Soup to nuts is an idiomatic expression meaning “from beginning to end.” I wasn’t familiar with the phrase before my recent visits to the Soup 2 Nuts Deli in downtown Redmond.

There are no nuts, indeed no desserts, at this corner shop, which occupies a space on southbound Sixth Street at Evergreen Avenue where the erstwhile Pastime Tavern once stood. It does have soup — two a day, made fresh and served until gone — as well as salads, sandwiches and pizzettas.

But what really stands out here are the homemade breads. Owner Brad Dacus and his sons, Nick and Jared, make 14 loaves fresh each day: seven-grain, sourdough and black cracked pepper with onion. They also make dozens of hoagie rolls for the 11 choices of hot crispy subs served each day.

It is bread worthy of a dedicated bakery. I had a thick slice of buttered seven grain with a cup of Philly cheesesteak soup (one of those daily specials), and I was convinced immediately that I want to make Soup 2 Nuts a regular lunch stop.

It is a lunch-only restaurant, open weekdays from 11 a.m. to midafternoon.

“Our goal is to provide the freshest food daily,” states a prominent sign on the wall, above black-and-white studio shots of classic movie and music stars. “All our breads, soups and salad dressings are made from scratch. We ensure freshness and great taste by preparing small batches at a time.”

Soup and salad

As a result, when the day’s supply of soup and bread is gone, Soup 2 Nuts closes up until the next morning. “Our goal is to eliminate waste and … to sell out daily,” says that same sign. You won’t get day-old bread here.

Seating is limited to about two dozen chairs at a handful of tables, so much of the sales goes to takeouts for nearby businesses. Patrons call ahead or place orders at the counter, where they are prepared without delay, with a smile.

I found the soups to be very good, although both of the blends I tried had a little too much corn starch as a thickening agent. That was especially true with a vegetarian soup, whose multiple vegetables would have been better appreciated in a pure broth. The unique Philly cheesesteak soup had all of the ingredients of its namesake sandwich — beef, onions, mushrooms and green peppers — in a stick-to-the-ribs cream that had a lot in common with peppery country gravy.

The Soup 2 Nuts Bleu salad was both healthy and delicious. Chopped romaine lettuce was tossed with big chunks of roasted chicken, slivered toasted almonds, a generous helping of craisins, small bits of juicy pear and bleu cheese crumbles, finished with balsamic vinaigrette.

Others salads on the menu — spinach with tuna, Thai peanut chicken and vegetarian hummus — appealed for future visits.

Subs and pizzas

At $9.75 each, I found the sub sandwiches a little overpriced. Advertised as “hot crispy,” the buns were certainly warm — indeed, they were a little scorched — but the crusts were hardly crunchy.

This was especially evident for the Turkey Banh Mi, a French-Vietnamese sandwich in which the interplay of crisp crust and soft, yeasty bread are key. But the ingredients made it work. Sliced turkey breast was layered with finely chopped greens, including cilantro, jicama-carrot slaw and crushed peanuts then dressed with Sriracha and Thai peanut sauces.

The Pastrami Reuben Sub didn’t burst with flavor. The Boar’s Head pastrami was lean but not as peppery as I might have liked, and an ample serving of sauerkraut was only mildly vinegary. Melted Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing added taste.

Other favorite subs are the Black Bean Jalapeno Jicama, with Brad Dacus’s home-pickled jalapeño peppers, and the Italian, with cappacolo, pepperoni and provolone cheese.

The pizzas served are actually pizzettas, personal pizzas made on the deli’s own yeasty, oven-baked bread. I ordered the Chicken Pesto version, 10 inches long and perhaps 3 inches wide, and enjoyed every bite.

On top of basil pesto, onion marmalade and mozzarella cheese, melted atop the bread, was sliced chicken, black olives, spinach and Parmesan, which was drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. I liked it better than the subs.

By the time I had finished sampling the lunches, I felt that I had gone through the entire deli menu — from soup to nuts.

— John Gottberg Anderson can be reached at janderson@bendbulletin.com