Sweet Tomatoes has returned to Florida, reopening its longtime Fort Myers restaurant at 14080 S. Tamiami Trail on May 18, 2026 and giving the once-national buffet chain just its second operating location in the country. The Fort Myers reopening follows the revival of a former zona, in April 2024, marking the first time the resurrected brand has expanded beyond that initial comeback location. Sweet Tomatoes entered 2020 with 97 restaurants nationwide, including 23 in Florida, before its former parent company liquidated during the pandemic and the entire chain disappeared. The revived business is now operating under new ownership with the familiar all-you-can-eat soup, salad, bng updated interiors, cashless payments and rotating limited-time menu items. Large opening crowds have followed the Fort Myers return, but the company is moving cautiously on additional locations and has not announced a nationwide expansion schedule or a target number of restaurants.
A National Restaurant Brand Is Rebuilding From Two Familiar Addresses
Sweet Tomatoes once operated nearly 100 restaurants across the United States. Six years after the entire system disappeared, the revived company is back in business with restaurants in Tucson and Fort Myers, both markets with previous Sweet Tomatoes histories.
The Chain Disappeared Almost Overnight
Sweet Tomatoes entered the pandemic as a sizable restaurant operation. Its former parent company, Garden Fresh Restaurants, operated 97 locations and employed more than 4,400 people. Twenty-three of those restaurants were in Florida, giving the state nearly one-quarter of the chain’s total restaurant footprint.
The all-you-can-eat format was particularly dependent on customers dining inside the restaurant and serving themselves from shared food bars. Garden Fresh ultimately filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2020 and liquidated the restaurant system rather than attempting a conventional restructuring.
The Comeback Timeline
Only About 2% of the Former Footprint Has Returned
Two current restaurants represent just over 2% of Sweet Tomatoes’ former 97-location system. The revival therefore remains very small compared with the chain that existed before 2020, even as the brand again operates in more than one state.
Sweet Tomatoes Comeback Scale Simulator
Sweet Tomatoes currently operates two restaurants compared with 97 before the 2020 liquidation. Use the controls below to explore different hypothetical expansion speeds and see the scale required to rebuild even part of the former restaurant system.
Build a Hypothetical Expansion Scenario
Former Footprint Recovery
Restaurant Footprint Comparison
The dashed line represents the former 97-location system.
At three new restaurants per year for five years, Sweet Tomatoes would reach 17 total locations. That would restore about 17.5% of its former 97-store footprint and represent 15 additional restaurants beyond the two operating today.
