Two Boston-Area Soup Companies Are Downsizing

Longstanding locations of both Souper Salad and New England Soup Factory are done. Souper Salad on Berkeley Street has already shuttered, Boston Restaurant Talk reported, and the Soup Factory has announced that its Brookline location will close as the building will be demolished.

A poster on Chowhound shared signage that went up at 209 Berkeley St. sometime this month. "Thank you," it reads. "After a great run, Souper Salad Boston has closed this location." The family-owned company started in 1976 and is in its second generation. A second location at Beth Israel will continue to operate, and the sign indicates the company will still offer catering.

A Chowhound poster also noticed the news about the Brookline Soup Factory. Children's Hospital Boston has an expansion in the works, and plans call to demolish 2-4 Brookline Place. Soup chefs and spouses Marjorie Druker and Paul Brophy opened New England Soup Factory there in 1995. "It has been our soup haven for the past 20 years and we have enjoyed and celebrated every minute of it," the team wrote on Facebook. In the coming weeks, the company will move its entire operation to its Newton location.

At their continuing locations, both restaurants offer a variety of hot and chilled soups. Three per day are on the board at Souper Salad, from a rotating repertoire, and a long list of internationally-inspired recipes is available at the Soup Factory. Both places think beyond the bowl, too, with sandwiches, roll-ups, salads, and more.