tale of two bloggers + Zupas

On the evening of October 2nd, in the year of two thousand thirteen, Megan T. and Megan R. attended a VIP restaurant opening of Cafe Zupas in Phoenix, Arizona.

This is their story.

Megan T.

I almost didn't RSVP to the event, because Carter's school was having a fundraiser at Culver's that same night. But Daniel and I desperately needed a date night, so Gramma and Grampa took our two oldest to the fundraiser, and we drove to Cafe Zupas with baby Harry!

It felt like forever since we'd been out together, and on the drive over, we talked excitedly about places we might stop to visit on our cross country road trip to Maine next summer.

When we got to Cafe Zupas, I was excited to see a red carpet. Hello, bucket list! I basically almost got run over trying to take a photo of the cafe in the middle of the road.

The friendly employees greeted us and welcomed us inside (after making sure we were on "the list," of course), and immediately upon entering who did we see but the ultra-chic, always-fashionable...

Megan R!

[haaaa! that last part is funny.] 

I had to convince Adam to go with me because "blogger things?" Not his style. But he threw on some corduroys instead of his trusty cargo shorts so I knew he was taking this seriously and was dressed to impress. 

When we walked in, we felt pretty cool to be on the VIP list but also totally out of place. Cause we're awkward. And then we both won $15 gift cards for tweeting about the event (#cafezupasnorterra) and very publicly did little celebratory dances. Which made us look even more out of place and we were pretty sure people were purposefully ignoring us at that point cause we were nerds. 

So we were pretty happy when people who hadn't seen our embarrassing moments earlier walked in and wanted to hang out with us. Thank you Megan and Daniel for making us feel cool! 

Megan T.
Yeah we definitely wouldn't have sat with them if we had seen their dances. Nope...not a chance...

Once we got in line, I was immediately distracted by everything (ooh bright lights!). I was trying to talk to Megan R. and meet her super suave hubby Adam (who was probably a little creeped out that I knew his name and everything about him- hey I read her blog even if she doesn't read mine!), at the same time looking around to see who else I knew. Meanwhile one of the girls working there was giving Daniel some meal suggestions, and I was wondering what they were talking about, and oh yeah we had a baby with us too. While we were waiting in line, Michelle (of Fun on a Dime) showed up with her husband and baby, so we got to say hi to them.

We got to the counter and OH THE FOOD! Everything looked amazing, but I knew exactly what I wanted. The Turkey Cranberry sandwich and the Chicken Enchilada Chili, with two scoops of sour cream, thank you very much. Everything was on the house, thank you Zupas!

At that point I wanted to rush because they were already doing the giveaways, and mama likes to WIN THINGS. I got in exactly one Instagram photo and started to compose a tweet when of course my phone died. I grabbed Daniel's phone, quickly tweeted, and shortly after I won a $15 gift card and a cookbook!

All the while I was trying to eat my super delicious food! It seriously was amazing. Okay, so I love me some Paradise Bakery, but this was like Paradise but double the deliciousness and half the price (well, would have been...for us VIPs it was free). Our meals came with a piece of bread, which was perfect to dip into my chili, and we each got a chocolate-covered strawberry but gave them to the Robinsons, since we are not eating sugar, and they clearly were (I think they went home with 11 or 12 desserts).

Megan R. 
(I read your blog!!) 

But the dessert thing is absolutely true. We left with an absurd amount of delicious desserts. Plus the 7 chocolate cupcakes our babysitter made us, we were a happy little family, sugar comas and all. :) 

The food really was good. We stuffed our faces full of carbs and sugar like we were starving college undergrads again. Adam and I both got salads and sandwiches which were great. We can't wait to try the soups next time though since we had little samples and they tasted sooo good! I also loved the little Italian Soda bar they had. Next to the regular sodas, they had extra syrup add ins plus suggestions of appetizing concoctions to try besides just your regular ol' Diet Coke. I tried the berry one with a lime wedge and it was awesome! No regular restaurant beverage will be enough now. 

All in all, it was a great night with good food and even better company! Even Adam had fun, like genuine fun which can sometimes be hard to get out of him in big social situations. ;) We are already talking about our next trip. And of course I will be taking Megan for a girls' night or lunch soon! I think we mothers deserve a break now and then. 

Megan T.
Um, yes, she will be taking me out! Girlfriend wins all the giveaways when I take her to an event! ;)

Italian soda syrups?! I didn't even look at the soda bar!

We had a fantastic time, even though I was trying to do ten things at once: eat, chat, keep the baby happy, tweet, instagram, try to find the bathroom (we never did), and say hi to the other people I knew. Okay so 7 things.

Before leaving we got to chat with Kate (Songs Kate Sang) and her lovely family, and then it was time to head home.

I give Cafe Zupas 5 stars in every category! Food taste, selection, atmosphere, cleanliness, staff, service, and price! They know how to throw a great blogger party, and we absolutely loved it!

And we all left with gift cards in hand, soon to return!