Photo: Lillian Reitz
This week, local favorite Nuevo Cafe took to social media to announce the closure of the restaurant. In an Instagram post on March 1, the restaurant shared a heart-felt message thanking the community for all the support over the years.
“Nuevo Café has its own character — a spirit that transcends time and has brought so much joy and creativity to the community for so many years,” said owner Annabelle Dura. “I’m so grateful that my family and I got to be part of its history. We have been humbled to see just how much the community loves Nuevo Cafe and its famous poblano soup. We were heartbroken to close it.”
The cafe has been a staple in the area for decades. Their establishment offered a welcoming and friendly environment with delicious cafe fare on the menu. However, one particular menu item stood above the rest. The famous and award-winning Roasted Poblano Soup is essentially synonymous with Corpus Christi. Enjoying a bowl topped our list of “50 Local Must Do’s” and blew all competition out of the water in the soup category in our annual reader’s choice poll every year since the category was added in 2019.
Needless to say, when the news of Nuevo’s closing began to spread, the most talked about topic was soup, and moreover, how on earth will we all go on without it?
While there are talks of other local establishments putting out their own versions of the soup, Nuevo Cafe has announced the official recipe is still under lock and key. The business has put the building, parking lots, Nuevo Cafe’s brand, and the rights to their recipes, including the famous Roasted Poblano Soup, up for sale.
“We are so looking forward to seeing who ends up stepping forward to claim the Poblano Soup recipe and bring it into the next chapter,” Dura said.
The fate of the coveted soup might still be unwritten, but our hope is that another local resident or business who understands the impact and meaning of the dish and restaurant will take it under its wings. For now, we’ll be dreaming of the creamy goodness and crossing our fingers it lives on in its true form.
