Southport restaurant serves craveable soups, bowls and more for lunch and take-out

California-native Rhonda Uhlmann has been a part of the Southport community for 16 years and fed guests at restaurants like Ports of Call and Flying Fish Café and at countless weddings and other events as a chef/caterer. She opened StrEAT Side Take Out at 524 N. Howe St. more than five years ago. It's open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday with take-out window service and a small patio seating area.

A California-inspired approach: “I like the idea of food trucks," Uhlmann said. "I wanted to do fresh food and do it fast and healthy." While StrEAT Side has a mobile feel, there's a full kitchen at her space. She changes the menu seasonally, and you can usually find bowls, soups, sandwiches and other handhelds.

Hidden gem: The restaurant is popular with Southport locals, but not everyone knows it's there, she said. "We are hard to see. People will say 'I live here, I drive here, but I don’t know where you are.'" The restaurant is on the main road leading to downtown and shares a parking lot with Coastal Golf Cart Rentals.

Best seller: Soup is one thing they're known for, Uhlmann said -- especially the Roasted Tomato with Crab and Jalapeno. “It’s the soup," she said. "I can’t even remember how long I’ve been making it." Another of Uhlman’s favorites is the Spicy Pork Bowl, which adds an Asian inspired ground pork to fresh lettuce, cabbage, carrots and cucumbers with a house-made sweet chili sauce.

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Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at aballard@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: StrEAT Side restaurant in Southport known for soups, bowls, sandwiches