GRAND RAPIDS -- Zoup!, the second restaurant inside the new food court at the new Medical Mile office buildings, 25 Michigan St. NW, opens for business Friday.
The Medical Mile Zoup will offer 12 rotating varieties of soup each day, along with a selection of sandwiches, and salads.
A fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight will allow customers to purchase a bowl of soup, hunk of bread and drink for $5 with all proceeds going to benefit Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
“The Grand Rapids community has supported me and my staff throughout the years with their most appreciated customer loyalty,” said Grant Winkelman, who is opening his third area Zoup franchise. “We wanted to take the opportunity to give back to the community by partnering with the Children’s Hospital, which has made such a powerful impact on an abundance of families in the area.”
The location also is the first Zoup to open for breakfast, offering whole grain hot cereal options made from steel-cut oats or seven-grain hot cereal. Customers may choose one of seven specialty recipes or to have their own created from a list of 20 additional ingredients.
“We decided the Medical Mile store was the best place to introduce our breakfast menu as there are 12,000 hospital campus employees, many of whom are seeking a healthy alternative to traditional breakfast items,” Eric Ersher, founder and managing partner of Zoup!, said in a statement. “Our breakfast menu has been developed to provide a wholesome and warming experience for customers. Just like with our soups, our new breakfast offerings will be hand-crafted and endeavor to elicit thoughts of comfort, warmth and well-being. "
Zoup! hours at the Medical Mile location are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Zoup! joins the area's first Smashburger, which opened in July, inside the food court. Qdoba Mexican Grill is expected to open later this fall. Johnston Optical and Huntington Bank also have stores fronting the atrium that spans the two recently completed medical office buildings along Michigan Street.
A coffee shop is also expected to open in the atrium, though an opening date has not been set.
See original story: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2011/09/zoup_is_on_at_medical_mile_foo.html
