The soup and sandwich

combination meal A combination meal, often referred as a combo-meal, is a type of meal that typically includes food items and a beverage. They are a common menu item at fast food restaurants, and other restaurants also purvey them. Combination meals may be pr ...

consists of a soup accompanied by a

sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. It has been a popular meal in the United States since the 1920s. Some U.S.

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

s specialize in the meal, and it has been mass-produced as a prepared frozen meal.

Overview

Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup

The soup and sandwich combination meal is common in the United States. Depending on the intended size of the meal, the sandwich might be either half or a whole sandwich, and the soup may be served in either a cup or bowl. The combination of a grilled cheese sandwich with

tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetabl ...

is a common example in American cuisine, and has been described as a

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may app ...

History

The soup and sandwich combination became a popular lunch dish in the United States in the 1920s, and remains as a common dish at American luncheonettes and diners. It was also a common lunch dish in some earlier U.S.

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s that had dining rooms. In contemporary times, it is sometimes consumed as a light dinner. Some soup kitchens, outreach organizations and churches routinely provide the dish to the needy.

Restaurants

Some American restaurants specialize in soup and sandwich meals, such as the Panera Bread Company, Hale and Hearty, and Zoup! restaurant

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

. In September 2016, the

fast casual restaurant A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conce ...

Panera Bread had a total of 2,024 stores at North American locations, some of which go by different company names. Panera plans to expand its product delivery availability, which began in early 2016, to include 35% to 40% of its store locations by the end of 2017. In October 2016, Zoup! has a total of 96 stores in the United States, with 93

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

stores and three company-owned ones.

Prepared meals

The soup and sandwich combination has been

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

in the United States and purveyed to consumers on a national level, the Campbell's Souper Combo frozen soup and sandwich meal being one example. Initially, the product realized promising sales revenues, but consumer interest later tapered off, with the initial high sales attributed to consumer curiosity about the new product and "one-off" purchases per this initial interest. The Souper Combo was a short-lived product, and was eventually discontinued. The Corner Bistro is a line of mass-produced frozen prepared soup and sandwich meals marketed under the

Stouffer's Stouffer's is a brand of frozen prepared foods currently owned by Nestlé. Its products are available in the United States and Canada. Stouffer's is known for such popular fare as lasagna, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, ravioli, and salisbury ...

brand. The sandwiches are manufactured as stuffed melt sandwiches.

References

External links