A previous owner of Pane Dolce (Italian for "sweet bread") in Sherman Oaks, went up and down the immediate neighborhood on Ventura Blvd., taking notes on the neighboring restaurants' soup selections. What he found was little selection for vegetarian and dairy free soups. So he went to work on his cafe's soup menu, which is now the most popular item ordered.

Made daily with fresh ingredients, the neighborhood cafe offers two or three soups on their list every day: vegetable barley, mushroom, tomato basil, artichoke, zucchini potato spinach, carrot ginger, asparagus, lentil, butternut squash and split pea. Get it solo, get it to go or get it with a half cold or hot panini sandwich.

The number one complaint about quaint Italian cafe is that it closes too early -- 6 p.m. on weekdays, 5 and 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. However, it is open for breakfast, serving homemade oatmeal and granola, eggs, pastries and omelets.

Pane Dolce
13608 Ventura Blvd. (one block East of Woodman)
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist