Changes Are in Store For Soup Bros

Soup Bros, a quirky yet beloved Walker’s Point cafe, is closing after 23 years in business, but good news seems to be just around the corner. Specifically, at owner Richard Regner‘s other restaurant, Boo Boo’s, 405 S. 2nd St.

Though Renger has not confirmed his plan, both a recent customer and another person familiar with the business said he may continue to serve his homemade soups at the sandwich shop Boo Boo’s, which is located just steps away from the former Soup Bros location, 209 W. Florida St.

Throughout the past weeks, customers took to social media to question the cafe’s status, noting that it wasn’t keeping with its posted hours. Thursday morning, Soup Bros changed its status to permanently closed.

For more than two decades, Regner, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, kept his business simple and straightforward: high-quality, seasonal soups, and fresh, homemade bread and sandwiches.

Along the way, he opened a second Soup Bros location, now closed, which operated for four years on the east side.

Regner’s food had no bells and whistles, and that’s how his customers liked it. However, the same wasn’t true for the restaurant’s decor.

The dining space, just big enough for a counter and a handful of square tables, is outfitted with knick-knacks on every surface imaginable. Strings of lights, a lava lamp, old telephones, babydolls and even an old iPod are perched on shelves or dangle from the ceiling. Guests at Soup Bros, which could cozily handle about 12 people at a time, could find themselves feeling dropped into the pages of an I Spy book.

Now, a for lease sign has joined the ranks of a string of beads, a metal star and what seems to be a whisk attachment for an industrial mixer in the cafe’s front window.

Curiously, Regner recently filed an application for a food dealers license at the Florida Street address. The application indicates that the business would operate the same as it always has: a dine-in and carryout soup and sandwich cafe. Prospective hours would be Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The building that contains both Boo Boo’s and Soup Bros is owned by Carol Rubitsky, owner of Caroline’s Jazz Club, which is located between the two businesses.