Where to get matzo ball soup for Passover

Editor’s note: Our favorite food conversations often start with “Where can I?” Where can I find the best sandwich, a certain dish or celebrate a special occasion, although every meal out can be an occasion.

During one of those conversations we came up with the idea for our newest feature: Order Up. The Taste team will dip into our collective decades of restaurant reporting experience and share three places that answer the often-asked question.

In today’s installment: Where to get matzo ball soup.

Are you team sinker or team floater? It’s a debate around many a Passover table: whether a matzo ball should be light and airy, or dense and chewy. Preference almost always comes down to how you grew up and who was in the kitchen.

But you don’t have to be a serious matzo ball connoisseur to appreciate the spherical dumplings — often served on Jewish holidays, especially Passover, which starts April 12 — in any form. The three matzo ball soups we recommend from Twin Cities restaurants each put their own spin on this holiday tradition.

Yum’s catering operation has had our backs on many holidays, and their Passover menu is particularly appealing, with coconut macaroons, chopped liver and matzo toffee. Fortunately, you don’t need a holiday as an excuse to order the matzo ball soup at Yum’s four metro cafes; this ultra-chickeny broth, loaded with meat and veggies and small-but-light matzo balls is on the menu year-round (shown here with noodles, but you can order the soup without noodles for Passover to observe the holiday’s dietary restrictions).

$6.50 and up; multiple locations in St. Louis Park, Minnetonka, St. Paul and Woodbury, yumkitchen.com

You can’t even order Scott’s Famous Matzo Ball Soup in a cup; the matzo ball is too large for the small serving vessel. So what are you gonna do? Order a bowl, of course. This Minnetonka restaurant has a special Passover menu, though this soup also is available all year long. The deli in front does tremendous carryout business over the holiday, and the soup comes by the pint or quart, too, so you can shock guests at home with a matzo ball so big it could be a main course.

$9.99 and up; 2795 Hedberg Dr., Minnetonka, crossroadsdelicatessen.com

Besides its classic French onion soup, St. Paul bistro Meritage has another, unexpected offering that’s become equally iconic. Chef/owner Russell Klein’s matzo ball soup comes on and off the menu as a soup du jour, but this time of year, it’s a fixture on the menu. Two herb-flecked orbs get bathed in chicken soup with a classy tableside pour, or you can order portions for pickup to serve at your own Seder.

$14; 410 St. Peter St., St. Paul, meritage-stpaul.com

Order Up is an occasional feature from the Taste team that answers frequently asked questions, from where to find certain dishes to the latest restaurant trends. Send ideas to taste@startribune.com.