As snow begins to dust the top of pikes peak, food fancies take a turn for the warm comfort of steaming soup concoctions, be they made with chilies, shrimp, noodles or pumpkin.
When the first snows dust the top of Pikes Peak, and I try to remember to grab a light coat for evenings out, my food fancies take an abrupt, yet expected turn. Not toward the fresh donuts available on the Peak, because that’s rather year-round in my case. When Labor Day has come and gone, I turn to my old friend — soup.
Because soup, actually, rarely grows old. The usually warm (exception: gazpacho) and spoon-eaten (exception: chopsticks) dish is made in almost every culture and can therefore be a passport to experience the flavors of the world. In the changing-of-the-day variety, soup also gives you insight into a restaurant’s kitchen philosophy and talents — and for a price-per-serving almost any wallet can afford.
In the little space we have for such a vast subject, we rounded up five soup destinations for your seasonal pleasure, but keep reading to find out about the additional selections of the Facebook followers of coloradosprings.com.

At Phantom Canyon, the patio is still getting used for people watching and beer sipping, but I’d suggest keeping warm on that patio with a warm bowl of soup — specifically, the brewery’s Blonde Ale and Smoked Gouda Soup ($3.00/cup). Granted, it’s difficult to go wrong with such a classic and craveable combination, but Phantom blends the soup to an ideal texture, thick enough to stick, but thin enough to raise no comparisons to Velveeta.
Rather than ordering more Queen’s Blonde Ale to accompany it, consider deepening the seasonality of the meal with Oktoberfest, a malty, 6.3 percentalcohol-by-volume brew. While supplies last, that is.