NYC’s Best Chicken Soup For The Soul
- Sara Karp
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
As the cold weather sets in, there’s one thing I’ve been craving above all else: chicken soup. Specifically, the matzo ball and chicken noodle soups of my childhood, which were once my mom’s go-to cure for all illnesses. After battling a particularly nasty cold a few weeks ago, I knew that I needed to find myself a go-to chicken soup spot in New York City. While nothing will beat my mom’s homemade soup, New York City is known for having some pretty good soup spots, especially given the city’s history of Jewish immigration and the evolution of Jewish delis. So, in search of the best soups to cure all ills, I set off to visit three New York City delis and deli-adjacent institutions: Katz’s Delicatessen, Russ and Daughter’s, and Veselka.
Katz’s Delicatessen
205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002
To describe Katz’s Delicatessen as a New York institution is perhaps an understatement. With over 1 million followers on Instagram and close to 150 years in the sandwich and soup-making business, Katz’s is often thought of as the quintessential New York City deli spot. Walking inside the large restaurant on the corner of Houston St.and Ludlow St. in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, it’s easy to see why. Even on a Wednesday at 11 a.m., the place was packed with locals and tourists alike.
Courtesy of Sara Karp
The walls of Katz’s are lined with photos documenting the restaurant’s storied history: a journey from a small mom and pop shop, to a hub for artists during the height of the Yiddish theatre, to a featured scene in "When Harry Met Sally," to a viral deli destination. While the restaurant does have a table-service option, I chose the counter-service route, and was directed to order at one end of a long counter that lines one side of the restaurant. I ordered a bowl of their chicken noodle soup and sat down at one of the communal tables in the middle of the restaurant. The soup was reminiscent of childhood dinners, with shredded white meat chicken, thin egg noodles, carrot, celery, and a rich but clean chicken broth. I slurped it up quickly and then went to pay at the other end of the counter — a relatively large bowl of soup costs $9.50, which I’d say is on the more expensive side. At many of these classic deli spots I’d say you pay for the experience as well as for the food itself. Personally though, I think I’ll be back at Katz’s often — when I need a quick escape from NYU life and want a taste of home. Next time, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist getting one of their famed sandwiches in addition to a bowl of soup.
Russ and Daughters Cafe
127 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002
My next soup spot was also on the Lower East Side, only a few blocks from Katz’s. Russ and Daughters has been around for over 100 years and is currently run by the fourth generation of owners from the Russ family. In many ways the restaurant feels as if Katz’s put on a white button-up shirt. Contrary to popular belief, Russ and Daughters is not actually a deli, but rather an appetizing store. Appetizing is most commonly understood as the Jewish food tradition of the food one eats with bagels. They have one takeout storefront on East Houston St. that sells bagels with cream cheese, multiple kinds of lox (smoked salmon), whitefish, and baked goods.
Courtesy of Sara Karp
A few blocks away, their cafe serves similar items along with other dishes based on iconic Jewish-American foods like latkes with crème fraîche and salmon roe, and chocolate babka French toast. I, however, was here to try their matzo ball soup. Matzo ball soup — most commonly served for the Jewish holiday, Passover — is a type of chicken soup that contains matzo balls, or balls made of crushed matzo — a cracker-like, unleavened bread typically eaten at Passover — that are similar to the dumplings in southern-style chicken and dumplings. This matzo ball soup was traditional in all ways but one. The matzo ball was large and fluffy, the broth was flavorful and dill-laden, the carrots and celery had a slight crunch, but the chicken had a delightful twist. Rather than the classic shredded white meat, Russ and Daughters includes chunks of dark meat. To my own surprise, I really enjoyed this unexpected addition, and found the dark meat to be more flavorful than the typical shredded soup chicken. The restaurant had lovely ambience, but at $12 a bowl, I’m not sure that I would come back to Russ and Daughters, as I didn’t think the soup was good enough to warrant the price.
Veselka
144 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
The farthest from the traditional Jewish deli archetype, my third and final soup spot was Veselka, a central landmark of Manhattan’s Ukrainian Village. Veselka has been serving traditional Ukrainian food since its founding by a family of Ukrainian immigrants in 1954. While borscht is the soup most frequently associated with Ukrainian food, chicken noodle soup is an important part of the cultural and gastronomical lives of Jewish Ukrainians. Excited to try some of Veselka’s other popular dishes in addition to their chicken noodle soup, a friend and I ordered the soup as the first course of their “Taste of Ukraine.” For $40, we shared soup; minced pork, and rice-stuffed cabbage; two types of pierogies, served with sour cream and caramelized onions; and a pyana vyshnia, a Ukrainian flourless chocolate cake with rum-infused cherries. Veselka’s chicken soup was similar to Katz’s but with a more dill-centric, fresh flavor. Especially in combination with an order of pierogies, a bowl of soup at Veselka was the truest embodiment of comfort food.
Courtesy of Sara Karp
For those who are less familiar with Jewish and Eastern European foods, I think that all of these restaurants provide a worthwhile experience. But, if you’re in search of the coziest bowl of soup specifically, Katz’s is your best bet. I also love ordering a pint of it to go, and keeping it in the fridge or freezer for a midnight snack on cold fall nights. New York City’s many bowls of chicken soup have helped ground me as a first-year at a big college in a big city. I expect to spend many more afternoons people-watching over a bowl of soup at Katz’s Delicatessen, or over a plate of pierogies and a cup of soup at Veselka.
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