Zoup!

I ordered a whole veggie-​terranean wrap and it came with hardly anything in it. I thought the restaurant was sub-​par my first time here and decided to give it another chance. This time was unacceptable. Panera is next door and gives good portions for the price paid.

This place is terrible. My first time here and every service person was turned away from the counter and doing absolutely nothing. The first person to even glance at me seemed to expect me to shout out orders. Um, sorry, but a «how may I help you» would be nice.
Bread was way too hard and dry while the soup was overly salted. Don’t even bother.

I wish I had read the reviews before deciding to head to Zoup for my lunch break at 12:15. I expected a wait and knew I’d be taking it back to eat at my desk, but after standing at the counter for 45 minutes waiting on a cold sandwich and salad, I was a little irritated.
The layout is terrible and I couldn’t figure out why they only had 1 person making the sandwiches/​salads and a trainee on the cash register by herself.
The tipping point for me was when the «Customer Service Manager», who had a very grumpy look on her face (but seemed to be doing her best) asked the kid who took my order something about Stacie’s order (that’s me). He shrugged his shoulders, and there lay my food while the entire staff looked around confused for about 3 minutes. I finally asked if it was mine, to which they threw it in a bag and I was finally able to leave.
I would consider returning for a bowl of soup, which seemed to be delivered much faster, during a non-​peak hour, but given that my meal wasn’t even very good I will most likely be lunching at the Panera Cares up the street from now on.

The last time I went to Zoup, I ordered a soup sandwich combo. They were really really busy and people were waiting for a long time for their food so I was suprised then they called my name. I looked in and doubled checked with the girl that it was Sara T and not some other girl and she assured me it was my order. I peered in quickly and saw the soup that I ordered and went back to my office. Opened the bag, and sure enough it was tuna fish which is not for everyone and NOT what I ordered. Didn’t have enough time to run back so I ended up paying $ 9 for a tiny salad that was mediocre at best and tossed the sandwich.
I wrote an email to explain that maybe they should think about using order #s instead of names or something. Provided feedback several times and called the restraurant hoping to at least get a coupon since I paid $ 9 for some lettuce and never received a response or apolagy. Instead they put me on hold and hung up. Overall, poor experience, food mediocre, service bad, and no customer support whatsoever.
I vowed not to return but today I was feeling under the weather and wanted Chicken Soup. I looked on the website — said they were open at 10:30 so I walked over around 10:55 and the place was closed. Someone saw me but did not bother to open the door despite it being less than 5 minutes before opening. All in all, I wouldn’t recommend anyone waste their time.

Soups good. Sanwiches are bad, my 8yr old litterally spit out his grilled cheese. My turkey sandwich was boring and flavorless. Tables were dirty. but… Soups good.

* During lunch the line is always long and slow moving
*Far left line is for soup only orders — easy (and only) way to skip the line
* The guy in the soup area gives samples while you’re in line which usually makes me feel better about the wait
* The female manager always seems grumpy & they always seem to be training new employees during the busiest hour
* Seating blows because there are more group tables than individual or two-​seaters so as a person eating alone I feel in the way and obligated to eat at the bar where I’m up against the window and strangers walk by and drool over my dish. Fun!
* Lastly, prices are a bit much for the lobster bisque in particular (that’s all I go there for), but when I’m in the right mood, I don’t mind paying $ 7 for a cup.
PS, I don’t suggest the sourdough bowl. I tried it once and won’t ever do it again — too soury!

This place could be so amazing. And it is VERY good… just a few drawbacks to think of before you walk in
If you want soup — A+! Rotating menu, free samples before you order. Healthy options, nice and thick soups and delicious!
It is in a convenient location. if you work downtown and want a good warm lunch, check it out
But inside. not the best. The counter area and ordering is a little crowded and tough — and that is without people!
Now, the soup… amazing. Chicken pot pie, chowder, chili, tortilla, YUM YUM YUM
the sandwiches though… a little to be desired. A grilled cheese where you have to search for the cheese — WHAT?! I wish I had stuck with just soup
Go in and try out the soup. Sit down and enjoy once you maze through the ordering process… or take out with you. it is GREAT soup you will enjoy, but only a GOOD overall restaurant and experience.

Nope.
Zoup has decent soup, and a big variety. Vegetarian and dairy free and possibly vegan soups all clearly marked.
What really makes this place terrible is the layout. Anywhere else — you order on one end of the counter, pickup at the other. Zoup does both at the same end. So instead of paying then waiting for pickup, you wait to order, then wait to pickup. We watched several people form new lines on the wrong end, only to become annoyed when they figure it out. The area you wait to pickup is tiny.
Rearrange the setup. You’re also supposed to be able to sample soups first, but as a super busy lunch spot, this doesn’t work. Having only a few employees who work very slowly ruins an already bad system. It should not take more than a couple minutes to receive an order of soup, when the soup is sitting in a pot a few feet away, ready to go.
Lastly, this place needs music. Looking around you see a bunch of cold people slowly eating soup in silence, and thats depressing. Music would fix this.

When you open the door into Zoup, the first thing you notice is the smell. The smell is not an inviting aroma hinting at deliciousness to come. It’s the smell you’d expect at one of those KFC/​Taco Bell combined locations, except the ventilation at Zoup is even worse.
After the smell surrounds you, be prepared for one of the more disorganized counters in Boston. The line hits the counter where all the soups are, but you don’t order the soup at this soup counter, which is only for sampling. Instead, customers make their way toward the back counter, dodging other customers who already have their orders in. Under this mish-​mashed system, expect to get a coup of soup, on display at the first counter, in about 10 minutes.
As for the food, my chicken-​pot-​pie soup was fine. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. It was hot, edible, and exceeded my very low expectations. Much better soup, in an environment that doesn’t smell like a KFC famous bowl stuffed with a Doritos taco, can probably be had at any deli, or Panera.

Zoup! (Note the !!!) has become one of my favorite go-​to school (read that as Suffolk) time stop-​offs for, well, Soup! Zoup! makes pretty darn Ok Soup! They do. Really.
Things I like at Zoup! include:
–the chicken and dumpling Soup!
–the French onion Soup!
–the Italian wedding Soup!
–mixed green Salads!
–fresh bread with Soup! and Salad!
–window Seating!
–Wi-​Fi!
Normally I would this with ‘I like pizza.‘
But .
I think this one is best left as ‘I like Soup! and Salad! and Bread!’

I really liked Zoup when they first opened. The lobster bisque was always very tasty and chock full of lobster chunks, the bread was decent, and it was not that bad a price. They also have a signed pic of the Soup Nazi, which is kinda cool. It was also new so I was willing to overlook the crowding issue. It probably would have been 4 stars at that point.
Then I had some of their sandwiches and they were all lackluster and over priced. Starting to think about 3 stars.
Then I realized the crowd situation didn’t get better. Then I realized the other soups weren’t that special either. Now we’re at 3 stars.
Then I had 2 different soups that tasted like they poured a bottle of vinegar into them as the base. The first was a gazpacho and I don’t even remember the second. They were gross. Then I realized the crowd issue was mostly the fault of the really chaotic, poorly designed layout for ordering and then paying and then picking up your food that results in a massive bottleneck around the cashier. I order soup from that’s in a giant pot on display that I can get a sample of… instantly…but pay for it and it’s a 15 minute wait. It doesn’t make sense. Now we’re at the present: 2 stars.
The Soup Nazi would definitely scold me over this review, but if his soup was from Zoup I wouldn’t feel too badly.

I wasn’t feeling so great yesterday at work so when lunchtime rolled around, I wanted some chicken noodle soup to warm me up and make me feel better. Luckily, Zoup is literally downstairs from my office. There was a line when I got in and it moved pretty slow but that’s because they offered samples at the beginning of the line. The employees were all really friendly there.
The soup was good and I felt much better after! I would have liked to see more chicken in the soup because it was mostly noodles. The multigrain bread was good — a perfect vehicle to dunk into the soup and I loved the grainy texture.
I’d definitely come back if I’m feeling under the weather because nothing beats chicken noodle soup when you’re sick!

It’s cool that they you let you sample the soups before you buy them. The lobster bisque was indeed awful so I was very glad I did not have to purchase and eat it. The tomato basil, however, was excellent and I purchased it in a sourdough bread bowl. Very tasty and satisfying. The interior has potential. It seems like they are trying to be like Panera in providing a comfortable place to eat and lounge, but it was rather dirty. Crumbs on the floor, tables not wiped down, etc. I will return for the soup, but I think I will be taking it to go. Staff was friendly. They accept Discover.

It’s just ok here and I really don’t like their ordering process at all. You order soup which is all «ready» and then you seem to have to wait a few minutes until they call your name. If you are ordering soup which you can see if huge pots in front of you when you order — why do you have to wait? I’ll stick with ZO for my soup which is just a few feet from Zoup!

Not only did these people actually make me stand in lunchtime line before allowing me to use their bathroom, but the lobster bisque was a truly gag-​worthy bowl of mostly cream.
Never again.

First-​I love how the restaurant has a signed picture of the Soup Nazi behind the counter! Nice touch!
Came here for a quick bite to eat a few hours after the Bruins parade. The place was packed with happy, hungry parade goers (or…wenters…), so it was hard to find a seat. Thankfully my husband left me for his mistress aka his dissertation research for the month, so I was alone and was able to find a seat easily. He would have cramped my style if he were with me. We’d have to wait for a table with two chairs together! He can stay with his mistress. :)
Anyway I was on my way to say goodbye to a friend at the airport, so I wanted a quick bite and since I don’t eat soup in the summer time unless I have to stay indoors and the AC is on igloo level cold, I got a half sandwich– the chicken toscana to be exact. I love that they serve half sandwiches even if you don’t get soup or salad! You can get a half salad too. This place is definitely good for somebody who doesn’t want to be fat. And for somebody who had part of her esophagus and stomach surgically removed so it is difficult to eat an entire sandwich in a short period of time.
Anyway, about the sandwich. Yum yum yum yum yummmmmmm. YUM. I can’t wait to go back and try their Zoup! I saw a sicilian style pizza soup. I definitely should have sampled that.
If you’re going for the first time, it’s one of those places that screams your name as your order is ready. It would suck if you had the same name AND same ORDER as somebody. I wonder how many times THAT has happened!

Zoup has officially converted me to a «soup person». Never in my life have I ever eaten so much soup and I can’t get enough! I think what sold me was the fact that you can sample any of the soups. Honestly, I’m a bit picky when it comes to soup and I would never order a soup without sampling it first. Because of the sampling, I tried a number of soups I never would have ordered and LOVED them. The tomato, spinach, brown rice has to be one of my favorites as well as the french onion, Italian wedding, and sesame noodle bowl. The sample line/​ordering line can be a little confusing for people who don’t know what’s going on (order at the end, sample at the front).
I’ve had the cali veggie wrap and it was good (although nothing special) and I’ve never had any of the salads. Their nutrition info is online but it’s important to remember that the info is for a «side» size and not a «cup» size.
I think what really makes Zoup 5-​stars for me is the incredibly friendly staff. They take the time to remember your name and always have a smile. They really do seem to care about their customers and I appreciate that every time I go to Zoup.

Gotta give these guys some love since they stay open until 8pm and I have late lunches. I gave them some space to work out the noobs and it seems like they have, but again I won’t ever be visiting during prime lunch rush. I found that what was listed online and what was in the store was a little different, but I think they’re listing less on their site. The bread bowl is great, not too big like Panera and not too weird like Bruegger’s (but nothing on the Quizno’s that I still miss). It comes just under $ 7 is more than filling.
My only sadness, especially after reading raves on the Chicken Pot Pie, is that it doesn’t have a flaky pie crust as listed on the site, but it had some crumbly topping that was gooood… but not pot pie enough for me.

Stopped in here on Saturday passing by to go to Quincy Market. The location is across from City Hall. This just opened and looks like it caters to the mid week lunch crowd. Surprised it was open on a weekend but it was still crowded. The set up here is strange and when you enter, you are not sure where to order. The menu consists of soups of all types, salads and sandwiches. It is set up like a Panera/​Au Bön Pain style, with two team members behind the counter preparing items. The thing I found weird is they give out samples of soup to customers which is sort of like an ice cream shop. Soup is not ice cream and I think that idea is odd, given that this could become cumbersome on busy days.
The soups were pretty good with a large array like Potato Cheese, Tomato Bisque and other concoctions. All come with a side of bread, but why have a side of bread when you are having a sandwich? Weird! The sandwiches were all prepared in wrap form or in panini style and really small. The food is actually pretty good. You could order a half sandwich with soup or salad. Prices were okay, kind of steep for just a cup of soup and a sandwich but it is the city so I would expect this. The staff is friendly and helpful although a little lost and cannot imagine how they keep up on a busy weekday, the place just opened so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Not bad, but scrap the sampling part.

Okay, I am currently eating my second order from Zoup… first off, the food tastes great, it does, great selection and great food. However, this comes at a price, a very high one at that…$ 10 — $ 11 for a soup and half a sandwich is TOO much in my book so this place is a «treat» for me.
Their sandwiches are skimpy. Their soup is tasty. They are SUPER busy and I strongly suggest ordering and PAYING online first, takes two minutes to get your stuff as opposed to 15 — 20 min. Your choice.
On my second order they forgot my bread, I normally wouldn’t care, but again, they are over-​priced for what they offer. The quality is above that of Souper Salad or Finagle right near by.
Conclusion, if you have money to burn, then go here a couple times a week, otherwise its a treat. I hope they come out with coupons via their daily email because I don’t plan on going back anytime soon after this.
UPDATE:
I have gone here a few more times since, the service has been good, the food is solid, sandwichs suck, but the salads are really good. Still too pricey, but I still go here fairly frequently, its a treat.