Hey, every other lunch spot in the neighborhood. You'd better watch out! Caf\u00e9 Zupas has arrived.\n\nI was a huge fan of the first Vegas location on Eastern Ave. Now that they've opened much closer to home, I'm ready to forsake that original spot altogether. Caf\u00e9 Zupas delivers soups, salads, and sandwiches with fresh ingredients and in-house dressings with great service. They always have someone at the door, they always clear tables without taking tips, and they follow a carefully crafted script of questions that gets customers through the line efficiently while also upselling on things like desserts and drinks. The foods are not what you would call authentic, but they are delicious Americanized renditions.\n\nI always get the try 2 combo ($8.29), where you get to choose 2 of 3 items from whole sandwiches, half soups, and half salads. Regardless of the weather (read: summer heat), I almost always get a half soup with a sandwich. The soups that I've tried are all really good. The lobster bisque and the roasted red pepper and lobster may not have real lobster, but they're both delicious. This week, I've really grown to love the wild mushroom bisque and the tomato basil. This location seems to serve their bread almost cold, so dip it fully in the soup to warm it up.\n\nAs for sandwiches, I definitely steer toward the ciabatta bread sandwiches rather than the panini sandwiches. The honey cilantro carnitas sandwich, which is a relatively new item, is very impressive because of its glaze, the pork, and the avocado. BBQ pulled pork sandwich and Italian club sandwich are also long-time favorites, and turkey cranberry is a nice reminder of my favorite holiday. Cuban grilled pork is alright if you're into that sort of thing.\n\nFinally, even though they're not my preferred choice, the salads are pretty good options as well. Mangoberry salad, Thai mango chicken, and superfood delight are all salads that I've sampled here from friends or family.\n\nOops, almost forgot about dessert! Aside from the standard chocolate-covered strawberries, which are always great, they have many options for people with a sweet tooth. The creme brulee options are all nice, but my new favorite is a slice of chocolate heaven called the Sinful 7. It's rich, it's sweet, and it's chocolatey. I definitely need to share that with somebody next time because it's such a huge portion after a meal.\n\nOne thing I do miss from the Eastern Avenue location is that one or two of the regular employees definitely recognized me on my return visits, even as early as the second or the third time. Doesn't seem to be the case just yet on Sunset, but I'm so happy with the food and the location that we'll have plenty of time to warm up to each other. Make this a stop if you're on this side of town.
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