The Best Soups & Stews You Can Get At NYC Restaurants

As winter rolls on, it feels like a good time to take stock of the city's comfort food options. Soups and stews, of course, are among the best of those, offering bowls of warming and hearty goodness, rich in big flavors and made to satisfy. And while a truly definitive list in a city of some 27,000 restaurants is impossible—give a shout to your favorites spots in the comments!—these excellent examples are a good place to start. Note that I've excluded both ramen and pho from the discussion, both of which are huge, delicious categories in and of themselves. (Don't want to go out? Here's our list of Best Soups & Stews To Make At Home!)

Sofreh

Everything is wonderful at Sofreh, Nasim Alikhani's brilliant little Persian restaurant in Prospect Heights. Located just steps off the highway that is Flatbush Avenue over here, Sofreh's clean, pretty design and cheery atmosphere, led always by Aikhani herself, assures you will quickly forget the larger surroundings and settle in for a lovely, cozy evening. There are usually two stews on the menu, and while the entree-sized Dried Lime and Herb Beef Stew is excellent, it's the slightly smaller, still plenty filling (and, like much else here, vegetarian) Persian Herb and Noodle Stew that's the more homey, comforting choice.

Located at 75 St Marks Avenue, just east of Flushing Avenue (646-340-0322; sofrehnyc.com)

Ho Foods

Two years ago Richard Ho opened his tiny Taiwanese soup shop on East 7th Street, and it feels like there's been a line out the door ever since. Even more impressive: there's basically only one thing on the menu, Ho's incredible "Red Cooked" Beef Noodle Soup, with a complex broth that moves from dense and meaty (cow hooves, tendon, and shin bones) to almost bright and sweet (cloves, rock sugar, cinnamon), and surprisingly spicy (doubanjiang, red chilis, Sichuan peppercorns) during each bite. I usually order the wide noodles, though the round ones are good as well, and the three slabs of remarkably tender beef shank will last you through the whole bowl. Go right when it opens at 5 o'clock and grab one of the ten seats inside. There's no better way to start your East Village night.

Located at 110 East 7th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A (347-788-0682; hofoodsnyc.com)

Luke’s Lobster

It's been more than a decade since Luke's Lobster opened its first shop here in the city, an operation that spawned an empire—there are currently 11 stores in NYC, and 37 around the world. You can now get their sustainably caught crustacean beauties all over town and, maybe even better, big cups of excellent Clam Chowder. This offering is actually made by a company called Hurricane's (based in Maine); it's New England style, obviously, nothing too fancy, just a thick, hearty, briny, creamy bowl of soup.

There are 11 Luke's in NYC (lukeslobster.com)

Castro’s

Castro's, which has been making people full and happy on Myrtle Avenue for 20 years now, is like the dream-come-true local spot, with cheap prices, a friendly vibe, and good food all across a sprawling menu. The Posole is my usual here, a big bowl crowded with soft, bloated kernals of white corn, chunks of pork, a bit of oregano, and a soul-satisfying broth you'll want to drink down at the end. Castro's keep the stir-ins to a minimum, just some onion and lemon, but this soup doesn't really need a lot of help, and there's Trappey's Red Devil at your table if you want some heat. Plus you get two crisp tortillas on the side, covered with beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and a creamy sauce, which make for worthy accompaniments.

Located at 511 Myrtle Avenue, between Ryerson Street and Grand Avenue (718-398-1459)

Buvette

Jody Williams opened her ridiculously charming West Village bistro Buvette in 2011, a few years after her future partner Rita Sodi started I Sodi on Christopher Street, and a few years before the two of them launched Via Carota on Grove. All three restaurants are always packed, but I find that Buvette's grab-a-drink-and-a-bite vibe allows for a much better chance at an instant seat, especially at the bar. And when I go, I always get the Cassoulet, a compact, intoxicating stew that includes a whole duck leg, thick slabs of fatty pig, and a whole mess of tarbais beans. Ask for a couple of slices of buttered bread on the side, and, among other possibilities, you have the perfect wintertime solo supper.

Located at 42 Grove Street between Bedford and Bleecker Streets (212-255-3590; ilovebuvette.com)

Symposium

There's always been a vaguely hippie-ish, or at least "artist colony" feel to the Greek restaurant Symposium, which makes sense I guess considering it opened in 1969 right near Columbia. And nothing's really changed in all those decades—the dozens of paintings of smiley faces, the slogans like "Earth is my home and the stars my destination," the bright blue exterior—at least not since the late 1970s when I first started coming as a teenager. So, admittedly, there's some nostalgia at work here with this pick, but a recent visit confirmed that the Avgolemono Soup remains a solid order, the fresh-squeezed lemon brightening the eggy broth without overwhelming its chicken and rice partners. Get it with a platter of taramosalata and a basket of pita and you have a satisfying lunch or light supper, all in something of a NYC time capsule.

Located at 544 West 113th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue (212-865-1011; symposiumnyc.com)

Pierozek

There's a lot more history and tradition to Pierozek that you might guess the first time you enter the cute, contemporary room. Because even though it's only been open since last November, owners Alexandra Siwiec and Radek Kucharski have deep ties to the Greenpoint community (Siwiec grew up down the block) and, even more important, the world-class pierogis come courtesy of two of Poland's most renowned dumpling makers from the Medieval city of Częstochowa. That all said, the dish I like best at Pierozek is the astonishing Red Borscht, which drinks like a thick broth and has a remarkably complex range of flavors, from tangy to earthy, especially considering it really only has one ingredient, beets. Pick up the two-handled bowl with your hands, pour it down your throat, and feel the love.

Located at 592 Manhattan Avenue between Nassau and Driggs Avenues (718-576-3866; pierozekbrooklyn.com)

Kopitiam

Kopitiam's Moonlyn Tsai and Kyo Pang have really settled in to their happy, lively, still-pretty-new space on East Broadway (the counter crew is among the best in town), but rest assured no one involved is losing their focus on the food. The sweet pastries, the potent duck tongues in fish paste, the spicy noodles, all still big winners. And then there's Pang's Pan Mee, which may actually be getting better each time I slurp it down. Here you have a bowl of oily anchovy broth, packed with wide flat flour noodles, minced pork, a bit of spinach, mushrooms, and what seems like an entire school of tiny fried anchovies floating around on top. The textures and flavors are phenomenal. I love it here.

Located at 151 East Broadway between Rutgers and Pike Streets (646-894-7081; kopitiamny.com)

2nd Ave Deli

It's been almost 25 years since the founder of the 2nd Ave Deli, the legendary Abe Lebewohl, was murdered on his way to make a deposit at the bank (it happened just before 9 on a Tuesday morning in the middle of East Village, and remains unsolved), and though there have been some rough patches for the restaurant since then, including the closure of the original space, Lebewohl's nephews Josh and Jeremy have done a fine job recently both expanding and stabilizing the institution, with locations now in Kips Bay and on the Upper East Side. Everything you could ever want in a classic Jewish deli is here, but if you're looking to keep it simple, get the Matzo Ball Soup, whose chicken broth is exactly greasy enough, with a huge matzoh providing carbs, flavor, and fat, and bits of carrots bringing a touch of sweetness to the proceedings.

Located at 162 East 33rd Street and 1142 First Avenue (2ndavedeli.com)

Elsa La Reina del Chicharron

Obviously, the thing to get at Elsa La Reina del Chicharron is the Chicharron, which over many years and at both locations, in Morningside Heights and Inwood, has never been anything but a juicy, crackling delight. And when Mondongo is available (you'll have to ask, or scan the steam tables) definitely get a a platter of that too. Here they make it Dominican style, with loads of beef tripe, cooked to the perfect chewiness, swimming in a tomato-based sauce with peppers, onions, and garlic. I like to spoon it over rice, to cut some of the intensity and make it more stew-like, but you can also just eat it like a super chunky soup.

Located at 4840 Broadway (212-304-1070), and at 1249 St. Nicholas Ave (212-795-3667)