Soup rarely wins the group chat when everyone is deciding where to eat. It should get a little more consideration. A bowl of butternut squash, spicy coconut soup or seafood gumbo can be exactly what you want for lunch, especially once the afternoon stops feeling like July.
Birmingham doesn’t need a dramatic cold front to justify the order. These local menus give you several ways to make soup the point of the meal, from a straightforward sandwich pairing to a slower evening in English Village. Here’s where we’d start, depending on what sounds good.
For a Fall Lunch: Butternut Squash at Brick & Tin
Brick & Tin’s Mountain Brook menu currently lists both butternut squash soup and mushroom soup, available by the cup, bowl or quart. The butternut squash is the obvious seasonal choice; mushroom is an alternative when you’d rather skip the sweeter direction.
The useful detail here is how easily soup fits into the rest of the order. The Mountain Brook online menu lists a choice of soup or salad with its panini, along with a separate soup-and-salad combination. You can make a bowl the main event or put a cup beside the sandwich you already had in mind.
For the classic pairing, there’s a grilled cheese on the menu. For something more substantial, consider the brisket panini with caramelized onions and white barbecue sauce. Our vote is to choose the soup first, then work backward to the sandwich.
Where: 2901 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook.
See the Mountain Brook menu. Soup selections can change, so check the location’s current offering before ordering.
For a Little Heat: Spicy Coconut Soup at Surin West
If your idea of comfort food needs some spice, start with Surin West’s spicy coconut soup. The restaurant’s published menu describes a garnish of cilantro, mushrooms and scallions. It’s a different direction from squash or a familiar cup of tomato soup, and a good reason to pay attention to the soup section before moving straight to noodles or sushi.
Order it as the opening course, then decide how ambitious you want the rest of the meal to be. The broader Surin menu also includes spicy hot-and-sour shrimp soup and wonton soup, though offerings vary by location.
For this guide, we’re pointing you to the Five Points South restaurant rather than assuming every Surin has an identical menu. If you’re making the trip for a particular soup or protein choice, confirm it with that location.
Where: 1918 11th Avenue South, Birmingham.
Visit Surin West’s website and menu links.
For a Seafood Order: Gumbo at The Fish Market on Highway 280
Sometimes the soup decision is easy: you want gumbo. The Fish Market on Highway 280 lists seafood gumbo on its regular menu, alongside lobster bisque. That gives you two distinct options without waiting to hear the day’s special.
Choose the gumbo when seafood soup is what brought you in. If bisque sounds more appealing, it’s worth knowing that’s on the menu too. You can keep the order focused on a bowl or use a cup to begin a larger seafood meal.
The restaurant also lists clam chowder as seasonal. Treat that as something to ask about, rather than a guaranteed October offering. Seasonal on a menu doesn’t tell you exactly when a particular batch will be available.
Where: 5409 U.S. Highway 280, Birmingham.
Browse The Fish Market’s menu.
For Letting the Kitchen Decide: Soup du Jour at Chez Lulu
At Chez Lulu in English Village, the soup order begins with a question: what’s today’s?
The dinner menu lists a house-made soup du jour prepared with vegetarian stocks, offered by the cup or bowl. The specific soup rotates, so this is the stop for readers who like choosing from what the kitchen is making that day.
Ask about the soup before settling on the rest of dinner. A cup can start the meal; a bowl can anchor a smaller order. And if you’re choosing it for dietary reasons, confirm the complete ingredients and garnishes, since a vegetarian stock doesn’t necessarily mean a dairy-free soup.
Where: English Village, Mountain Brook.
See Chez Lulu’s dinner menu.
The next time lunch feels like a choice between the same two sandwiches, look one section over on the menu. Soup deserves more than an automatic “cup or bowl?” at the end of an order.
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