Darn Good Soup takes the chill out of fall season

The arrival of fall brings the arrival of cold weather. There are few better ways to fight the cold than warming a belly with a bowl of soup.

A Bloomington restaurant specializing in soup will be open for its first fall season this year.

After Bloomington Sandwich Co. moved from its old location at 107 N. College Ave., Nels Boerner, former chef at Bloomington’s Uptown Cafe, said he wanted to open his own restaurant in the vacant space.

On March 16, Darn Good Soup officially opened its doors to Bloomington residents.

“I like cooking food, and I like serving food, but I don’t like having to make a lot of fuss about it,” Boerner said. “I saw a need for a place downtown that served tasty, healthy food fast.”

The restaurant features 10 to 12 different soup options per day, such as ginger pork, potato poblano and zucchini pesto.

Boerner said he creates his recipes out of dishes he’s made in the past that he knows “people like a lot.”

He said he likes making soup from something that’s easily recognizable as another dish, such as his Philly cheese steak and chicken pot pie soups, which are current projects.

Shea Selby, a sophomore who works as a cashier at the restaurant, said Darn Good Soup has broadened her cuisine horizons.

“I’ve opened my eyes to trying different soups,” Selby said. “I was used to your basic broccoli cheddar because I’ve never really tried different soups before, but now I’m trying them, and I like it a lot.”

Boerner said the top three sellers at Darn Good Soup are the lobster chowder, chicken tortilla and boeuf bourguignon.

Dax Razzano, a Bloomington resident and Darn Good Soup employee, said the chicken tortilla soup is probably his favorite on the menu.

Bloomington resident Ali Sultan said he frequents the restaurant once or twice a week.

When asked why, he said simply, “The soup. It’s good.”