups were $7.49 each for 8 oz. soups, while our half-sandwiches were $6.49-$7.65. The full portion prices are a better value than the Pick 2 options (though the latter offers variety).
Also, a quick note. Soup is offered in 4 sizes: the Try 2 size (8 oz), Cup (12 oz), Bowl (16 oz), and XL (32 oz). This is confusing as a cup is a usually a unit of volume, with 1 US cup equal to 8 US fluid ounces!
I wish we had a Zoup! Eatery in central Virginia. We would definitely return to this restaurant.
