daily, as well as breadsticks, a selection of muffins, pizza, baked potatoes, pastas, tacos. Desserts include fresh and canned fruits, strawberry shortcake, pudding, brownies, and soft serve ice cream. Specific menu items change daily and seasonally. The company says the food is made fresh daily in each store (without use of centralized offsite facilities) and free of trans-fats since 2007. It also provides gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. It has offered a variety of seafood options including fish soups, salads, and tacos for the Lenten season. Sandwiches were tested in 2008 in San Antonio. With the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all of the restaurants went to cafeteria style service. Marketing Customers who joined the Souper Fresh Club by providing personal information and an email address receive discount coupons electronically as well as a coupon for an annual free birthday meal. The program was later changed such that purchases earn "points" towards rewards as well as a coupon for a discounted birthday meal. A study of casual dining chains by the consumer intelligence firm Market Force Information in 2013 ranked Souper Salad as the first in the buffet category. The study of over 7000 consumers praised the chain for the healthiness of its food. Litigation In 2014, the company settled a class action lawsuit brought on by one employee alleging violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The suit claimed that this one tipped worker was not fairly paid for required duties such as cleaning, stocking, and other general activities that did not directly generate customer tips, thus having the effect of working for less than the minimum wage during the portions of shift spent performing such duties. The US Department of Labor says employees should not be classified as tip-only employees if they perform non-tipped work more than 20% of the time. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The suit asked for minimum wage differential compensation, as well as attorney's fees, and interest. LNC Ventures Dan and Jackie Hernandez were 2002 graduates from the University of Texas and Texas A&M when they began frequenting an Austin Souper Salad. They operated ten Subway franchises in Laredo and Cotulla until 2010 when they were sold to another franchisee based out of Houston. They then purchased a Souper Salad in San Antonio and opened a second location in 2011. Their company, LNC Ventures later bought the chain after the 2011 bankruptcy for