5 Fast Food Restaurants That Serve Soup
Soup is essential eating for those icy diners looking to warm up with a cup of chicken noodle or broccoli cheddar. There's a reason the comfort food has inspired devotion and soup-themed memes. Nothing is more fulfilling than a warm liquid dotted with protein and veggies (bonus points for creative soup toppings like crunchy croutons or fried shallots). Because of how necessary your soup supply might be during the cold winter months (or every month, if you like it hot), it's important to have a few fast food options on your radar.
While canned grocery store soups can be a hit or miss, you might be surprised to find that some of your favorite franchises have a soup option (or five) on their menus. So next time you're chilly, and in need of a big bowl of chili, creamy tomato, or cheesy baked potato soup in a hurry, there are a few fast food spots to fulfill your cravings.
Panera Bread
Like a weekend double feature, Panera Bread is a classic suburban mainstay. After a morning of shopping at the mall, the café's simple sandwiches, salads, soups, and flaky, sweet bakery items serve as vital fuel for round two of strolling local stores. Perhaps the most famous item on Panera's menu is the chain's creamy, earthy broccoli cheddar soup. If you like your daily portion of vegetables submerged in sharp, melty cheese, you're undoubtedly a regular at the fast-casual joint. However, for those uniformed, the bakery chain boasts a menu abundant in rustic, hearty soups.
Pair their classic peppery-sweet creamy tomato with a toasty grilled cheese or sip on a cup of chicken noodle next time you have the sniffles. Of course, it is crucial that you order a crusty, edible bread bowl so you can snack on your lunch vessel (yes, lid and all) once it's soaked up all the flavors from the soup.
Wendy's
Like its other fast food competitors, Wendy peddles drive-thru basics like burgers, fries, soft drinks, and chicken nuggets. However, the chain's menu also deviates from classic fast food fare offering a lineup of soups and sides you can't find at many comparable establishments. Next to the Frosty, with its trademark frozen curl, Wendy's standout item is the chili. Available in a regular and large size, the robust stew features ground beef and beans, and should be accompanied by a packet of saltines for dipping and soaking.
Wendy's chili has been a menu mainstay since the restaurant was first founded in 1969. Established as a Wendy's essential since the brand's inception, the soup started as one of the first five items on the menu along with burgers, fries, soda, and the Frosty. You can upgrade Wendy's chili using other menu items for easy customizable creations like chili fries or a loaded burger.
Quiznos
You might know Quiznos as the fast food sub shop that began to rapidly vanish in the 2000s. Yet, despite comparisons to another, more populous sandwich chain, Quiznos' menu extends beyond cold cuts and pre-sliced deli cheese. While Quiznos closed thousands of stores from the late 2000s to mid 2010s, a few resilient locations survived and still provide sandwiches, salads and a single, yet essential, soup offering. The Quiznos' online menu lists a broccoli cheese soup, featuring cheddar, broccoli and carrots.
While it might be nearly impossible to compete with Panera's gooey broccoli cheddar, what Quiznos does offer is a number of sides you can use to creatively customize your cup of hot soup. The restaurant's classic crispy tater tots, or bacon jalapeño cheddar tots (if you're feeling particularly brave) work as a tasty topping to add texture to the creamy soup. If you're a fan of fast food hacks (and tater tots) you might want to get to the nearest Quiznos quickly.
Potbelly Sandwich Shop
Potbelly Sandwich Shop's focus is all in the chain's name. Yet next to the Cubano, Italian, and one of the best meatballs subs on the market, Potbelly serves up baked goods, seasonal milkshakes, and an assortment of five soups (and a three cheese mac and cheese that's included in the soup category). The fast casual restaurant offers broccoli and cheddar, chicken pot pie, chili, loaded baked potato, and garden vegetable soup.
From tomato-based broth to chunky, cheesy, and creamy bases, the chain delivers quite a range for the soup and stew enthusiasts. While the chili and broccoli cheddar soups might not come as much of a shock, the chicken pot pie delivers a creative and welcome spin on the familiar comfort food. Potbelly's version tops the chicken and veggies with crumbled pie crust. The garden vegetable soup is dotted with beans, carrots, celery, corn, mushrooms, onions, peppers, potatoes and zucchini.
Steak 'n Shake
With a name like Steak 'n Shake, you might expect the casual chain to serve only steak and well... shakes. And the restaurant's menu is indeed packed with a substantial list of milk shakes and the brand's signature "steak," which is actually short for "steakburger". However, Steak 'n Shake also lists a few chili items on its online menu.
Steak 'n Shake's "Genuine Chili" is the closest to the classic stew, though the chain also lists chili mac, chili 5-way (spaghetti topped with chili, chili sauce, beef, cheese, and onions), and chili cheese fries. The restaurant's chili comes in a cup or bowl and can be topped with cheese or chopped onion for a crunchy zing. If you want to get extra cheesy you could douse yours with a side order of Steak 'n Shake's cheese sauce. The restaurant's original chili with beans is also sold canned or in a 7.5-ounce container for all your at-home chili needs.