Hand-roasted
We char the peppers ourselves.
We do not use jarred roasted peppers. We char them, peel them, and let the smoke into the pot. That char is the flavour people remember.
250,000+ bowls · Since 2013
The best soup in Waterloo. According to the people who drive for it.
Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato. Hand-roasted peppers, vine-ripe tomatoes, slow simmered every morning at 600 Laurelwood Drive. Over 250,000 bowls served, and we still pour out a pot if it is off.
- Bowls served
- 250,000+
- Aggregate rating
- 4.9 ★
Why people call it the best
Three things we will not budge on.
Vine-ripe
Tomatoes that taste like tomatoes.
No sugar, no thickener, no shortcut paste. The acidity is the point. The soup is sweet because the tomatoes were sweet.
Every morning
A fresh pot before the door opens.
The first bowl of the day and the last bowl of the day come from the same simmer. We do not stretch a pot across two services.
Three ways to have it
Bowl, panini-and-bowl, or by the jar.
By the bowl, with bread
A proper bowl with fresh-baked bread on the side. Get a window seat in winter. Sit on the patio in spring.
Soup-and-Panini combo
Pair with the roast-pork-apple-butter-and-brie, the tomato-mozzarella, or whichever pressed sandwich is in rotation. The signature lunch.
By the jar, to take home
Call ahead. We jar it the morning you pick it up. Larger orders need 24 hours. Most gift baskets start here.
BEST CAFE EVER. Dan is so nice and easygoing and always makes sure I leave satisfied. The food is incredible, the soup IS as good as everyone says, and that is from someone who does not like tomatoes, and the desserts are always delicious. The coffee is pretty amazing, too.
Michelle Ma
Google · May 2021
9 reviews aggregated, 4.9 stars. The soup is the dish reviewers name the most.
Pick up a bowl
Only at the cafe.
We do not wholesale, we do not ship, we do not franchise. The bowl and the jar both come from the same pot, at the same address, on the same morning.
600 Laurelwood Drive, Unit 200
Waterloo, ON N2V 2S7
- What is the best soup in Waterloo?
- Most local lists and most regular reviewers name The Java Garden Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup. Over 250,000 bowls have been served since 2013. People drive hours for it; the cafe is in Laurelwood, not uptown.
- Where can I get the soup?
- Only at the cafe, 600 Laurelwood Drive, Unit 200, Waterloo. By the bowl in-cafe with bread, or by the jar to take home. No wholesale, no shipping.
- What is in it?
- Hand-roasted red peppers, vine-ripe tomatoes, aromatics, and time. We slow-simmer it every morning. The recipe has not changed in close to a decade.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. Plant-based base, finished with a small swirl of cream by default. Ask for it without and we serve it that way at no charge.
- Can I order it by the jar?
- Yes. Call 519-883-0105 or send a note. We jar it the morning you pick up. Larger orders need 24 hours notice. Gift baskets often start with a jar.
- Has the soup been on the news?
- Yes. Reviewers and local press have written about it for years. The most common reason people walk in for the first time is a friend telling them to.
One bowl
The pot is on. The bread is warm.
Walk in for a bowl. Call ahead for a jar. Build a gift basket around it. Twelve years and 250,000 bowls in, the recipe is still the same and the rule is still the same: we will not serve a pot we would not eat.
