By 1808Delaware
Café Zupas is moving into one of Polaris Parkway’s most familiar restaurant buildings, bringing its menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and bowls to the former Applebee’s at 1161 Polaris Parkway. Plans and permit applications filed with the City of Columbus call for a 4,129-square-foot restaurant, according to Columbus Business First. The project also includes adding a drive-through to the freestanding building, a feature the previous restaurant did not have.
The Polaris restaurant will become the fourth Café Zupas location in Central Ohio. A construction timetable and prospective opening date have not been announced.
A New Chapter For A Familiar Address
The planned renovation follows the July closing of an Applebee’s that had operated at the site for 27 years. Local operator Rod Conant confirmed the permanent closing and said employees were offered positions at other area Applebee’s restaurants, according to NBC4 reporting summarized by Hoodline. Its replacement will bring a considerably different format to the building. Applebee’s operated as a full-service neighborhood grill and bar, while Café Zupas is organized around counter service, takeout, delivery and combinations designed for a quicker lunch or dinner. The addition of a drive-through will also adapt the property for the growing share of restaurant customers who order ahead or take food elsewhere.
From One Central Ohio Kitchen To Four
Café Zupas entered the Columbus market in 2017 with a restaurant at 4226 Easton Loop West, next to L.L. Bean in Easton Town Center’s North District. The company waited six years before adding its second local restaurant. That location opened at 5980 North Hamilton Road in Hamilton Quarter on November 16, 2023. It introduced drive-through service alongside dining-room, pickup and delivery options, according to the City of New Albany’s grand-opening announcement.
Expansion accelerated after that. Café Zupas opened its third Central Ohio restaurant at 2004 North High Street in December 2025, taking over a former Wendy’s directly across from the Ohio State University campus.
The Polaris project will therefore give Café Zupas four distinctly placed restaurants: Easton, the Hamilton Quarter area, the Ohio State campus and the heavily traveled Polaris corridor.
More Than Soup On The Menu
The name may invite an immediate association with soup, but the Café Zupas menu extends across protein bowls, salads, sandwiches and desserts. Soup selections include tomato basil, lobster bisque and chicken noodle. Sandwich choices include the Honey Bacon Club, made with turkey, ham, bacon and Muenster cheese, and the Mediterranean Chicken. Seasonal salads and customizable bowls provide additional choices.
One of the restaurant’s central offerings is its “Try 2 Combo,” which lets diners select items from two menu categories. A customer might pair a sandwich with soup, for example, or combine a salad with a smaller soup.
The company says its kitchens work with more than 200 ingredients, with food prepared inside each restaurant rather than simply reheated from a centralized supplier.
Then there is the strawberry.
Every meal comes with a complimentary chocolate-dipped strawberry, a practice that dates to the company’s first day in business. According to Café Zupas’ history, the founders added the strawberry at the last minute as a thank-you to customers attending the opening. Its popularity turned it into the chain’s most recognizable finishing touch.
A Utah Idea Finds A National Audience
Friends Dustin Schulthies and Rob Seely founded Café Zupas in Provo, Utah, in 2004 after leaving careers in technology. Their original idea was to offer an alternative built around food prepared daily but served with the speed of a fast-casual restaurant. The concept gradually expanded from Utah into markets across the West and Midwest. Café Zupas now operates more than 85 kitchens nationwide, with Central Ohio representing its principal foothold in this part of the country.
Its Columbus growth has come largely through established commercial districts rather than untested locations. Easton, Hamilton Quarter, Ohio State and Polaris each offer a different customer base, but all provide substantial concentrations of shoppers, workers, students or residents.
Polaris Dining Continues To Change
Café Zupas is joining a Polaris district that already promotes more than 100 restaurants and bars among its approximately 500 businesses, according to POLARIS Centers of Commerce.
The area’s dining lineup continues to change even as longtime restaurants close. Flour Modern Pasta Bar and Fetty’s Street Food are preparing to launch the combined Flour & Fetty’s concept at Polaris Fashion Place this fall. CAVA and vegetarian Indian restaurant Simply South are among other names planning Polaris locations.
For Café Zupas, the former Applebee’s offers visibility along Polaris Parkway, an existing restaurant building and enough space to add the drive-through component that has become part of the company’s suburban model.
What remains unknown is when customers will be able to place the first order. Café Zupas has not yet announced an opening date, operating hours or a schedule for completing the renovation.
