If you’re looking for a healthy hot alternative for lunch, brunch, or dinner you may want to consider Doc’s Soup Bar located at 169 W. Girard Avenue, just east of 2nd Street. Doc’s Soup Bar is open Monday thru Friday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. At Doc’s, the emphasis is on soup but he also serves hot and cold sandwiches, salads, and desserts.
Owner and soup aficionado, Darrell O’Connor is the Doc in the house and he takes the art of soup making seriously. Many of the recipes are his own and he personally prepares several of the soups each day. Although there are 145 soups on the Soup Doctor’s menu, Doc prepares between 9 and 12 varieties on any given day. Nothing is ever frozen, canned, or carried over from the previous day, and there are always vegetarian and low fat options on the daily menu. The soup come in three sizes, 8 oz., 12 oz., and 16 oz., and Doc is more than happy to provide customers with free 3 oz. samples of any of his soups.
O’Connor has tried to create an environment much like that of a neighborhood bar. It is informal, relaxed, and down-to-earth. Doc himself is very engaging with his customers and conversation is encouraged. The latest happenings and new businesses in the area are often the topics for discussion. He has only one employee, Geraldine Guzman who works the counter and register along with Doc.
During the day, the Soup Bar gets quite a bit of business from those who work in the area, especially in Fishtown and Northern Liberties and from the employees and residents at the nearby Piazza. Students from Temple and CCP frequent the Soup Bar in the afternoon. At the dinner hour and in the evenings, Doc’s customers come from all parts of Philly.
O’Connor opened his establishment back in August of last year. His business got a real boost in January when Larry Thomas, the original “Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld came to sign autographs, pose for photos, and even served soup for several hours. The “Soup Nazi” will be coming back to Doc’s Soup Kitchen on Friday, November, 18th from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Once again it is a chance for customers to have their picture taken with the original “Soup Nazi” and get his autograph.
Doc says that business is good and he only expects things to get better with the colder weather just around the corner and more businesses due to open on the first floor of the nearby Super Fresh complex. He serves between 1200 and 1500 customers daily. In addition to his soups, he also serves hot sandwiches including roast beef, hot turkey, grilled cheese, burgers, and meatballs as well as cold turkey, ham, chicken and tuna salad.
One of the Doc’s most popular menu items is his daily soup/salad/sandwich combo for just $5.50. He also has a “soup card” whereby customers are entitled to a free 8 oz. cup of soup after every five soup purchases. When I asked Doc what his most popular soup was, he had to pause a moment, but finally replied, “I would have to say either the turkey chili or the chicken pot pie.”
You can visit Doc at 169 W. Girard Avenue (at Hancock Street) or visit Doc on Facebook, Doc’s Soup Bar, where in addition to his complete menu including prices, he posts the “soups of the day”.
You can also call Doc’s Soup Bar at 215-423-5350 to find out what Doc is cooking up for that day.
