Soupy's — Restaurant in Louisville

The food was good but the experience was horrible. I am from out of town and was looking for some deli-like food so I phoned-in my order since google lists curb side pick up as an option. I called several times when I arrived and could not get through so I walked up to the front entrance hoping there would be some kind of sign with direction, or maybe I am supposed to go in side to pay for a pick up order. I was told to "give my name" when I arrived but once I got there there was only a drive-thru (Google does not list this as an option. If I knew this was how phone in orders were to be picked up, I would have just went through the drive thru instead to order. There is no point in calling ahead if you are waiting in the same line as everyone else). The concept of a restaurant that makes homemade food like soup and sandwiches that only offers drive thru pick up is not very common, which is fine, but a heads up would have been nice so I knew where to go and what to do once a got there. Never in my life have I ever sat in a line with the rest of people ordering when I have called ahead. They really should be more informative to the people who call in. I am sure this place has been around forever and most the locals know how the process works but to me this is a total foreign concept. When I went up to the door to try to read the sign they opened the door and acted like I was crazy for trying to come up to the door. I explained why and that their directions were not clear and I was just trying to read their sign so i knew what to do since i couldn't get ahold of anyone on the phone. I got a head nod and an "ok...ok... ok..." and no apology even after I explained that I am not from around here and don't know. Their customer service needs some work. I have worked in food service for over a decade and I am usually very understanding regarding miscommunication when it happen, but I have never had someone be so rude and argue about why they are right and say I am wrong and then not apologize when the the issue could have been avoided had the person just given clear instructions. I imagine I am not the only person that has experienced this at this restaurant and hope that in the future they are more mindful and courteous. Rudeness is ugly and we already have enough of it in the world. Service with a smile really...

I’ve never taken the nuclear review option with a locally-owned establishment, or any establishment for that matter. I’ve only reviewed for truly fantastic service, well above any quality standards I have experienced. However, that has now changed.

This restaurant is not recommended. The quality of food has dramatically decreased at this establishment month over month for a while. Since living in Louisville, we’ve come by consistently multiple times monthly (17 times just since June 27, 2023), as it was basic food, consistent, and reasonably priced.

After multiple instances of low quality food and bungled service from a specific staff member, we’ve still come back. (Hint: Try ordering in the pouring rain and saying you don’t want toppings on your sandwich to be told over the course of an additional thirty seconds in the downpour that toppings aren’t normally put on the sandwich, but they’d be happy to put them on.) To be fair, this situation did not occur at this visit and should have been the end of our patronage, as the vehicle was literally soaked.

Today was the final straw however, as the nearly $8 medium chicken noodle soup contained, quite literally, three (3) separate noodles and a few pieces of chicken (with not even 75% of the cup filled with broth). Additionally, the bread on the sandwich was so stale that it had to be replaced upon arrival home.

This seems to be a relatively targeted problem, as most people tend to enjoy the establishment and do not report issues with food nor service, which is rather interesting and feels personal.

Additionally, this store has an exploding soup container problem, especially with chicken noodle soup — so much so that we started bringing a leak-proof container to transport the soups home in. No joke, it’s happened over five (5) times. Again, not a problem reported in other reviews and feels very personal.

Summary: Choose...

I used to work in McMahan Plaza for years and always loved coming to Soupy's. (We're talking 15+ years.) I always got the chicken salad sandwich and potato soup. I haven't worked there for a while, but whenever I'm in Hikes Point, I like to stop by. Over the last year, every time I come, the sandwich has gotten thinner and thinner. The layers of chicken salad were always thinner than most restaurants, but the flavor was so good, especially with the lettuce, tomato, and pickles, I still loved it. The last few times, it's been getting bad. This time, I could literally see the bread through the chicken salad. It was like it was spread on the bread like mayo. And only about half the bread was even covered. Plus, there was hardly any lettuce and about 2 pickles. Most of my bites had no chicken salad, or anything, at all. It was just stale, awful bread. I got my mother the tuna salad sandwich, and hers was just as bad. She pulled off about half the bread because it tasted so bad and there was nothing on it. She was going to eat half the sandwich and save the rest for later, but ended up eating the "whole" thing (minus all the plain bread she pulled off) because she was hungry and there was no substance to it.

It makes me sad to write this review because I love supporting local, family-owned restaurants. (I'm not sure it's still family-owned. My mother used to know the man who started Soupy's, but I'm assuming he retired.) With the prices going way up and the quality going way down, I'm afraid my family will never go back. Too bad since this used to be a local gem. It's sad that they've cut so many corners to try to make a profit, but, in the end, they're going to lose all...