Sculpture, smokers and soup

(Mister Takeout can be found on Twitter @mistertakeout and on FB as John Q Takeout)

A colleague passed by my cubicle around noon today carrying a large styrofoam cup that smelled like Mexico. Specifically, San Miguel de Allende, a city smack dab in the middle of the country overflowing with history, art and great food. I stopped her as she passed and asked, "What is that? And where did you get it?"

"Tortilla soup," she replied, "from the Equitable Building." Before she could say another word, I grabbed my coat, checked my wallet and headed out into the freezing rain.

Though I've worked very near the Equitable Building for several years, today marked my first time ordering lunch from their subterranean cafeteria and bar. Having survived the driving sleet, a group of chain-smokers taking shelter upwind behind a lump of bad sculpture, and the world's narrowest escalator, I found myself in a space decorated more like a two star hotel hallway than anywhere you'd consider eating lunch. The place did smell good, though, so I figured I'd give it a try.


Today's Takeout Lunch Establishment

Equitable Building Cafeteria
401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago
312-595-2265


The Order

Large Tortilla Soup
$6.95 with tax


The Wait

To say the place was a madhouse at 12:10 on a Monday afternoon is an understatement. And though I should have anticipated the whole salad bar 'pay-by-the-ounce' setup, having to stand in a long line while people weighed their food was frustrating just the same. It took 25 minutes to ladle my soup, pay and make my way back to the escalators. Way too long.
RATING: 3


The Packaging

Not much to say here. With takeout soup, it's either plastic-lined cardboard or styrofoam. Neither one offers much in the way of insulation or earth-friendly waste, but it does get the soup where you want it to go.
RATING: 6


The Presentation

My eyes lit up as I lifted the lid at my desk; several shades of orange, purple (from the corn chip strips) and barely visible specks of greens and browns (from the spices) turned the soup into art and the styrofoam cup into a frame. Not bad for a place calling itself a cafeteria.
RATING: 8


The Food Itself

Unfortunately, the wait at the register had left the soup on the cold side of lukewarm. I slurped a couple of mouthfuls and could almost imagine how good it would have tasted fresh from the kettle, but imagination is free and this had cost me money, wet hair and a soggy collar.
RATING: 3


If you're going to order takeout soup from the Equitable Building Cafeteria, my advice is to go early. I talked it over with my colleague a little later and she agreed - her wait had been short and her meal hot because she'd headed over around 11:40 instead of the stroke of noon. Or you could just fly down to San Miguel, where the soup is always hot and the sculpture is always beautiful.

OVERALL RATING: 5