Thursday, March 4, 2010

Three Sisters Cafe--A last resort soup option

I love soup. Loooooovvvvvveeee soup. So for any other Denverites who are equally inclined towards savory liquid goodness, you will know that Denver is sorely lacking in good soup restaurant options. Not only are there very few soup restaurants, but restaurants that offer soup usually half-heartedly add a soup option to appease people like me, and the outcome is usually poor. So when I read that Three Sisters Cafe on 17th and Stout was a soup restaurant I thought to my self: "Hazzah! Soup!"

This restaurant features 8 soups that change daily (with the exception of the Chicken Tortilla soup). The restaurant is open until 3:30 and also features salads, wraps and paninis. However the first hurdle is getting there. Why do I do this to myself. With baby in tote, Kelley and I drove down to 17th and Stout. And while we all know that Denver is REPLETE with parking spaces, today must have been an exception (I hope you're sensing the sarcasm, cause I'm layin' it on PRETTY thick). It took five circles and a stolen parking spot to finally find some metered parking a few blocks away. Fine. At least the meters take credit cards now.

Finally. It's 2:00 and there is no line, in fact we are the only ones in the restaurant which has ample seating. I went with the panini option with an added on medium soup for $2.50. They allow you to sample the soups and sample we did. The turkey chili (which is what Kelley went with) was quite good, a hearty and healthy option. We also tried the Tuscan Bean (WAAAYYY too much salt), the Chicken Tortilla (pretty tasty with a bit of a kick!) and the butternut squash. I went with the butternut squash. At first taste it was pretty good, but after a few bites I grew tired of the cinnamon and chicken stock base. It was just a little too strong. The panini was equally disappointing. I had the turkey, avocado and provolone panini. The bread was forgettable and the avocado was pasty and tasteless--smacked off an "out of the bag" deal. With my drink, panini and soup it was $11. Not too shabby for lunch (if you can avoid parking in a garage--which I would suggest would definitely be a deal breaker). But all in all I was non-plused about this place. If I was really jonesin' for some soup I would go back. But only for soup, and I would probably run in to get it while Taylor circled the block.

A disappointing lunch all-in-all. Can no one quench my need for fine soup in this city?! I am too spoiled by the "Soup Kitchen" and "Big City Soup" in Salt Lake I suppose. But this is a niche that Denver definitely needs to fill.