My dining companion and I were in search of soup on a recent rainy day. Yes, there have been many of them lately. We decided to go into Buckhead Cafe because we knew they had two regular soups and usually two soups of the day, as well as other warm meals that cater to a shopping budget, both in time and money, this holiday season.

It was the dinner hour, but business was slow, and so was the counter staff. We arrived to three other people in line looking very impatient. One of the patrons walked around to the food pick-up counter to let them know of our dilemma. A minute later a manager came from a table in the dining room, where she was ensconced in a pile of paperwork, to take our order. At the same time, the counter staff in uniform emerged from the bathroom and, without an apology attached, claimed she was on a break.

She took our order, but never lost her sour disposition. I noticed after we ordered that she moved to working behind the scenes and two new, bright-eyed, eager-to-help members of the wait staff took her place. Even at the end of our meal, when we approached a friend who was ordering to say hello, the same wait staff was still there and promptly asked to take my order. Now that’s some immediate, solution-oriented quality control.

The food we ordered was varied and did warm us up. The choices for soups that day were the regular French onion and baked potato – the latter comes in a cup, bowl or bread bowl. The two soups of the day were chicken noodle and white chili.

I opted for the French onion. The broth was a delicious deep brown color with a slice of caramelized onion in every bite. The topping was unique, however, in an awkward way. Most French onion soups I’ve had are smothered in melted cheese and bread that is baked over the top of the broth so much so that the broth cannot be seen. Hence, what you get is a bite of broth, cheese and bread in every bite. This presentation was different. There was a candy-bar sized slice of panini bread with melted mozzarella floating in the middle of the bowl. This meant only about six to 10 bites with cheese and bread, and the rest was broth only, which was disappointing.

I also ordered a chicken cordon bleu panini with a side salad. The side salad is a healthy choice, but will add a couple of dollars to the cost of the meal. Paninis have been made popular lately because you can get them in the frozen food section of your grocery now, but if that’s the only panini you’ve had, you really don’t get the portion and substance that is advertised. At Buckhead, you’ll get that and more. A large slice of French, seven-grain or marble rye panini bread (depending on the sandwich) grilled with a generous amount of fillings. In my case it was chunks of chicken so large I could hardly chew each bite, ham, provolone cheese and Dijon mustard.

There’s a panini for every taste eating style, from portabella mushroom for the vegetarian to a patty melt that combines something classic with something eclectic.

My dining companion will most often have Buckhead’s chicken salad sandwich, which is always good, but substituted a hot version – Buck’s chicken sandwich with onions, Applewood bacon and melted provolone (minus the mushrooms for him). The chicken was grilled perfectly with a tasty charred layer on the outside, yet still fork-tender moist on the inside.

He choose the healthy broccoli salad with raisins and nuts, but could have just as easily opted for homemade kettle chips, fries or potato salad if he needed a little sustenance.

Not that we needed a little sustenance, but Buckhead’s new arrangement for ordering at the counter sneakily displays their muffins and desserts in all their glory. We opted for a raspberry cheesecake bar with a dark chocolate cookie crust. The contrast between the slightly sweet raspberry filling and the bitterness of the dark chocolate made this a unique and appetizing, but not overtly sweet, treat. The Boston cream pie muffin was more like a cupcake. White cake, thin chocolate frosting and a hint of vanilla cream on top and within the muffin.

Buckhead is expanding to offer additional indoor seating, which makes sense. The construction wasn’t noisy, but did add a little chaos to the experience – but hey, if you’re out shopping this time of year, you’ll feel right at home.

— New restaurants are given a six-week grace period. Comments can be sent to Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at malexieff@bgdailynews.com.

The Buckhead Cafe

760 Campbell Lane – Buckhead Square

Bowling Green

846-0110

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Specialties: Paninis, pizza

Cuisine: American

Price range: $3.99 to $9.99

Libation situation: None

Smoking: No