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We tell you where to find some of the best soup in town

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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO

Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 12:42:31 am CST

As temperatures outside plummet, our desire for piping hot soups rocket.

That’s why Ground Zero has decided to provide readers with its top five places to enjoy a cup or a bowl this winter.

Compiling the list wasn’t easy. Just about every restaurant has soup.

Story Photo
Tomato Curry & Peanut soup (front) and Italian Pasta soup (back) are two of the soup selections at Bread & Cup on 801 S St. in Lincoln. (Jacob Hannah)

We left off full-service eateries with trained chefs such as jtk, Dish, Venue, Wilderness Ridge, etc., because good soup is a given at these places.

Our criteria: Soups have to be homemade (no cans or premixed packages), and the restaurant must have a reputation for its soups.

We invite readers to share their favorites. If we get enough responses, we’ll compile a second list and report back.

So without further ado, our top five (in alphabetical order):

Bread & Cup

440 N. Eighth St.

Soups: Tuscan White Bean, Pumpkin Mulligatawny, Italian Pasta, Tomato Curry With Peanut, Split Pea and Sausage, Heirloom Pumpkin With Apple Sage and Toasted Coconut, French Onion, Black Bean With Lime Salsa, Squash Swirl (butternut and acorn)

Cost: Cup, $3; bowl, $4

Phone: 438-2255

The skinny: Bread & Cup has two soups each day, with one vegetarian. Soups are on a schedule, based on the season, with the to-die-for Black Bean With Lime Salsa available on Fridays. Soup is served with baguette slices and crostini (crisp bread).

Thé Cup

645 S. 25th St., Suite 7

Soups: Roasted Red Pepper Bisque, Moroccan Tomato, West African Peanut, Oaxacan Potato, Gingered Carrot Soup, Chickpea Soup, Hungarian Mushroom, Fire Roasted Tomato, Curry Pumpkin Bisque, North African Split Pea

Cost: Cup, $2.75; bowl, $3.50 served with fresh-baked bread

Phone: 475-0494

The skinny: One of the cool things about enjoying soup at Thé Cup is the cups and bowls, made by a local potter. Regulars have favorites. The restaurant offers two different kinds of soups daily, with one as vegan. Both are gluten-free. Soup is served with fresh-baked bread.

Freakbeat Vegetarian

(formerly Grateful Bread)

1625 S. 17th St.

Soups: Moroccan Tomato, Santa Fe Chowder, Irish Stew, Southern Sweet Potato Cheddar, Dutch Potato, Tibetan Noodle, Indian Spiced Lentil, Indonesian Curried Vegetable, African Peanut, Creamy Hungarian Bean

Cost: Bowl, $4.50; to-go, $4 (12 ounces), $4.75 (16 ounces) and $8.75 (32 ounces)

Phone: 474-0101

The skinny: Freakbeat has Moroccan Tomato and Santa Fe Chowder each day along with four others. Two or three are vegan. Soup is served with choice of bread: focaccia, cheese scone, French or muffin. The focaccia and French breads are vegan, too.

Green Gateau

330 S. 10th St.

Soups: French Onion, Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with Smoked Gouda, Lobster Bisque, Tequila Lime Chicken, Crab Bisque

Cost: Cup, $3; bowl, $6

Phone: 477-0330

The skinny: The Green Gateau serves Lincoln’s best breakfasts, but it also has s nice variety of soups for lunch and dinner. The Roasted Red Pepper is available every day. The other soup changes daily. Most soups are served with a tasty Parmesan crisp.

Parkway Pub

2555 S. 48th St.

Soups: Ham and bean, chicken noodle, cream of chicken and rice, beef noodle, vegetable soup

Cost: Cup, $2.50; bowl, $2.60

Phone: 483-7763

The skinny: Parkway’s soups aren’t gourmet like the other restaurants. Just traditional. And hearty — the way mom or grandma used to make them. Fred Valenta saves the juice from the roast he prepares on Tuesdays for his hot beef sandwiches to use Thursday in his beef noodle soup.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.


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Pho Nguyen wrote on November 21, 2008 7:31 am:
" Pho Nguyen, just south of 27th and Vine. Best Vietnamese beef soup in town, and second-best soup in town overall (Bread and Cup being the best). "

 PJ wrote on November 21, 2008 7:33 am:
" I had a yummy cream of mushroom type soup at Bison Witches (are they even still open?) "

 jason wrote on November 21, 2008 8:02 am:
" I agree on the mushroom soup at Bison Witches, don't remember what it's called though. The Mulligatawny at the Oven is yummy and I also like the Tomato Bisque at Noodles and Co. Thanks for the article, I love soup and as a vegetarian it is not always easy to find places that offer good soup choices. "

 Soup Lover wrote on November 21, 2008 8:09 am:
" Braeda has some of the best soup in Lincoln. The creamy chicken and wild rice is the best. "

 JB wrote on November 21, 2008 8:18 am:
" I love the New England Clam Chowder at the Embassy Suites. Great for a cold day like today. "

 Bowler wrote on November 21, 2008 8:27 am:
" Parkway Pub (Fred and Ruby's) soup is awesome, Get a bowl of soup as a side to the best cheeseburger in lincoln, what a meal!!! "

 Outside the Box wrote on November 21, 2008 9:05 am:
" Brewsky's has always had excellent soups - they make a great beef & barley.

Other favorites: Lazlo's corn chowder, The Oven's mulligatawny, Misty's jalapeno carrot, and pretty much anything at Braeda. "

 Fomerly there wrote on November 21, 2008 9:22 am:
" I love the Wild Mushroom Soup at The Venue. It's the best ever! "

 parkway pub wrote on November 21, 2008 9:53 am:
" parkway has a great potato bacon soup, too. and i'm not sure if chili counts as soup, but theirs is very good, served with onions and cheese on top if you want them.

if chili doesn't count as soup, you should do another article with the best places for chili. i'd be curious to see if runza makes the list! "

 le quartier wrote on November 21, 2008 9:55 am:
" i've had some good soup there, too. can't remember the names, but creamy tomato something was one, and the other was some kind of carrot curry. might have that today, actually. "

 go pho wrote on November 21, 2008 10:04 am:
" I second the comment regarding Pho Nguyen! "

 J wrote on November 21, 2008 11:04 am:
" Bead and Cup is amazing. I love Lazlo's corn chowder and chicken tortilla (both are homemade). I have tried Braeda once and it was horrible and I have not been back, I definitely prefer Panera to Braeda, which are similar to each other. Bison Witches is okay, but during a rush, they get backed up and it can take over an hour to get food, which loses a lot of business for them. Maybe a story about why it takes so long to get food there would be a good idea. "

 Tom wrote on November 21, 2008 12:51 pm:
" Anybody got a tip on broccoli cheddar better than the St. Louis Bread Co.? I am an aspiring food snob and I'd like to keep to local. No need to grow businesses SO successful that they get picked up as chains. "

 daves wrote on November 21, 2008 1:39 pm:
" famous dave's has a wonderful wild rice and mushroom soup! "

 soup name wrote on November 21, 2008 2:14 pm:
" The mushroom soup at Bison Witches is called Portabella Harvest Grain and it is one of my favorites also. "

 Love BIson Witches wrote on November 21, 2008 3:37 pm:
" Yes, It's still alive an kicking.. It's like only one of four in the U.S! Love their soup bowls.. but yes, when they are busy, and sometimes not so much.. it's takes awhile to get you're food.. but you won't be disappointed!! Just wish they'd move south!! And NOT charge extra for take out!!!! "

 L wrote on November 21, 2008 3:38 pm:
" mmm reading these reviews makes me hungry for soup! I really like the potato soup at Braeda or Panera, I think they're similar if I remember right. It's good with cheese and bacon and green onions on the top! (maybe some sour cream too!) "

 Premade soup wrote on November 21, 2008 3:43 pm:
" Seriously people, it is okay to like soup that is frozen or bagged and boxed but I am amazed that many of you can't tell the difference. You really should try the places Jeff listed so you can taste the difference. Many of the places you are raving about use premade soup. "

 Lucas wrote on November 21, 2008 4:58 pm:
" the Tomato basil soup at Grisanti's is awesome! "

 Sorry wrote on November 21, 2008 7:05 pm:
" MY soup is the best soup in town! "

 Yes Pho Nguyen wrote on November 21, 2008 9:56 pm:
" I LOVE Pho Nguyen!! AMAZING spring rolls too! Go there!

And I also second Grisanti's tomato soup. I've tried to remake it at home with the tortellinis and mine never comes close. I don't care of it's homemade or premade! Still delicious! "

 Robbie wrote on November 21, 2008 11:05 pm:
" If you want consistent quality with the soup you eat, then cook it yourself. Every time you enter a place you never know who's cooking the soup that day. It's going to vary no matter where you go. You'd think some of you fancy yourself as the King or Queen of England. Get over it and try eating at home. It's cheaper! " "

 Jodi wrote on November 22, 2008 1:43 am:
" I really like the beer cheese soup at Lazlo's and since I moved away from Lincoln, wish I could get it more often. Also, I second the mulligatawny at The Oven. And of course, I can't argue with any of the ones on the list (I've been to four of the five places.) And even though it's premade, I have yet to have a soup at Panera that I disliked (especially the bread bowls.) "

 Greg wrote on November 22, 2008 2:43 pm:
" The Manhattan Deli-Tomato Dill "

 Laurie wrote on November 22, 2008 3:01 pm:
" Re: Robbie- please, don't be snotty. Some of us have one or two person households and unless we want to eat the SAME yummy soup for 5 days in a row, it is impractical to "make it at home", especially the more labor-intensive varieties. I fully appreciate being able to go to a restaurant and have a meal that features a teaspoon of fresh herbage without having to figure out what to do with the rest of the (like, $5.00!) bunch. "

 Soup nazi wrote on November 22, 2008 4:17 pm:
" NuVibe downtown has great soup, too. "

 Jojo wrote on November 22, 2008 5:35 pm:
" Magnolia also has good soups. I had a sausage and spinach one that was excellent. "

 went to the cup wrote on November 22, 2008 7:56 pm:
" After reading the reviews yesterday, I tried the Cup off Randolph for the first time today. I had never been there. It was really good and it's in a cool part of town that I never knew existed. I had a garbanzo bean soup that was hearty and very tasty. They have good cinnamon rolls too - it was a memorable combination. I'm a new fan. "

 JT wrote on November 23, 2008 10:09 am:
" I'm pretty fired up to try The Cup now, but beating Grateful Bread will be a tough chore. "

 bktit wrote on November 24, 2008 2:35 pm:
" I wish someone would make a crab chese soup, I had one in florida and it was the best soup. "

 bktit wrote on November 24, 2008 2:41 pm:
" Pho Nguyen do you work there? If so the place has the best pho in town right now but they need to work on there service. I ordered to bowls of pho and some people came after me and didn't even order yet. The waiteress came out with my pho and gave it to those people which were very rude by taking pho that the didn't even order. Put numbers on the tickets and tables it's very simple and you won't make customers unhappy. "

 The Cup is great wrote on November 25, 2008 3:22 pm:
" What a great place! Today I had the ginger carrot and a half of a smoked turkey panini. It was sooo good. The soup had a nice kick but was leveled off with the ginger. mmmm I love soup! "

 Mike wrote on December 1, 2008 4:57 pm:
" The roasted red pepper & gouda from Green Gateau comes in a bag (or at least it used to)! I knew the owners of Shadowbrook Salad Co.; their red pepper & gouda was originally a Pegler product, but they created their own homemade recipe--they werre told that Green Gateau was using the same product. I wonder if The Cup's is too? Everyone support the local places--they need our business now more than ever--Shadowbrook was a great place with a great concept, owned by really nice people. "

 I Own the Cup wrote on December 3, 2008 4:46 pm:
" Thank you Jeff! Our little shop has been busier than ever since your November 21st article about where to find good soup in Lincoln. We're meeting lots of new people and that's always fun. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

I also want to send a little note to the last poster, Mike. Mike, all of our soups are housemade. I promise that we do not use any prepared soup. They are all made from scratch - we don't even used canned stock. Rest assured, we are a scratch kitchen. I know of some kitchens using prepared soup, and I'm sure they have a valid reason. I can taste the difference between a housemade soup and one that is not, This is why (besides my own soup) I prefer soup from shops like Grateful Bread, Bread & Cup, Le Quartier and other smaller, local shops. Soup coming out of these kitchens seem to be prepared with love and respect for the ingredients and it shows.

Kristin Rozsa "

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