Soup Spoon’s chicken salad sandwich satisfies

I’ve been eating at Soup Spoon since it opened in the mid-2000s, when it inhabited half the space it does today and only served soup and sandwiches. I recently read online that business has slowed down significantly due to the construction on Michigan Avenue, so I decided it was the perfect time to revisit the usually packed restaurant.

Though the road work was an impediment, I merely needed to get to Marshall Street, where I found my way pretty easily to the parking lot. Inside, I found the usual cozy and convivial atmosphere and spotted a familiar face or two as I made my way to my table. The menu was even bigger than it was a few years ago when I went in for breakfast, but thankfully, some old standbys still remained.

My go-to order of the aughts was always the apple chicken salad melt with coleslaw and a cup of seafood chowder, and in the spirit of not messing with success, I went with my tried-and-true combo. You used to be able to get half a sandwich and a cup of soup (or a salad), which was the perfect amount of food, but not everything can remain the same over the course of two decades.

The seafood chowder arrived first, along with the bottle of Tabasco I requested. It was exactly as I remembered: creamy, savory and a little smoky, with plenty of tasty bits of seafood and potato throughout. It was made extra tasty with the zing of the vinegary hot sauce. Definitely skip the soup appetizer if you want to finish your lunch entrée, but who could be mad about leftovers?

The chicken salad in the melt contained mayo, apples, red onion and, most importantly, tarragon. The combination was crunchy and creamy, sweet and savory and given an herby freshness by the tarragon, which had a hard-to-describe, peppery, anisey flavor. The salad was layered between two pieces of perfectly grilled sourdough and slices of gooey, melted cheddar.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the accompanying coleslaw was tasty as well, with plenty of celery seed and just enough sweetness. And I had half a sandwich to enjoy later. If you’re looking for a satisfying lunch, the old eastside standby Soup Spoon will do the trick.