Sweet Tomatoes reopens its doors this week, here's where it is. Are others locations coming?

A treasured all-you-can-eat salad buffet chain is returning after a four-year hiatus. Slight problem — it's not coming to Florida.

Sweet Tomatoes recently reopened its first restaurant in the U.S. this week in southern Arizona, bringing back popular menu items and a revamped look.

Where is the new Sweet Tomatoes location?

Sweet Tomatoes held a grand reopening on Monday, April 1 in Tucson, Arizona.

According to AZ Central, a line wrapped around the building by 10:30 a.m. as fans drove from all over the state and beyond for a taste of their favorite salads and soups. Many of the patrons detailed their fond memories of the restaurant and their excitement for its return.

"My whole family just loves (Sweet Tomatoes). We had one right down the street from us that got shut down," Matt Burns of California said, the first person in line for the new location.

When did Sweet Tomatoes close? Why did it close?

The chain closed its doors back in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA had put out recommendations to restaurants that included discontinuing self-serve stations, including salad bars, buffets and self-serve beverages in fast food.

“The regulations are understandable, but unfortunately, it makes it very difficult to reopen. And I’m not sure the health departments are ever going to allow it," John Haywood, former CEO of Garden Fresh, the parent company of Sweet Tomatoes and its sister buffet chain Souplantation, said in a past interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“We could’ve overcome any other obstacle, and we’ve worked for eight weeks to overcome these intermittent financial challenges but it doesn’t work if we are not allowed to continue our model.”

Was Sweet Tomatoes started in Florida?

Established as Garden Fresh restaurant in San Diego in 1976, the company grew throughout Southern California in the 1980s, then expanded to Florida in 1990 with a restaurant in Palm Harbor.

Sweet Tomatoes had 23 locations in Florida prior to its closure.

Why is Sweet Tomatoes making its return 4 years later?

It's because of the customers.

After the original company went bankrupt during the pandemic, the intellectual property rights were auctioned off and sold to a Florida company called ST Three LLC in 2021.

In a February interview with Restaurant Business Magazine, COO Mike Malone said none of the chain's previous leadership is affiliated with the reopening plans in any way. Instead, he claimed former Sweet Tomatoes customers who are "raving fans" of the brand are responsible for the comeback.

Are more Sweet Tomatoes restaurants coming to other states?

As of April 2, no other locations have been announced yet. However, Mouth by Southwest shared the new owners said they will look for smaller spaces than the original restaurants.

How far way is the new Sweet Tomatoes from Florida?

Don't think you can wait to enjoy Joan's Broccoli Madness salad or the house's signature strawberry lemonade? You can always take a long road trip to the new location.

From Pensacola to Tucson's Sweet Tomatoes, it is nearly an entire day's drive (24 hours and 53 minutes to be exact) with 1,596 miles. Those who live deeper into the Sunshine State will want to add more hours and a lot more miles into that final number.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Sweet Tomatoes reopens in Arizona. Will Florida see a location soon?