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Let’s face it. The Twin Cities are not exactly teeming with Jewish delicatessens. While this may not be New York City, and we may not have Katz around the corner from our 6th floor walk up, we do have plenty of places offering a steaming bowl of matzo (or more accurately, matzah) ball soup to sooth our weary souls.
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The Essential Matzo Ball Soups of the Twin Cities
What, you’re too skinny, would it kill you to have another matzo ball?
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Cecil's Delicatessen & Bakery
We may not have Carnegie Deli, but we have Cecil’s, and that’s good enough for me. This is as authentic Jewish comfort food as it gets. Chazer (meaning “pig” in Hebrew) sized sandwiches on home made breads, crisp pickles and creamy coleslaw all served in simple, sparkling clean surrounding make up in quality for what the Twin Cities lacks in breadth. A to-go container of their soulful matzo ball soup will stave off the meanest of head colds.
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Crossroads Delicatessen
At the helm of a nondescript strip mall in Minnetonka, Crossroads is an under-rated Jewish food haven, serving traditional family favorites since 1996. Inspired by their Grandma Alma, brothers Scott and Kevin have created a welcoming place where everyone is treated like family. Scott’s famous matzo ball soup is a soothing concoction of homemade chicken broth with large, tender pieces of chicken, sweet carrots and celery and a singular matzo ball the size of a small child. The soup only comes in one size: big. The bakery is a thing of beauty too. Just try walking out without a challah or three under your arm.
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Yum! Kitchen and Bakery
At Patti Soskin’s bright and cheerful eatery, everything is made from scratch and served with a smile. After the success of her modern eatery in St. Louis Park, Soskin opened a second location in Minnetonka this past September. Yum’s chicken noodle soup can be purchased in a cup, bowl or quart size, with or without matzo balls (but that would be wrong.) You know what goes great with a cup of soup? A dark chocolate cupcake filled with home made marshmallow filling. Yum indeed.
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Mort's Delicatessen
Mort’s in Golden Valley is more sports bar than deli, but the potato latkes are spot on. The matzo ball soup is rich and satisfying with a large, fluffy matzo ball plopped in the middle. Pair a cup of the soup with Mike’s Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich, a hedonistic beast filled with rotisserie turkey and smothered with Parmesan cheese sauce, tomatoes and bacon and you’ll waddle out happy.
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Saint Dinette
Is there anything Adam Eaton can’t do? This nice Jewish boy has managed to create a cult following for his bologna sandwich and addicting cheeseburger. However, he truly elevates a staple of his youth, the matzah ball soup, to the next echelon by massaging foie gras into a fluffy cloud and gently placing it in the most decadent consommé this side of Paris. Well played, Eaton, well played.
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Meritage
Growing up on Long Island taught Chef Russell Klein a thing or two about Jewish comfort food, and it shows in the simple beauty of his soup. Golden broth is gently poured over perfectly tender matzo balls, tiny cubes of sweet carrots and a sprinkling of bright threads of dill. At $9 per dreamy bowl, this is the cheapest therapy a winter weary Minnesotan can get.
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