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Lobster bisque from Skull’s Rainbow Room
Skull’s Rainbow Room/Facebook

17 of the Best Places to Eat Soup in Nashville

From chili to chowder to beefy broth, this is where to find the best soup in Nashville

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Lobster bisque from Skull’s Rainbow Room
| Skull’s Rainbow Room/Facebook

Local restaurants from etc. to Lockeland Table regularly turn out epic soups, but it can be tough to find the same soup twice. Seasons, menus, and tastes change — and then you add the cyclone of chaos that is COVID-19 and you’re hard-pressed to find the exact soup you want when you want it — until now.

This map pinpoints 17 places you can find soup every day of the year, many of which offer socially distanced dining, curbside takeout, and delivery.

* Map is listed geographically, not ranked.

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Mas Tacos Por Favor

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Begin with the gold standard: Mas Tacos tortilla soup. The impeccable chicken soup — with jalapeno, chipotle, then topped with crispy tortilla strips, fresh corn, and avocado — is a paragon, in Nashville and beyond. If you don’t know it, you either don’t like soup or you just moved here. Also on the daily menu is the zingy pozole verde: a chicken-and-hominy stew flavored with tomatillos, fresh cilantro, and spicy poblanos. It’s bright, citrusy, and satisfying. 

It can be tricky to find their menu online (they don’t have a website), so bookmark this Facebook photo, check Instagram for their daily specials and aguas frescas and call to order. 

Mas Tacos/Facebook

Hunters Station

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With six restaurants under one roof, East Nashville’s Hunters Station is a no-brainer for variety. Vui’s Kitchen serves vegan, beef, and chicken pho, the latter two of which are made with 12-hour bone broth. The chicken pho is a standout, topped with crunchy fried shallots, but be sure to add the available hoisin to give it the needed sweetness.

Across the food hall, find The Grilled Cheeserie’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup alongside their famous creamy old-fashioned take. Made with country-ham stock and heavy cream, it is blessedly unlike the “old-fashioned tomato” most of us grew up on: Campbell’s.

Hunters Station restaurants are open for dine-in with a reduced capacity, or you can order online for pickup, curbside or delivery.

Ashley Brantley

Green Asia

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Nestled in a corner of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, Green Asia quietly delivers some of the best deals in town. For $1.25 diners can score a cup of egg drop or hot & sour soup, or shell out a whopping $2 for the wonton. All are excellent additions to their hot buffet, but the hot & sour in particular is something special. Most hot & sour soups lean too heavily on being spicy or sweet; Green Asia does neither, opting instead for a rich, balanced, eggy broth full of depth, umami, and a little bit of heat.

Green Asia is open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for takeout every day except Monday. 

green Asia menu at Nashville Farmers Market Ashley Brantley

Skull's Rainbow Room

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You can’t have a soup map without bisque, and nobody in Nashville does it better than Skull’s. Their lobster bisque is buttery, rich, full of shellfish and laced with just enough booze to cut through the cream — in short, everything seafood bisque should be. All it needs is a twist of fresh-cracked pepper from the grinder, which their staff happily offers, table-side. Skull’s is operating at limited capacity, so definitely make a reservation for dine-in.

lobster bisque at skull’s rainbow room in printer’s alley in nashville

The Arcade Nashville

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The Arcade is stealthily a soup destination — if you know where to look. Ajora Kitchen doesn’t call anything “soup” per se, but many of their Ethiopian dishes scratch that itch, and you can order via GrubHub for delivery on weekdays.

Soup seekers can also stop into Varallo’s Restaurant for chili — the family’s been serving it for more than 110 years — in addition to ordering via Postmates or GrubHub.

Red Perch also serves made-from-scratch clam chowder that’s arguably the best in the city (The top-secret ingredient: bacon.) as well as unusual soup specials from time to time, such as the shrimp congee with Chinese sausage, fresh ginger, and fried garlic. Order pickup or delivery from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

shrimp congee with Chinese sausage, fresh ginger and fried garlic from red perch in Nashville Red Perch Instagram

Bare Bones Butcher

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Bare Bones Butcher is already legendary for their decadent sandwiches, but they also apply their made-from-scratch expertise to chili. Get their all-beef, no-bean chili as a side for outdoor dining or grab a quart for home from the case at The Nations shop. Made with beef shank and cooked low and slow, it’s seasoned with the spice blend they use to make andouille sausage.

chili topped with red onions and cheddar at Bare Bones
All-beef chili at Bare Bones Butcher
Ashley Brantley

Midtown Cafe

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The soup of the day at Midtown Cafe has to be the most benched player of all time. For 30 years, people have been coming in, sitting down and saying “I’ll start with the lemon artichoke soup.” There’s a reason for that: you don’t mess with a winner, and this absolutely is. The ingredients are simple — artichokes and lemons, blended with creamy chicken broth — yet they create something that’s more than the sum of its parts: a tongue-tingling wakeup call to begin a meal.

Visit their website to order it for curbside pickup or delivery.

lemon artichoke soup at midtown cafe in nashville Midtown Cafe Instagram

Otaku Ramen

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With the most comprehensive ramen menu in Nashville, the hits at Otaku Ramen (Tennessee Tonkotsu, Spicy Miso) are so beloved that people often forget to try something new. Let this serve as a reminder to do just that, starting with the Monster Style. The behemoth starts with luscious pork bone broth and toothsome noodles, which are then topped with pork belly, ground pork and ground chicken. The bowl is finished with tart pickled ginger, fresh scallions, and a staple soy-marinated egg. It is salty, savory, over-the-top comfort food at its finest. 

Order Otaku for delivery or pick it up on the west side, east side or in The Gulch, the latter of which also offers socially distanced dine-in. 

Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo Grill

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On their menu, Broadway Brewhouse claims fame for two things: bushwhackers and soup. If you’ve had their singular ‘whacker, you know their soup must be strong to share the masthead, and indeed it is. Every day they serve Mojo Gumbo, and crawfish etouffee (which is not technically soup but totally is — served over rice with piquant, peppery gravy). This is one place, though, where you should always ask about the soups of the day, which are typically some combination of cream, seafood and spice. 

Pick up from their Midtown location or get it delivered within a limited radius of downtown. 

Pho T & N

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Nashville’s pho scene is stacked. Between VN Pho & Deli, Miss Saigon and Kien Giang, everyone has their spot — and that’s just one block of Charlotte Pike. That can make us skeptical of newer players, but we needn’t be in the case of West Nashville’s Pho T & N. With over 15 kinds of soup on the menu, it’s a solid choice if in the mood for pho, but want to try something new. To wit: the Bo Kho, a Vietnamese soup of stewed beef with carrot and onion chunks, served over rice noodles or with a baguette. It’s one part pho, one part veggie-beef soup — all comfort food. 

Dine in, order it to-go or get it delivered.

beef soup at pho t & n in nashville

Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

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Woodlands is a vegetarian restaurant beloved by both carnivores and vegetarians. A big reason for that is their use of big, bold flavors — easily found in their soups. Staples include traditional Indian Rasam, a spicy tomato-based soup, and Sambar, a vegetable stew made with lentils. The chef’s special is the umami-packed hot & sour soup made with ginger, garlic, and soy sauce, but the sleeper hit is the zesty coconut-tomato, made with coconut milk and perfumed with Indian spices. Pro tip: Try at least two soups every day on Woodlands’ lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (2:30 p.m. on weekends).

Order online for takeout or through Postmates for delivery.

Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

proper bagel

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If there’s a cardinal sin of matzo ball soup-making, it’s under-seasoned matzo balls. Lots of people get the broth right only to whiff on that; but not Proper Bagel. The matzo balls have an earthy, savory flavor, so when they soak up the chicken broth, it basically creates Thanksgiving dinner in a bowl. They also make the nontraditional call to add noodles, meaning this can pull double-duty as chicken noodle soup, in sickness and in health.

Dine-in, order it to-go, or get it delivered.

Porta Via Ristorante e Bar

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There is no shortage of great onion soup in Nashville. All the “cafés” do French onions well — Eastland, Germantown, Park — but Porta Via takes a different tack, and that’s why it’s worth trying. Their Tuscan creamy onion soup has all the satisfying things you want from French onion — beefy broth, caramelized onions — but instead of broiling cheese on top for richness, they mix in cream, which means every bite is equally roast-y, salty, and succulent.

Dine-in, order it to-go, or get it delivered.

porta via restaurant logo

Taqueria del Sol

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You know a place is good if it gets you to do two things: navigate weird operating hours and find parking in 12South. Taqueria del Sol can do both on the strength of its soup menu alone. Shrimp corn chowder is good if a little sweet, a beef chili is robust and comforting, but it’s the pork green chili that keeps people coming back. The fiery, creamy soup is spicy, addictive, and nearly solid at room temperature — which is how you know it’s made with the good stuff — pork fat. It’s so rich, in fact, that you may want to consider ordering a side of turnip greens — so broth-y they’re nearly a soup in their own right — and mixing the two. It’s a stellar combination for those who aren’t afraid to get weird with it in public. For those who prefer to keep their couth, order it online for pickup or get it delivered.

La Hacienda Taqueria

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Everyone knows that if you want great Mexican food in Nashville, you start on Nolensville Road; Fewer people know it’s also a great place to start if you’re craving soup. Every day at La Hacienda, you can get Caldo de Res, a hearty beef stew made with cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and chayote (similar to summer squash). It’s an interesting alternative to the typical tortilla, applying Mexican spices and flavors to an aromatic, beef broth. On Wednesdays, try the chicken variety. On weekends, all bets are off. A rotating cast of pozole, seafood stews, and menudo (a spicy red soup made with tripe) are a fun find for adventurous eaters. Bonus: All of their enormous bowls of soup come with fresh tortillas, so you can make tacos out of any meat that’s left after you slurp down the delectable broth.

Enjoy it at home by ordering takeout or get it delivered.

caldo de res at la hacienda Mexican restaurant on nolensville in nashville

The Yellow Porch Restaurant

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There’s nothing more glorious than cheese soup — ordering it means you’re throwing in the towel on that diet for the day, and that’s where great meals start. Berry Hill diners have been doing just that for over 20 years at the Yellow Porch with their famous celery-blue cheese soup. Made with nearly every dairy product there is — cream, milk, cream cheese, blue cheese — it is downright diabolical, setting off all the same sensors in your brain that a hot wing would. Sure, they throw in some celery and onion for good measure, but let’s be honest: That’s not why anyone’s here.

Yellow Porch offers dine-in service at 50 percent capacity, as well as curbside pickup and limited delivery

food on the table at the yellow porch in berry hill including celery blue cheese soup Leigh Anna Thompson

Noshville Delicatessen

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Not counting the airport, Nashville is down to one Noshville, and that’s a shame for many reasons. A big one is that it’s harder to get your hands on their satisfying soups. The Green Hills location is still alive and kicking, however, and still a source for a piping-hot bowl of creamy tomato-dill, matzo ball, or chicken soup with noodles. (That phrasing is not accidental — that soup is, first and foremost, about the rich, clear chicken broth.) But they may be most famous for their sweet & sour cabbage soup. Made with beef brisket, crushed tomatoes, and brown sugar, it’s a little bit Reuben sandwich, a little bit French onion soup, and a lot of tangy goodness.

Dine in, call for pick-up, or order delivery via DoorDash.

Noshville, Midtown; Photo Noshville

Mas Tacos Por Favor

Begin with the gold standard: Mas Tacos tortilla soup. The impeccable chicken soup — with jalapeno, chipotle, then topped with crispy tortilla strips, fresh corn, and avocado — is a paragon, in Nashville and beyond. If you don’t know it, you either don’t like soup or you just moved here. Also on the daily menu is the zingy pozole verde: a chicken-and-hominy stew flavored with tomatillos, fresh cilantro, and spicy poblanos. It’s bright, citrusy, and satisfying. 

It can be tricky to find their menu online (they don’t have a website), so bookmark this Facebook photo, check Instagram for their daily specials and aguas frescas and call to order. 

Mas Tacos/Facebook

Hunters Station

With six restaurants under one roof, East Nashville’s Hunters Station is a no-brainer for variety. Vui’s Kitchen serves vegan, beef, and chicken pho, the latter two of which are made with 12-hour bone broth. The chicken pho is a standout, topped with crunchy fried shallots, but be sure to add the available hoisin to give it the needed sweetness.

Across the food hall, find The Grilled Cheeserie’s roasted red pepper and tomato soup alongside their famous creamy old-fashioned take. Made with country-ham stock and heavy cream, it is blessedly unlike the “old-fashioned tomato” most of us grew up on: Campbell’s.

Hunters Station restaurants are open for dine-in with a reduced capacity, or you can order online for pickup, curbside or delivery.

Ashley Brantley

Green Asia

Nestled in a corner of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, Green Asia quietly delivers some of the best deals in town. For $1.25 diners can score a cup of egg drop or hot & sour soup, or shell out a whopping $2 for the wonton. All are excellent additions to their hot buffet, but the hot & sour in particular is something special. Most hot & sour soups lean too heavily on being spicy or sweet; Green Asia does neither, opting instead for a rich, balanced, eggy broth full of depth, umami, and a little bit of heat.

Green Asia is open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for takeout every day except Monday. 

green Asia menu at Nashville Farmers Market Ashley Brantley

Skull's Rainbow Room

You can’t have a soup map without bisque, and nobody in Nashville does it better than Skull’s. Their lobster bisque is buttery, rich, full of shellfish and laced with just enough booze to cut through the cream — in short, everything seafood bisque should be. All it needs is a twist of fresh-cracked pepper from the grinder, which their staff happily offers, table-side. Skull’s is operating at limited capacity, so definitely make a reservation for dine-in.

lobster bisque at skull’s rainbow room in printer’s alley in nashville

The Arcade Nashville

The Arcade is stealthily a soup destination — if you know where to look. Ajora Kitchen doesn’t call anything “soup” per se, but many of their Ethiopian dishes scratch that itch, and you can order via GrubHub for delivery on weekdays.

Soup seekers can also stop into Varallo’s Restaurant for chili — the family’s been serving it for more than 110 years — in addition to ordering via Postmates or GrubHub.

Red Perch also serves made-from-scratch clam chowder that’s arguably the best in the city (The top-secret ingredient: bacon.) as well as unusual soup specials from time to time, such as the shrimp congee with Chinese sausage, fresh ginger, and fried garlic. Order pickup or delivery from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

shrimp congee with Chinese sausage, fresh ginger and fried garlic from red perch in Nashville Red Perch Instagram

Bare Bones Butcher

Bare Bones Butcher is already legendary for their decadent sandwiches, but they also apply their made-from-scratch expertise to chili. Get their all-beef, no-bean chili as a side for outdoor dining or grab a quart for home from the case at The Nations shop. Made with beef shank and cooked low and slow, it’s seasoned with the spice blend they use to make andouille sausage.

chili topped with red onions and cheddar at Bare Bones
All-beef chili at Bare Bones Butcher
Ashley Brantley

Midtown Cafe

The soup of the day at Midtown Cafe has to be the most benched player of all time. For 30 years, people have been coming in, sitting down and saying “I’ll start with the lemon artichoke soup.” There’s a reason for that: you don’t mess with a winner, and this absolutely is. The ingredients are simple — artichokes and lemons, blended with creamy chicken broth — yet they create something that’s more than the sum of its parts: a tongue-tingling wakeup call to begin a meal.

Visit their website to order it for curbside pickup or delivery.

lemon artichoke soup at midtown cafe in nashville Midtown Cafe Instagram

Otaku Ramen

With the most comprehensive ramen menu in Nashville, the hits at Otaku Ramen (Tennessee Tonkotsu, Spicy Miso) are so beloved that people often forget to try something new. Let this serve as a reminder to do just that, starting with the Monster Style. The behemoth starts with luscious pork bone broth and toothsome noodles, which are then topped with pork belly, ground pork and ground chicken. The bowl is finished with tart pickled ginger, fresh scallions, and a staple soy-marinated egg. It is salty, savory, over-the-top comfort food at its finest. 

Order Otaku for delivery or pick it up on the west side, east side or in The Gulch, the latter of which also offers socially distanced dine-in. 

Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo Grill

On their menu, Broadway Brewhouse claims fame for two things: bushwhackers and soup. If you’ve had their singular ‘whacker, you know their soup must be strong to share the masthead, and indeed it is. Every day they serve Mojo Gumbo, and crawfish etouffee (which is not technically soup but totally is — served over rice with piquant, peppery gravy). This is one place, though, where you should always ask about the soups of the day, which are typically some combination of cream, seafood and spice. 

Pick up from their Midtown location or get it delivered within a limited radius of downtown. 

Pho T & N

Nashville’s pho scene is stacked. Between VN Pho & Deli, Miss Saigon and Kien Giang, everyone has their spot — and that’s just one block of Charlotte Pike. That can make us skeptical of newer players, but we needn’t be in the case of West Nashville’s Pho T & N. With over 15 kinds of soup on the menu, it’s a solid choice if in the mood for pho, but want to try something new. To wit: the Bo Kho, a Vietnamese soup of stewed beef with carrot and onion chunks, served over rice noodles or with a baguette. It’s one part pho, one part veggie-beef soup — all comfort food. 

Dine in, order it to-go or get it delivered.

beef soup at pho t & n in nashville

Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

Woodlands is a vegetarian restaurant beloved by both carnivores and vegetarians. A big reason for that is their use of big, bold flavors — easily found in their soups. Staples include traditional Indian Rasam, a spicy tomato-based soup, and Sambar, a vegetable stew made with lentils. The chef’s special is the umami-packed hot & sour soup made with ginger, garlic, and soy sauce, but the sleeper hit is the zesty coconut-tomato, made with coconut milk and perfumed with Indian spices. Pro tip: Try at least two soups every day on Woodlands’ lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (2:30 p.m. on weekends).

Order online for takeout or through Postmates for delivery.

Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

proper bagel

If there’s a cardinal sin of matzo ball soup-making, it’s under-seasoned matzo balls. Lots of people get the broth right only to whiff on that; but not Proper Bagel. The matzo balls have an earthy, savory flavor, so when they soak up the chicken broth, it basically creates Thanksgiving dinner in a bowl. They also make the nontraditional call to add noodles, meaning this can pull double-duty as chicken noodle soup, in sickness and in health.

Dine-in, order it to-go, or get it delivered.

Porta Via Ristorante e Bar

There is no shortage of great onion soup in Nashville. All the “cafés” do French onions well — Eastland, Germantown, Park — but Porta Via takes a different tack, and that’s why it’s worth trying. Their Tuscan creamy onion soup has all the satisfying things you want from French onion — beefy broth, caramelized onions — but instead of broiling cheese on top for richness, they mix in cream, which means every bite is equally roast-y, salty, and succulent.

Dine-in, order it to-go, or get it delivered.

porta via restaurant logo

Taqueria del Sol

You know a place is good if it gets you to do two things: navigate weird operating hours and find parking in 12South. Taqueria del Sol can do both on the strength of its soup menu alone. Shrimp corn chowder is good if a little sweet, a beef chili is robust and comforting, but it’s the pork green chili that keeps people coming back. The fiery, creamy soup is spicy, addictive, and nearly solid at room temperature — which is how you know it’s made with the good stuff — pork fat. It’s so rich, in fact, that you may want to consider ordering a side of turnip greens — so broth-y they’re nearly a soup in their own right — and mixing the two. It’s a stellar combination for those who aren’t afraid to get weird with it in public. For those who prefer to keep their couth, order it online for pickup or get it delivered.

La Hacienda Taqueria

Everyone knows that if you want great Mexican food in Nashville, you start on Nolensville Road; Fewer people know it’s also a great place to start if you’re craving soup. Every day at La Hacienda, you can get Caldo de Res, a hearty beef stew made with cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and chayote (similar to summer squash). It’s an interesting alternative to the typical tortilla, applying Mexican spices and flavors to an aromatic, beef broth. On Wednesdays, try the chicken variety. On weekends, all bets are off. A rotating cast of pozole, seafood stews, and menudo (a spicy red soup made with tripe) are a fun find for adventurous eaters. Bonus: All of their enormous bowls of soup come with fresh tortillas, so you can make tacos out of any meat that’s left after you slurp down the delectable broth.

Enjoy it at home by ordering takeout or get it delivered.

caldo de res at la hacienda Mexican restaurant on nolensville in nashville

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The Yellow Porch Restaurant

There’s nothing more glorious than cheese soup — ordering it means you’re throwing in the towel on that diet for the day, and that’s where great meals start. Berry Hill diners have been doing just that for over 20 years at the Yellow Porch with their famous celery-blue cheese soup. Made with nearly every dairy product there is — cream, milk, cream cheese, blue cheese — it is downright diabolical, setting off all the same sensors in your brain that a hot wing would. Sure, they throw in some celery and onion for good measure, but let’s be honest: That’s not why anyone’s here.

Yellow Porch offers dine-in service at 50 percent capacity, as well as curbside pickup and limited delivery

food on the table at the yellow porch in berry hill including celery blue cheese soup Leigh Anna Thompson

Noshville Delicatessen

Not counting the airport, Nashville is down to one Noshville, and that’s a shame for many reasons. A big one is that it’s harder to get your hands on their satisfying soups. The Green Hills location is still alive and kicking, however, and still a source for a piping-hot bowl of creamy tomato-dill, matzo ball, or chicken soup with noodles. (That phrasing is not accidental — that soup is, first and foremost, about the rich, clear chicken broth.) But they may be most famous for their sweet & sour cabbage soup. Made with beef brisket, crushed tomatoes, and brown sugar, it’s a little bit Reuben sandwich, a little bit French onion soup, and a lot of tangy goodness.

Dine in, call for pick-up, or order delivery via DoorDash.

Noshville, Midtown; Photo Noshville

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