The Original SoupMan

g-​r-​o-​s-​s. why why why didn’t i check Unilocal before i walked in? why??? if you are Unilocal-​checking this, walk awayyyyyyyy!!! run run run! if i don’t like this place, you won’t like it either. trust me! it’s an insult to give this place even one star. where’s no star???

These franchises are a far cry from the original Soup Kitchen International on 55^th and 8^th that Al ran but they serve their purpose. Gone are the lines and the scowl, but also is the true great taste of the original.
The pluses are that these stores are generally multi-​functional meaning you can also get a sandwhich, salad, burger, chicken along with the soups. All of the food is fine but none of it has the same umph as the original soup. (I miss the truly great seafood bisque)
Al, you earned your $$$ but the legacy is just not there…

Keep on walking…
No, really. Go elsewhere.
I kicked myself later for not doing my usual « Unilocal check» before stepping in and ordering, but I was borderline hangry and people were oozing out the door. Had to be good, right?
Erm, no.
Soup + sando lunch combo. I can make a better sando at home. Crab bisque I paid extra for tasted like I was licking a fish mongers unwashed hands after 2-​days work. So gross.
And no. I don’t lick fish mongers hands (often).

Where to begin…
Probably one of the most unorganized resturants I’ve ever been in. Considering the food is most definitely «fast food» quality, I would expect it to have fast food service capabilities as well. There is no line, you basically stand somewhere near the counter until you can get someone’s attention.
I’ve had two different kinds of soup there: Mushroom Barley and Chicken vegetable with noodles. Both of these soups were average tasting I guess but they were way too oily. Not to mention they are incredibly overpriced. They’re large size soup (they call it a bowl vs a cup) is a tiny little cup that costs at least $ 7-​$ 10. For the quality and size, I wouldn’t expect to pay more than $ 4.
This location is combined with a sandwich store and a coffee place but its the same employees for all three. The people making the coffee don’t seem to know anything about what they’re making. When I ordered a vanilla iced coffee (which was on the board) the woman looked confused, looked around, and said «well… we don’t have vanilla coffee but I guess I could put some of this vanilla syrup in there to make it taste vanilla». I couldn’t believe my ears. Had she never been asked this before?
To top it off… After I got my food and got a block away, I realized that my bag was dripping soup and was causing the bottom of the bag to rip. I had to walk back to my office with my coffee in one hand and a hand full of napkins holding the food bag from the bottom in the other hand. It was a mess.
This was my second visit to this location and I don’t see myself returning again.

I work right around this location and go almost everyday for my morning coffee and breakfast, I also go for my lunch which usually consists of a soup and half sandwich special, the food’s great and reasonably priced especially for a meal in New York, also the staff is very friendly overall a great place.

Their «bowl» is actually a cup, and at nearly $ 8, it’s highway robbery. I assume their «cup» is therefore a thimble. And I’m usually complaining that portions in he U.S. are too large.

Lobster bisque was whatever. It wasn’t bad but I’m not eating it again.

It’s good, but not worth the dinero. Head up to Hale & Hearty instead.

Soup is pricey.
I had a small lobster bisque (and I mean teeny tiny small) for $ 6. I thought it was overly salty but decent.
On the bright side, this store is joined with Ranch1 which I thought closed down years ago.

Decent service and clean as would be expected off a franchise. Sandwiches are underwhelming and soups are very salty. Every one of my 5 friends agreed with this observation.

The Original SoupMan has been on a slow slide to mediocrity ever since the soup man himself sold the recipes and the rights to investors a few years ago. They reopened the first location, but it apparently sold the same poor imitation as all the other branches; it seems to have closed again. (Edit: it’s still open.)
I visited that original location in early 2001, before the franchising; the soup man was still behind the counter, definitely unsmiling but not nearly so bad as in the Seinfeld episode. (There were painted footprints with arrows on the ground, but no barking of orders.) He even gave me a steep discount on a t-​shirt.
As for the soup, it was incredible; I had the seafood bisque, and the bit in Seinfeld about Newman’s knees locking in ecstasy was only a mild exaggeration. It was utterly fresh and flavorful, with a mysterious, yet absolutely perfect blend of spices. I got into a long argument with my parents on the last day of our trip because I wanted to go back in the rain and get a quart for the plane.
I went to the franchises a couple of times not long after he sold the business, and while it still somewhat resembled the original recipe at first, it was clearly being cheapened. The second time, in 2009, it was just bad enough that it no longer seemed worth the price.
I decided to try it again, one more time, a couple of weeks ago. Along with the original, several other branches in the city have closed now, and those that are left are sharing space with a second fast-​food place. And I can see why: the seafood bisque now bears practically no resemblance to the stellar version I had ten years ago. There were hardly any chunks of seafood, and the overall flavor was artificial, preservative-​laden. It might have seemed above average at Subway or Wendy’s, but not at a place claiming to be the resurrection of what was once some of the best soup in the city.
Hopefully the Soup Man will come to his senses and open a new place that uses his actual recipes, with no shortcuts. Or if not, maybe a real-​life Elaine will somehow get ahold of the formulas and run the counterfeit out of business.

I have had delivery from this place 3 times since my review, and I continue to have a less than 15 minute delivery, hot, great tasting sandwiches and soup and the price is right. The turkey chili has become my personal favorite, it’s so flavorful and hearty. I know that people hate this place, but with my continued and consistent good experience, I will continue to order from here.

Love this place cashier is friendly and cute, like the soups and sandwiches… just s little expensive

Never again. Ever. I wish I checked the Unilocal rating before going here. I bought a salad after café hanover’s salad bar was closed. I asked for what I thought was tofu, it was salty cheese. I asked them specifically for tofu. I said, I want tofu and they gave me cheese. I can’t even eat my salad. They had an extremely slim topping selection. Barely any selection.
Terrible. Just Terrible. Never again. $ 5.50 wasted.

I was recently invited to try a free cup of soup courtesy of The Original Soupman. If you were ever a Seinfeld fan, you probably have watched that classic episode involving soup and an over-​elaborate ordering process. Well, true to form, The Original Soupman is a chain of soup joints that branched out from the legend soup master. When I went to the Financial District outpost, there was no such ordering process; however, an imposing figure did greet me — a life size cutout of the Original Soupman himself.
Undeterred and motivated by the prospect of sponsored soup, I entered and evaluated my choices. Featured that day were lentil, mulligatawny, seafood bisque, jambalaya, split pea and tomato.
My heart was set on one of my personal soup faves though — the lobster bisque. The soup is served with a hearty chunk of baguette; I looove carbs! But how was the bisque?
This is definitely my personal preference, but I tend to favor bisques that are creamy, rich and thick. While The Original Soupman’s bisque was indeed generous with the lobster meat, it was not as creamy as I like — with a focus more on the broth than the cream. Soooo, if you prefer a more brothy bisque, this will be for you. If you’re looking for a creamier, pink-​ish bisque, this definitely isn’t it. That’s not to say I didn’t still finish it! In all, I’d be willing to give the Soup Man another go, this time sampling a different soup.

I just cashed out my coupon I bought at Groupon for the Soupman. I got $ 10 worth of food for $ 5, so i got a good deal. Too bad I was only allowed to buy one of these deals.
But let’s get to the food review. It was not bad at all. I got a cup of the Seafood Bisque, which was a bit salty but very flavorful. It was loaded with seafood and a nice thick consistency. The soup comes with a nice piece of bread and a Lindt Lindor chocolate.
I also got one of their premium sandwiches. I ordered the Turkey Club. It was warm, moist and delicious. It took a while to get the sandwich becasue they were preparing it fresh. Being used to «fast food» service, it was annoying to wait while most people passed you by with their quick soup only orders, but it was worth the wait. This was more like getting a sandwich from a sit down diner and not the typical «cold from the fridge» sliced turkey breast. Even the bacon was nicely cooked and not that dry overcooked stick that breaks into pieces when you bite into it. The sandwich and soup were very filling and I probably wouldn’t order both together again; better to get the soup and half sandwich combo for around $ 9.
The prices here as about the same as everywhere downtown NYC, and that means pricey. Sandwiches range from $ 6 to $ 7 and soups are $ 4.50 (cup) to $ 8 (bowl of premium bisque). They also have salads and wraps and half the location is set up as a Ranch One Grilled Chicken restaurant. The location is small and clean and has several small tables to sit and eat. I’ve seen it crowded during lunch hour. They sometimes have someone on the corner handing out coupons for $ 1 — $ 2 off. In this case, you’ll get a good, tasty meal at an OK price.

Got the lobster bisque. Was a little salty, but soup tends to be on the salty side for me. They had a nice deal going on with half sandwich/​half soup. I love how SoupMan always gives you a nice baggy with a piece of chocolate. I opted for the half chicken caeser wrap as my sandwich and they took a long time on my order (perhaps, was forgotten?)
There definitely better places out there, and this is just if you’re looking for a quick and convenient bite.

Wonder why this place is dead now. Maybe people working in the area are smart enough to realize the reason the place throws in fruit and chocolate in the bag is to give it some weight to distract you from the fact that you just spent $ 10 on a meager portion of mediocre soup when you could’ve just as easily walked 2 blocks south to Hale & Hearty, or Flavors Café, or even Au Bön Pain for something better.
Now that Goldman Sachs has moved to their new offices, there’s nobody to foolishly throw their money away on gimmicky soup.

The most confusing soup/​sandwich pickup place I’ve been to! Hale & Hearty seems like a walk in the park compared to Soup Man. The menu is extensive, but not everything that’s on the printed menu is available for sale. You have to look at the ‘Soup of the Day’ menu to figure out what’s actually available… classic case of setting high expectations and not delivering on them.
Besides, the food isn’t as good as Hale & Hearty either. The Mozarella in the Mozarella-​Basil-​Tomato sandwich doesn’t taste the way good, fresh mozarella should. I actually felt a bit sick after eating the sandwich.
Even the ordering process was confusing… too much shouting and rush. I guess they were trying to enforce some sort of image… but seriously, the place wasn’t even crowded to justify that rush.

*not the best soup.
*I had high expectations for this place, but I left disappointed.