Blue Line made me love soup

I have a love-hate relationship with soup. I really love how it warms me up from the inside out and how it always comforts me. Two of my favorite foods are even mulligatawny and corn chowder. I hate how I always spill the soup all over myself and generally burn my tongue and hands while making it.

However, the soups at Blue Line's downtown location have found me wavering on the love side of my relationship with soup. The soup pictured here is a Chipotle Chili Vegetable Soup (or something to that effect). Warm, hearty, loaded with veggies and beans and appropriately spicy, it is served with exceptionally delicious slices of bread to sop up every drop of soup. Other vegan options at the downtown Blue Line include the bi-athelete muffin and boca burgers, so if you're craving some sustenance while purchasing knit goods at American Apparel or before taking in a show at Slowdown, swing by Blue Line for a quick, delicious bite.

PS- This location has booze, so you can get some whiskey in your coffee or some wine with your soup.

Great Wall: Thanks for the fried tofu!

When it comes to getting Chinese food in those tiny, white to-go boxes, I only get the best. FYI, by best, I mean fried and super bad for me. This is why I love love love Great Wall, located at 70th and Vine Street in Lincoln, NE (phone number: 402-488-2112). My family and I used to go here a lot when I was in elementary school, but it fell by the wayside until I was almost done with college. In that time, it changed owners and improved significantly. We rediscovered it when, much like A Christmas Story, we needed somewhere to eat on Christmas eve (I know I'm a day off. Deal.) and it was the only place we could find that was open. Luckily, the menu boasted the chef's special of sesame tofu. After verifying a lack of animal ingredients, I took an order of it home. Fried with a thick, almost-but-not-quite sweet sauce, this is one of my favorite meals in Lincoln. This is heavy on fried tofu, but light on the veggies, so if that's a requirement of your meal, be sure to add it in. For best results, call about 20 minutes in advance, place your order, pick it up, go home, put on sweatpants and eat. You can thank me when you're out of your food coma.

PS- That's my parent's cat, Gizmo. He's adorable and not at all interested in tofu.