“Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.”
~Marge Kennedy, novelist
“NO SOUP FOR YOU!”
~Soup Nazi
Chicagoland doesn’t have a monopoly on Greek restaurants. Once upon a time, it meant a restaurant that specialized in—you guessed it—Greek dishes. As these restaurant owners prospered and expanded, they began adding traditional “American” foods to the menu. Today, for less than $20, diners can enjoy a multiple-course meal, starting with a basket of fluff dinner rolls and ending with a dish of spumoni ice cream.
But the Greek restaurants across Chicagoland, including those of Northwest Indiana, almost always include lemon rice soup in this five-course feast, often as a house specialty. Jedi’s Garden Family Restaurant in Griffith, Indiana, keeps their lemon rice soup recipe as secret as the Coca-Cola formula. This isn’t a gimmick, since the restaurant goes through over 20 gallons of the Greek soup a day.
