It will soon be March and we all know what that means. The chain of restaurants known variously as Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes will be featuring Mark's favorite soup, their version of Creamy Tomato. It's nice of them to do this each year for the month of my birthday but maddening that they don't just wise up at corporate HQ and make it one of their year-round offerings.
I will be going often to Souplantation (that's what they call 'em in Southern California) during the month…and the soup should be even better this year than it's been in the past. Why? Because I've mentioned it so often here, and even prompted a mention of it on the TV show, The Big Bang Theory, the Souplantation folks sent me a mess of free passes to dine in their restaurants. I've been saving them, for obvious reasons, for March. I mean, what's better than Souplantation Creamy Tomato Soup? Free Souplantation Creamy Tomato Soup.
There is, however, one possible downside. I fear Souplantation will suffer a drop in their usual grosses this March. In fact, I know they will because I won't be paying for my many meals there. They'll compare the take this March (when I'm not paying) with last March (when I was) and some yo-yo will conclude, "Hmm…the Creamy Tomato Soup seems to be losing popularity. Maybe it's time to stop making it altogether and to replace it with Purée of Toad or some other equally yummy variety!"
So if you were ever thinking of trying it, try it this year. Just to make up for what I won't be spending there.
Here's a link to their website so you can see if there's one near you. If you join their Club Veg program, they occasionally e-mail you with discount coupons. Discounted Souplantation Creamy Tomato Soup isn't as good as Free Souplantation Creamy Tomato Soup but it's something.