Nami (@x69susboi) says a Philadelphia riverfront restaurant is charging $10 for a can of Campbell’s tomato bisque. In his telling, isn’t even bothering to hide it.
The spot, per the details in the clip, is Keating’s Rope & Anchor Bar + Kitchen. It’s a waterfront eatery at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing.
How much did this Campbell’s Soup cost?
The math is what got him. “These [expletive] are literally selling a [expletive] canned Campbell’s tomato bisque for 10 dollars,” Nami says. “They’re not even trying to hide. They’re just like, yo, wants a [expletive] Campbell’s? Ten dollars? Are you [kidding] me?”
At least one Google reviewer logged the same double take, writing that the restaurant seemed to be selling canned Campbell’s tomato soup for $10.
Campbell’s was founded in 1869 in Camden, New Jersey—visible across the Delaware from Penn’s Landing—by Joseph Campbell, a Philadelphia produce merchant. Not the famous author. A $10 can of the region’s most famous export, sold to tourists on the Philly waterfront, is either a shrewd bit of local homage or a punchline, depending on who’s holding the spoon.
The menu language frames the bisque (and the other soups) as a house-made tribute to Campbell’s. The issue is the menu listing shows the actual soup (indicated by a little can). Additionally, it has basil, cream, and crafted tomatoes—whatever that means. Whether the soup arrives from a can or a stockpot is, for now, Nami’s word against a kitchen that hasn’t spoken.
People are flabbergasted
“The bit underneath highlighting the purpose of Campbell’s was to make it affordable and then they charge 10x the price is so ironically insane,” one person joked.
Another person tried to rationalize the pricing: “Actually kinda interesting…. Food cost is about 20-30%, which is generally what restaurants shoot for when they price… bear in mind, rent, electricity, staff, etc go into that $10…. Might be giving them too much credit, but maybe that’s the point they are making by putting it on the menu.”
This person is definitely giving Keating’s too much credit.
The Price of a Can
Paying sit-down prices for something you could grab off a shelf is its own genre of outrage—and, occasionally, its own trend. Restaurants nationwide now plate tinned fish straight from the tin. They do this at a healthy markup, a habit that outlasted the pandemic that spawned it. Even converts concede the premise is strange. One chef, writing in Fine Dining Lovers, recalled her disbelief at charging for something anyone could buy in a store.
The markup can also be a misread. When a shopper accused a bodega of a ridiculous markup on a Costco tuxedo cake, PEOPLE reported, commenters piled on her instead—she’d simply missed that resold wholesale slices are the whole business model.
Subplot reached out to Keating’s via email, and to Nami (@x69susboi) via TikTok message and comment.
