Once a Pier 47 coffee shop that catered to Wharf workers, in its 55 years in business Scoma’s has transformed into one of the city’s greatest classic restaurants, with a menu of reliable favorites made with freshly-caught local seafood. The “lazy man’s” cioppino begins with Al and Joe Scoma’s family recipe broth, a tomato base that’s packed with crab, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, seasonal fish, and calamari — so much, in fact, that it’s barely soup at all.

Established as a crab stand back in 1927, Sabella & La Torre transformed into a full-service restaurant some time around World War II. All this to say that they’ve had plenty of town to nail their clam chowder recipes — they offer a cream-based Boston and a hearty tomato Manhattan, for folks who have yet to pick a team. There’s a bread bowl option, too, for those who’ve realized that that dish is one thing tourists get right. They also have one of the best lunch deals around, with half a shrimp salad and a cup of chowder for only $12.

Grubstake has long been a favorite destination for fans of caldo verde, the green Portuguese soup composed of potatoes, kale, and linguica sausage.

This Japantown favorite offers four different takes on the beef rib soup known as kalbitang, including an extra spicy version and a “premium” version with abalone and shrimp. Even its standard version can be customized with a dizzying array of add-ons like purple rice and cucumber kimchi.

The not-so-secret secret menu at Turtle Tower is a soup lover's delight. Order F9, the special chicken, which comes with secret toppings. Or, go with the regular version — you won't be disappointed.

Inside an unassuming Outer Richmond bodega, Bistro Mediteranneo is serving some of the most fundamentally warming soup around. Made with red lentils, rice, parsley, carrot, and onion, the pot goes on first thing in the morning and bubbles all day. This means that by dinnertime, it’s a concentrated bowl of flavor and spices — and all without any animal products, at all.

Nearly every Burmese restaurant in San Francisco offers a samusa soup, but Pagan’s is one of the best, with crispy falafel bits and flaky samusa crumbles packed separately for takeout customers to pour into flavorful broth at their leisure. With toothsome chunks of potato and a healthy serving of lentils, this soup — especially if ordered with a salad (we recommend the tea leaf) makes for an excellent main dish, not just a side.

Inside Hayes Valley’s Phonobar lies one of the most reliable vegan soup destinations in the city. The Mexican, diet-sensitive minds behind Om Sabor keep a rotating soup on deck; a hardy cashew bisque held it down recently, and a soy-free, gluten-free, and vegan clam chowder ($14) full of crimini bacon and bechamel is doing the job this fall. 

San Tung is known for its dry fried chicken and shrimp, but savvy diners know that its wettest dishes are some of its best. Its tomato egg flower soup is a heartier and more flavorful version of the egg drop soup popular in Chinese diners across the U.S. This one takes the standard chicken and egg broth, mixes in tomatoes, then adds shrimp, mushrooms, peas, and spinach to turn this classic side into a meal.

Family owned since it was founded in the 1950s, SanJalisco (which before 2010 was known as Los Jarritos) is one of the most venerable Mexican spots in the Mission. And who makes better soup than family, right? The restaurant boasts a rotating menu of soups, and Friday and the weekend is when to score its pozole rojo de puerco, a pork version of the hominy-laden classic.

In these pandemic times, the long waits previously associated with Sunset cult classic spot Toyose are no longer an issue — and their full menu of Korean dishes is yours within minutes. That means a massive bowl of its sour-and-spicy kimchi soup, laden with pork, tofu, and chili paste, is within reach with no lingering required.