I'm a big fan of a chain of restaurants called Souplantation in some states and Sweet Tomatoes in others. I have no idea why the two names, or if there's any palpable difference. They all seem to be places where you can load a plate with salad, select from an array of soups, have some pasta, grab some muffins or foccacia bread and finish your meal off with something from the dessert bar. I wish there was a bit more animal-style protein to be had on the premises but apart from that, they're great places to dine. I've probably been in at least a dozen different ones in Southern California and the food and mood are always to my liking.
The only negative I have about going to Souplantation is that most of their soups are not as wonderful as you might expect from a place with that name. This will not be the case during the month of March. In March, most of their restaurants are featuring among their selections, a Creamy Tomato Soup which — unless they've gone and changed the recipe on me — is heavenly. It's kind of like Campbell's done right…and Campbell's Cream of Tomato soup is pretty decent to begin with. The last time Souplantation had Creamy Tomato in their soup rotation, I bombarded Souplantation H.Q. with demands that they bring it back. I'm reticent to take full credit but I'd like to think you can have it this month, at least in part, because of me.
By the way: At least in the Souplantations in Los Angeles, you can get 10% off if you show the cashier a membership card in the American Automobile Association (i.e., "The Triple A"). They don't advertise this much, and I admit it's not as good as free pancakes. But hey, 10% off is 10% off.