Best of Boston

1999 Best Soup

The New England Soup Factory

These unassuming storefronts take their motto—Feed Your Body Well—to heart, with some 75 alternating choices, all wholesome and flavorful. We slurped lentil; sweet and sour cabbage with fresh dill, white bean, and tomato; numerous chowders; and hearty chilis. Iced soups include banana, honey, and almond; blueberry and peach; and the old, spicy standard, gazpacho. And the Factory makes a matzoh-ball soup to make a Jewish grandmother proud. Our only complaint is that there isn’t a Soup Factory in every neighborhood.

2-4 Brookline Place, Brookline, 617-739-1899,