If you’re looking for a home-cooked meal away from home, then Annie’s Soup Kitchen is the place to go. Meals are prepared from scratch with fresh ingredients that will delight the pallet.
Daily specials rotate throughout the week and include items like broccoli and cheddar quiche, huge pot pies, eggs benedict and Annie’s French dip. For breakfast, customers can order “The Gonzo” (fried potatoes, bacon and green chile smothered with cheddar cheese topped with an egg and a tortilla on the side), huevos rancheros, avocado and bacon omelettes, blackberry crepes and more.
The crepes are on the lunch menu, too, as well as the hot turkey and avocado open-faced sandwich, roast beef burrito, spinach salad and, of course, the soup of the day, plus other delicious choices.
In celebration of France advancing to the 2022 World Cup finals, and Annie’s Soup Kitchen co-owner Marie Elsner’s French heritage, it was decided the French dip and French onion soup were a must on Thursday. And they didn’t disappoint. The flavors were exquisite as usual, causing even the quietest of customers to make murmuring sounds of pleasure.
The made-from-scratch honey sesame dressing makes a perfect match with the medium-sized spinach salad, and the melted Swiss atop the French onion soup couldn’t go better with the homemade French buttered bread.
The lunch spot, located in Scottsdale Village next to the Toy Shack at Candelaria and Eubank, leaves customers satisfied every time. It’s the type of food that warms you up on a cold winter day and fills the belly to the point where all you want to do is go home and take a nap.
It’s not just the food that is so good. Like the restaurant’s website says, Annie’s treats their customers and staff like family.
Take a look around Annie's
Annie's is the people's restaurant
Marie and her husband Martin greet everyone that comes in with a warm smile and cheerful hello, no matter how busy the place is. And it seems like the place is always busy. Many of the customers are regulars and will get up from their tables to give a hug and say hello to friends. Those who are new will just sit in awe as they ponder how the food was prepared and what ingredients were used to make the flavors so distinct yet paired so perfectly.
Despite being a packed house on Tuesday afternoon, Marie still had time to come chat about the business — and soccer. “I don’t know if I will need champagne or tissues on Sunday,” she said of the upcoming France-Argentina game.
“We moved here in 2007, with no job. So, after three months here we said, ‘OK, let’s start something.’ We looked for a business for sale and we found Annie’s,” Marie said. “So, Annie’s has been here since 1973. We are the fourth owners in 15 years. So, we continue and continue. It’s not our restaurant. It’s the people’s restaurant.”
The original owner started with a selection of simple country recipes she used to open the soup and sandwich bar, which was named after her daughter, Annie. The name, menu and tradition of good service has continued throughout different ownership, as have some of the cooks and waitstaff.
Marie said one of the chefs who recently retired passed away just two months ago. “We keep going, you know? We have no choice. We keep going,” Marie said. “But the team has been with us for over 10 years, 15 years. You know the faces of the employees here. It’s the same people all the time.”
Since its conception, the restaurant has grown yet still maintained its good reputation. Today, the business can accommodate 120 customers and offers a different range of menu options, including various deserts.
If there is still room in the belly after eating lunch, give the carrot cake a try. If it can’t fit, the waitstaff will happily bring a box for you to take it home. If there is anyone else at home, don’t leave it in the fridge for too long though, because it might just disappear before you get the chance to enjoy the creamy, not-too-sweet frosting atop the buttery, fluffy delicious homemade cake.
Now that you’re hungry, go to Annie’s Soup Kitchen and try it for yourself. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Daily specials can be found on the restaurant’s website, as can the lunch and breakfast menus. Visit anniessoupkitchen.com to find out what else the restaurant has to offer.
