Midtown Lunch

When I heard about Brodo’s opening earlier this month I liked the idea of a soup-centered place, but thought choosing to open in a warmer month was silly timing. But when Memorial Day festivities left me with a bit of a cold, I figured I should see if Brodo could cure me.

Inside, the space was clean and looked a bit like the inside of a Starbucks. Since it was such a hot day, there were only 2 other customers who came in while I was there. I ordered the half soup and half sandwich combo, costing me about $9. I chose the Scarola Speciale, advertised as “not your average Italian wedding soup”. Unfortunately, it held up to its description and was much less than average. I didn’t mind the bits of escarole and chicken floating within it but the broth was extremely salty and the meatballs were tasteless and spongy.

For my sandwich, I was interested in the chicken salad croissant but they had run out of croissants. Instead I ordered the tre carni panino with soppressata, capicola, genoa salami, and roasted red peppers. The half was certainly half sized, not one of those huge, basically a whole sandwich that some places give you. It came lightly toasted on a seeded italian roll and I liked that the soppressata had gotten a little crispy in the press. The sandwich was supposed to have provolone on it but I barely detected any.

I was not impressed enough to think about returning here to try something else.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Clean ambiance

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Salty, one note Italian wedding soup
• Cheap on cheese

Brodo, 31 S 18th St(@ Ludlow), 215 977 7766