By admin 
It’s chilly. It’s rainy. That means one thing: soup. Whether it’s clear and brothy or thick and creamy, nothing warms and nourishes like a hot, satisfying bowl.
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There’s no shortage of spots in the greater Sacramento area where you can score a steaming bowl of fragrant pho, hearty ramen or spicy sundubu jiggae all year round, but a handful of restaurants are digging deep and celebrating soup season their own way.
Mexican restaurant Algo Bueno has reprised its Instagram-famous soup flights. Chef and co-owner Zenaida Rodriguez cooks up cauldrons of her homey, comforting soups, and this year she’s expanding the selection, ramping up to 15 soups to choose from.
Rather than investing in a single big bowl, the soup flights allow diners to select three, 10-ounce samples, presented much in the way craft beer flights are served. The selections are a sort of greatest hits of Mexican soups, including red and green pozole, menudo any day of the week, beef albondigas and a less-traditional birria ramen.
New this year are shrimp albondigas, caldo de habas, made with broad beans, and fideo, with thin spaghetti-like noodles.
Flights cost $21. You can make your way through the entire menu in five visits.
Algo Bueno
Address: 2990 Northgate Blvd., Gardenland
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 a.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays
Phone: 916-692-8370
Website: algobuenoofficial.com
Vegetarian options: Vegetarians can compose their own flight by combining the caldo de habas, lentil soup and fideo, and there are other options on the menu.
Side Hustle, the diminutive takeaway concept tucked behind Good Neighbor in Ice Blocks, has been taken over by a soup residency, cheekily dubbed Souper Hustle.
“They are all super classic soups, but some have some fun twists. We have a menu of six soups, all completely made from scratch and featuring different cultures and origins,” said chef Zach Schechtman.
The menu will rotate every two to three weeks. The inaugural one includes a classic chicken noodle ($10), a chili made with Urban Roots brisket and coffee stout ($12), a Thai-inflected tom kha riff with lemongrass and coconut ($10), a creamy pumpkin-ginger soup ($8), a rich lobster bisque ($16) and the obligatory “Sacra-tomato” tomato bisque ($8) with basil oil.
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Of course no bowl of tomato soup is complete without a grilled cheese sandwich, and panini-griddled focaccia toasties ($6) made with American cheese or mozzarella with garlic butter are available for dunking.
If you’re just looking for a quick warmup, cups of chicken or beef bone broth are available for $5.
Side Hustle
Address: 1715 R St., Suite #100, midtown
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday
Phone: 916-758-6194
Website: sidehustle916.com
Vegetarian options: Tomato soup is vegetarian, as are the toasties, and pumpkin is vegan.
Another in the Urban Roots empire of eateries, Cerveceria is getting into the slurpy spirit with weekly soup specials.
The restaurant’s very recommendable red pork pozole and birria ramen, made with fresh noodles sourced from Oto’s Marketplace, will remain on the menu throughout the season, but chef Rafi Salmeron will be conjuring up soups inspired by his Mexican upbringing and beyond.
The inaugural bowl was a hearty chicken noodle, but that sold out by Thursday. Starting Friday, Nov. 13, Salmeron will be serving up albondigas, and future iterations will include a classic tortilla soup, a seafood pozole, and a creamy soup made with oyster mushrooms and braised beef. Recipes will rotate with the chef’s whims; basically once one sells out, he’s on to the next. All soups are $19.
Cerveceria
Address: 5201 Folsom Blvd., East Sacramento
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, closed Mondays
Phone: 916-346-4677
Website: cerveceria916.com
Vegetarian options: None of the current soups are vegetarian, but other vegetarian items are available.
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This story was originally published November 13, 2026 at 6:00 AM.