The Soup Cart

Their soup is so delicious and they are the nicest. Im so happy I found this food cart on campus! They frequently have a vegan soup and they are by far the best Ive had.

This food cart is wonderful! The soups I have had here have good flavor and texture. The ingredients are fresh and they have great toppings to add to everything like pesto and avocado or blue cheese. I have had their broccoli soup, tomato basil, and the mac and cheese as well as a toasted cheese sandwich. The Mac and cheese is fantastic with the pesto (or bacon if you are not vegetarian)

I felt I needed to write this review right away so I didn’t forget to give this little food cart some love. The last few days have brought some much colder weather to Portland and this makes for the ideal conditions for a big bowl of hot soup.
The nice thing about The Soup cart is it is located on the Portland State University campus right next to the library. I was feeling a little cold and getting tired of my library session so I decided to venture out for some comfort food.
The two people working in the cart were super nice and provided me with some recommendations. I was glad to find out that their broccoli cheddar soup of the day was vegetarian. I went with the grilled cheese and soup combo meal. For the grilled cheese I was allowed to select as many cheese as I wanted from the four options listed, (Cheddar, Swiss, Pepper Jack, and Havarti). I went with the pepper jack and cheddar combo. Although, I was almost tempted to order all four cheeses in my sandwich.
While I was waiting I was offered a free sample of their mac and cheese, and dang, that was it tasty! I’ll be back for sure when I’m in need of more comfort food to get me though my school work. Apparently there is a list of items that can be added into your mac and cheese order, jalapenos being one of the option. Yes… totally going back to get that!
Great staff, super yummy food, and close to the library. What else could one ask for?
Also, it’s totally okay to dip your grilled cheese sandwich into your broccoli cheddar soup and I highly encourage you to do it.

Visited: April/​May 2013
Some days despite it being spring rain pours and wind blows that chills you to the bone. I’ve tried many food carts but it tends to be heavy and hard to digest at times, and flavor suffers once it cools down. So when I saw a friendly smile during my trek to class at PSU, I decided to stop by.
I ordered grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, which I thankfully consumed to warm up my body. It did not make me drowsy during class and I felt comfortably full throughout the day. I also tried coco curry soup with baguette the other time, and it was delicious. Just two days ago I had kiwi strawberry smoothie (no artificial colors or preservatives to worry about here!) as the temperature warmed for summer.
I keep checking the menu for weekly soup, and it is nice to greet Chris even when I’m not ordering anything that day since he is so friendly. I’d recommend for any students and passer by to get a soup for the soul :)

When it rains as much as it does here in Portland, having a place like The Soup Cart around (especially on PSU’s campus) makes things feel a bit more cozy and comforting.
Chris (the soup guy) offers a variety of soups on a somewhat weekly rotation. His rustic tomato soup is excellent with a little green onion and shredded cheddar (which he will suggest) and served with slices of a nice baguette to dip. You can also get a soup & grilled cheese (choose your cheese — up to 3 per sandwich) for $ 6 (12oz soup) or $ 6.75 (16oz soup).
This week, right before the temperatures started to climb, I had the curried potato & cauliflower which was delicious, lick-​the-​bowl good.
Soup isn’t for everyone, and the warming weather may deter people from stopping, but don’t walk past the cart without checking the board — The Soup Cart is now serving smoothies and while I haven’t had one yet, it’s on my to-​try list.
One thing I really like about The Soup Cart is how willing Chris is to listen to his customers. He’ll even ask what kinds of things you’d like to see on the menu. There was a run with biscuits and gravy for a bit, but that’s off the menu (at least for now, though I hope he’ll bring it back, someday.)
With another year before graduation, I’ll be counting on The Soup Cart to help through the long wet winter.