STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

Charles Hooper and his mother, Bonnie Hooper, run Crock and Roll, a new restaurant that serves specialty soups such as the two pictured here: tomato bisque (front), a rich and creamy blend of Italian tomatoes, roasted garlic and thyme; and New Orleans chili, a complex and spicy chili with smoked sausage, lean ground sirloin and bitter chocolate and bourbon.

Everyone should eat more soup.

That's how Charles Hooper and his mother, Bonnie Hooper, feel. They've opened a soup bistro at Towers Shopping Center to prove their point and to make a variety of homemade soups appealing to a wide range of tastes.

Crock and Roll is the cute name of their soup bistro, which is situated in a shoebox of a place in the 23rd Street Shoppes beside Towers Shopping Center. This small, casual restaurant fills a niche in the local Roanoke market for a moderately priced meal that includes a soup of choice, bread and a drink for a little less than $10.

The vibe

While the mother-and-son team originally planned for their bistro to provide just takeout, they've adjusted to increased demand for eating in by making the most of this slip of a location. Several tables for two, which can be pushed together to accommodate larger groups, are arranged in the simple, tastefully furnished dining area.

Soup service is located ahead in the left quadrant of this diminutive space, and orders are filled as quickly as they are placed by the cheery, chatty welcoming crew. A disposable foam container holds approximately 16 ounces, or two cups, of soup ($7.50), which is placed on a small tray along with either a foil-wrapped aged cheddar cheese biscuit, a corn muffin or a piece of corn bread.

The house signature salad brings a blend of walnuts, raisins, Italian parsley, onions and baby field greens sprinkled with lemon juice, and comes in at an additional $1.50. A bowl with plenty of ice keeps canned soft drinks and bottled water ($1 each) chilled.

The menu

Crock and Roll serves three to four soups each day, including one regular daily offering.

If Monday is a favorite day for lunch out, consider starting with collard green soup filled with butter beans, collards and smoked andouille sausage served with cheddar biscuits. Following in succession is Tuesday's New Orleans chili, described as "a complex and spicy chili with smoked sausage, lean ground sirloin, bitter chocolate and bourbon" served with corn bread.

Wednesday brings Spanish bean soup, a smoky blend of garbanzo beans and smoked andouille sausage accented with saffron and served with aged cheddar biscuits.

On Thursday, winter veggie soup blends seasonal root vegetables, fennel and roasted walnut-arugula pesto and is accompanied by the biscuits.

Friday's white bean chili combines roasted chicken with garlic, white beans, thyme and cumin, and is served with fresh corn bread.

A potato-mushroom soup, served Monday, Wednesday and Friday, "uses potatoes, mushrooms, mushroom stock, brie cheese, and sherry in its composition," Charles Hooper said.

On Tuesday and Thursday, look for kale, tomato and goat cheese puree.

On Saturdays, homemade Belgian waffles entice all day, while chicken noodle soup and New England clam chowder are served occasionally.

What I tried

Soup, accompanied by hearty bread, usually provides my daily vegetable requirements and is one of my favorite meals. Thus, Crock and Roll seems to be a place made for my preference. Since it opened Jan. 26, I've eaten there five times and brought home several selections.

I favor their white bean chili and the garbanzo-rich Spanish bean soup because of the consistency and ingredients, but only when the spicy hot seasonings are mild and balanced. Inconsistent spicy heat levels seem to be common at Crock and Roll, so I would advise sampling soups in the tiny cups available at the counter to determine whether the flavors agree with you.

My husband and our son's family sampled split pea soup and tomato bisque and found them both to be too spicy.

As soon as I walked in the door on my third visit, I realized the owners were getting a handle on running their business.

Charles Hooper had installed a handsome, dark, hardwood floor and the place looked spiffy. According to Bonnie Hooper, a bottle of hot sauce placed on the soup counter is for those desiring more heat in their soups than what had already been added.

I ordered the curried corn chowder, a mildly spicy, lightly sweet blend of corn, potatoes and onions seasoned with Madras curry and herbs. Alas, I couldn't see enough corn kernels floating about in the drab green liquid to profile it as corn chowder, but the broth had balance.

They made no corn muffins that day, but I opted to skip the aged cheddar biscuit because of their floury taste. Nor did they have their signature side salads available because, as Charles Hooper explained, no greens met his standards that morning when he shopped.

Not to be picky, but ...

During my first two visits, the tomato bisque almost lived up to its menu description: creamy, fresh tomato flavor seasoned with roasted garlic and thyme. However, it was overwhelmingly spicy. The other two soups I tasted during those visits -- split pea and Spanish bean -- reached the upper limit of fiery hot seasoning, detracting from my enjoyment. On my fourth visit, the Spanish bean was so aggressively seasoned that I couldn't eat it, and I noticed patrons across the room fanning their mouths after each bite. At this point, the soup had been destroyed.

The thin potato-mushroom soup had potential but needed more cooking time. It had emerged as three separate components -- thin, creamy liquid; sliced mushrooms; and cubed potatoes -- that had not come together. (In potato soup, potatoes need to fall apart to give the soup body and texture.)

Whether served as muffins or bread cut into rectangles, the bright corn bread contains whole corn kernels and has a delicious flavor, but in both instances, the serving size varied from standard to small.

The bottom line

I like this nook of a place because of the wide variety of soups offered and the opportunity to taste global ingredients, which add an innovative touch to meals. Soup is one of man's favorite comfort foods, and at a cost of $7.50 for each two-cup serving, it should be at its dependable, consistent best all of the time.

Fiery hot seasoning should be left to the patron.