Seinfeld is my favorite television show of all time, so I was naturally interested when I heard that “The Original Soupman” was coming to Pittsburgh. The Original Soupman is a franchise version of Soup Kitchen International, the now-closed New York City restaurant owned by Al Yeganeh. Al Yeganeh inspired “The Soup Nazi,” one of the most popular episodes of Seinfeld.

If you haven’t seen “The Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld, here is a brief summary. The Soup Nazi makes the best soup in New York, and is extremely popular for it. He, however, had very strict rules about conduct in his store. You have to know what you wanted to order, have your money ready, and move quickly in line, or else you will banned from his restaurant and not allowed to purchase any soup. It is really one of the most hilarious episodes of Seinfeld, so if you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it.

Anyway, even though the The Original Soupman opened in Pittsburgh a couple months ago, I didn’t have an opportunity to eat there until yesterday. I went with two friends from Pitt, Scott and Mike, also dedicated Seinfeld fans. It was definitely worth the wait. Here are some of my thoughts and opinions concerning the experience.

The Service

In the episode from Seinfeld, the Soup Nazi and the other people who worked in his restaurant were very unfriendly. When I went to The Original Soupman for the first time, I was expecting much of the same, so I made sure to get my order straight before entering the restaurant.

However, upon entering The Original Soupman, I was surprised, being met with friendly and talkative employees. The people working there were very kind, and even joked about Seinfeld-related things. Not only were they friendly compared to what I anticipated, but they probably more friendly then most, if not all, employees at other restaurants where I have eaten. I was very satisfied with the service at The Original Soupman.

The Soup

The real thing of interest, and the entire reason for my trip, was to try the soup. After much deliberation, I decided to order Lobster Bisque, one of the classic recipes of the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. Simply put, I was blown away by the explosion of taste. The Lobster Bisque was undoubtedly as good as Seinfeld made it out to be. Truthfully, the Lobster Bisque is the best soup that I have ever tasted.

I was also able to try Mulligatawny (another classic Soup Nazi soup) and I think that it might now be tied for my favorite soup. In all seriousness, The Original Soupman knows how to make soup. The soup lived up to the hype, and exceeded my taste expectations. I hope to be able to try more of The Original Soupman’s soup very soon.

A Brief Interview with Philip Scott

One of The Original Soupman’s employees, Philip Scott, was kind enough to answer of few of my questions. Mr. Scott is a Senior at Pitt, studying Mathematics, and works at The Original Soupman as an Assistant Manager.

When asked what it was like to work under a Nazi regime, Scott said that it was tough, being forced to work long hours, but it was worth it because of the free soup which he received. He also mentioned that Yankee Bean with Bacon was his favorite recipe of the Soupman.

Scott said that he has sometimes banned people from the restaurant for not picking up orders that they call in, or trying too many soups (trying four or more soups is really pushing the limit, he said.) Scott said that he has never met the Soup Nazi, but he told me that the Soup Nazi monitors the in-store security cameras to keep a close eye on what is going on.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, my trip to The Original Soupman was superb. The service and soup that I received were extremely friendly and tasty, in that order. If you ever have a chance to eat at one of The Original Soupman locations, I would definitely recommend it. For more information about The Original Soupman and a list of locations, visit www.originalsoupman.com.

Special thanks to Philip Scott for taking the time to answer my questions, and to Mike Maksymowych for the photographs.