Spicy Monkey Soup Co.

I am total sucker for a great grilled cheese. But a grilled cheese that feels moderately healthy? Well, I’m doubly sold on that! I had the apple pie which was a fun, sweet take with apples and brown sugar. And bacon, because why not? The tomato basil soup was flavorful and the perfect temperature and consistency. It made a great comfort food lunch, and I’ll totally be back when I’m in the area.

Two major complaints about this place. First and foremost is that they are not serving grilled cheeses! — they are toasting the bread through a conveyor-​belt machine and not grilling it. These sandwiches never touch a griddle or butter. Just look at all the pictures Unilocalers have posted. The sandwich would have been good if it were prepared the same and then grilled instead of toasted.
Second is the branding… I tried this place on a whim during an unexpected visit to the French Market because of the huge grilled cheese sign. It is only when I came back to Unilocal after my poor experience that I noticed this is actually a soup joint — it was not clear at all while at the location that soup was their specialty.
Would be interested to go back to try the soup, but I won’t be back because of the lackluster, falsely advertised, toasted sandwiches.

I’ll cut to the chase: this place is awful and if it weren’t for so many first-​time customers that pass through Ogilvie then they’d be out of business. I’ve only gotten food here once and that was enough. I’ll start with the service or lack thereof. I walked up to the counter and three employees just stood there staring into space. They all looked stoned out of their minds and I finally had to ask if they were open. It was after noon so they were but I couldn’t think of a more polite way to tell them to snap out of it.
I thought that a group of stoners could probably make a decent grilled cheese but even that proved to be too complicated for his crew. They put two pieces of ice-​cold bread and cheese and a slice of tomato on their heated conveyor and sent it through. However, they got paranoid that it would overcook so they pulled it our early. The cheese hadn’t even melted. Then they crushed it stuffing it into a bag. The sandwich was cold and disgusting. I’ll never eat there again especially considering all of the other delicious options at the French Market.

Got the caprese which went super well with the tomato basil. The soup could have used a little bit of salt and pepper but was a good choice for a cold day.
The backyard looks absolutely mouthwatering. Will definitely come back to try some of their other meaty creations!

Lots of kind words, but my lasting memory echoes those reviewers who sound the service to be lacking.
My grilled cheese and tomato soup were solid. No argument there — four stars. But the guy working the stand seemed so put off with my presence that I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Also, as others have mentioned — 10 minutes for a grilled cheese? We all want it done right but that is a bit much.

I don’t crave Grilled cheese sandwiches too often at work, but when I do I go here. Located conveniently in the French Market this place offers what I call «gourmet» grill cheese sandwiches. It’s a little pricey ($ 9.00), but you’re not just getting a slice of cheese in between two slices of bread. I normally get the Fallbrook Grill cheese which includes: Turkey, Avocado (yummy), Bacon, Swiss cheese, muenster cheese, chipotle mayo. At this point you might as well just call it a normal sandwich, but I like it’s still referred to as a «grilled cheese» sandwich. It’s pretty filling and I usually don’t finish the whole thing. I have also tried the one with the apples and brown sugar (forgot what it was called).
Sad to say I still need to try the soup next time.

Thanks to quick thinking, we nabbed a deal at Spicy Monkey at the Chicago French Market, which was as good as its full-​sized restaurant brethren. The cashier had what I’m beginning to think of as the «Spicy Monkey Sass.»
Always good.

Soups are a better value than the thick carb galore sandwich with sparse filling.
It’s great to be able to customized your own soup but taste and flavor is compromised. The more ingredients you add on, the soup base flavor becomes absent.

For a company that serves up mostly grilled cheese sandwiches and soup, they know how to differentiate themselves. What makes a caprese sandwich a crowd standout? A terrific fresh blend of herbs and oil and the best bread. Their homemade soup is great and you get to pick the toppings.

Wish I came here sooner, as I’m always looking for my soup fix. I am picky and look for places that have healthy soups yet are tasty. So far, Specialty’s and Au Bön Pain fit that bill. However, it’s quite expensive, especially for Specialty’s as it’s $ 5.50 (after tax) for a regular sized soup, that’s just barely satisfying.
At Spicy Monkey, I got the 12oz tomato basil, LOADED with chicken, broccoli, brown rice, red peppers, and mushrooms including a free piece of multigrain bread for $ 4.50 (after tax)! At Specialty’s, there’s only the complimentary focaccia bread, which I can only imagine how unhealthy that is. Yes, the tomato basil wasn’t your traditional heavy creamy soup, but it was definitely satisfying in flavor and in portion. That loaded soup, in which you can add any toppings for no additional charge, is a meal in itself. Also, while places like Au Bön Pain offer lower calorie soups, they are often packed with sodium. Not here though! Everything was perfectly light, fresh, and above all, tasty!
What’s also great is that they have a reward punch card! 9 purchases and get your 10^th meal free! And even better is their service. The owner I believe was very patient and helpful with me as I took forever to decide what I wanted.
After paying, he asks me, «Will you do me a favor?» and I just look at him and he goes, «Just have a good day.» My day is made because of excellent service (people) like this.
You can bet that this will solely be my soup place from now on. Can’t beat tasty, healthy, affordable, and exceptional service!

Was in Chicago for the weekend to visit friends and stopped by for lunch. The Caprese and Trust Me sandwiches were awesome!
The clam chowder was on par with some of the best I’ve had in New England. Definitely home made and not from a can. My husband liked his french onion soup and said it’s as good as the ones he’s had at expensive steak restaurants.
Overall, the ingredients were fresh, everything tasted home made, and prices were fair.
We’ll come back again the next time we’re in the area.

I’m bananas over this place! (see what I did there?)
Ok, on a serious note — this place is great for soup. There just aren’t a ton of good soup places in the West Loop so I was thrilled to find this gem nestled in the Chicago French Market. I’ve had the grilled cheese, too, and it was good. Not like «OMG MUST RUN TO MONKEY» good, but good none the less. I had the one with apples (forget the name) and to me it wasn’t a «grilled» cheese. It was a toasted cheese. Grilled cheese to me is slathered in butter and, well, grilled. This was toasted in an oven or panini maker or something similar. Probably healthier, but doesn’t have that greasy diner or how mom made it grilled taste.
Back to the soup… OMG MUST RUN TO MONKEY. Its great. My favorite is the split pea, and they will add ham or croutons or other items from a small list of additions. The soup is a little pricier than I would expect to pay — so thankfully they dont charge for the extras, but considering it is homemade, and tastes like it, its worth it.
The staff is fun and friendly, and work as fast as they can (considering small space) too. The owner is a little quirky and I mean that in a good way. Love that they announce their soups of the day (usually) on Facebook. Only downside is a limited beverage selection, but you can grab one around the corner from the City Fresh market.

This is my favorite American food joint in the French Market. Here’s why:
I came here for lunch for the first time today around 1:15 when the lunch crowd had died down a bit. I stared at the menu for about a minute before the friendly dude at the register had me try a sample of their tomato basil soup and explained the menu to me. He didn’t rush me, and even engaged in conversation. He was goofy and made me feel right at home, which is hard to do in what is basically a glorified, upscale food court.
I decided on the tomato soup with red peppers and pulled chicken as well as the Evil Fish sandwich, which was a tuna melt oozing with cheddar and provolone. I ended up getting a hand poured ginger ale as well, after a stranger decided to comp my meal for me (that’s another story for another time)!
The food was so hearty and flavorful. They did NOT skimp on cheese, which was oozing and lent itself well to dipping in the soup.
I can’t wait to go back and try the rest of their sandwiches. I wonder if they do catering? I’ll bet my office would love to order lunch here some time.
This is a solid lunch option at very reasonable prices, especially considering the restaurants that surround it. I will not only be back for the food, but for the service as well.

My Son has been craving their sandwiches and we went back today. He was so happy, and the «Trust me «was love at first bite for my 8 year old!

$ 8.50 for scrawny sandwich with basic bottles BBQ sauce on it?
I’m the sucker so I can’t even hate your hustle!
I’m have to take quality over quantity but this was something my three year old could’ve made with ingredients from Aldi’s.
Never again.
Precooked bland chicken was run through a rolling toaster and some BBQ sauce squirted on top. Go ANYWHERE else in the French Market. Disgraceful price gauging.

Good and friendly. The tomato basil had a nice tang – added croutons and rice. Americana grilled cheese was good too.

Now that I am not in the West Loop anymore a bit of nostalgia is hitting me and I am writing all of my much delayed reviews for places around there.
Now with Spicy Monkey I’ve actually never had their soup. I am not a huge soup person unless it’s like an asian noodle soup or something like that. I have tried their Trust Me with the blueberry jam and provolone cheese (I think the market deli there took their idea for one of their sandwiches from this sandwich).
I actually enjoyed the sandwich and think the price was fair for being downtown, but it wasn’t a standout. I guess that’s why I’ve only eaten at Spicy Monkey once.

I’ve been to Spicy Monkey for lunch a few times and always been incredibly satisfied. A warning about going for lunch though — the line gets long, be sure to allow time to wait a bit to order and then pickup your sandwich/​soup.
Despite advertising themselves as a soup company, I’ve never had their soup. Maybe I will in the upcoming winter months, but thus far I’ve only had their grilled cheese sandwiches. And actually I’ve generally had whatever they have on special. My favorite special thus far has been the grilled cheese with turkey, avocado, and bacon. It was great, amazing how the flavors actually worked together in a warm, gooey grilled cheese sandwich. I keep planning on trying their Backyard sandwich but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
What really put Spicy Monkey over the edge for me was the service. It’s very slow but the servers are very nice. You can get a slightly customized soda and so I wanted Vanilla Sprite (which is phenomenal but not produced so you can’t get it anywhere). The server apologized and said they were out of vanilla and asked if I wanted anything else but I just said no thanks. Instead she insisted on giving me a free root beer! That’s how service should be!
And all for a very reasonable price!

UPDATE: Meat balls are back! Upping rating to four stars.
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This review is for the Chicago French Market (Clinton Street) location.
Soup and sandwich stand in the Chicago French Market. Selection of everyday soups, specialty soups, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Everyday veggie broth and tomato basil soups can be customized with an array of toppings.
PROS: Standard veggie broth and tomato basil soups are always good. Topping selections are nice. Reasonable prices. Good service. The owner manning the register is always a cut up. One of the better stands in the market.
CONS: Not much wrong with this place. The specialty soups are hit or miss. The best topping, meatballs, has been discontinued in favor of boring steak chunks optimistically referred to as «carne asada.» This new steak topping is so dull it ruins otherwise good tomato soup. Do not order the carne asada.

The name caught my attention because I love monkeys + spicy food! GREAT NAME!
I came here for lunch at around 12:40PM on a Friday with a friend. there was no wait in ordering so I briefly reviewed the menu and made my order… It took about 5 – 10 minutes for the food to come out… which isn’t bad knowing that the food is fresh.
Food:
Caprese ($ 7.75) — contains Mozzarella & Provolone with Tomatoes & Basil Pesto… warm delicious. filling! I loved the sesame seed bread that they use – definitely adds a more flavor to the sandwich… I think it’s Great choice if you do not want/​eat meat!
Soup: I didn’t personally try the soup, but my friend that tried the tomato soup said it was good. good to dip your sandwich in. :)
Costs: ranges from $ 6.75-$ 8.50 for sandwiches and $ 4.00-$ 5.50 for soup… gotta get soup to dip the sandwiches in!.. yes it is little bit on the higher end for a sandwich because you can probably get a sandwich & soup + apple/​chips deal at Panera… but it’s about the experience right?
Atmosphere: it’s a food booth in a busy marketplace area so you don’t really have anywhere to sit, but the booth itself is decorated well with photos of monkeys and such… I might be biased because I am in love with monkeys… if you really really don’t like monkeys… dont’ worry because the food doesn’t have monkey stamped on it nor does it taste like monkey… just try it. :)
Customer Care: the staff is very patient and friendly… the only funny thing is that… when the food comes out and there’s 3 – 4 ladies waiting for the food… if the staff says maam/​lady your food is ready… we’re all going to look at them thinking it’s ours. so it was confusing, but funny at the same time. maybe they should write our names… or initials on the bags when it’s busy so we aren’t all confused and staring up with excitement.
I would come here again to try some of the other sandwiches… It might be on the more costly end for a sandwich, but for a one time experience it’s good and it’s not like the sandwich is tiny, it’s filling!
great place for a quick lunch! :)