Noodles & Company

Our family’s go-​to fast food when, none of us want pizza, chinese, or burgers and such. There always seems to be something for everyone. Mac and cheese is awesome, but way too boring as a my main meal, i just steal a bite from the kids. The pesto cavatappi is really good, especially paired with grilled chicken. The penne Rosa is also wonderful. They had a truffle macaroni and cheese for a limited time, and I suppose it’s good it was limited, because Lord Almighty, it was good… rich and good. I really miss it. I used to love the pad thai, but recently have been disappointed as it seems dry and lacking in flavors and ingredients. The Indonesian peanut sauté is great, although a little spicy if that’s a concern. Orders are always swiftly prepared and hot.

Quick service, great food. The only issue I had was finding somewhere to sit. The parking was also difficult.

So it has been sometime since I have been back to East Side. I thought I would give it another go.
The food is TASTELESS
.It is obvious to me they don’t’ care about how the food tastes. The chicken was so over cooked it was tough to eat. It has no flavor.
My order came to me so fast, I wondered if they even cooked it!
The reality is they cook the food not thinking what a customer would think eating it.
The reason I give two stars is the Brocolli is good.
Not a great experience. Not sure it is worth the cost.

My gymnastics team and I came here the night before a competition, hoping for a nice team dinner. The morning of the competition, a vast majority of us felt sick. Some of us were nauseous, some had the serious poops, and the unlucky ones received both.

I really like Noodles and Company. It’s typically very reliable, great for families, and an affordable meal… Except when they miss the mark. In this case, because the East Madison N&C is the only one near the area, they were very busy and we completely incapable of keeping up with quality and service. My family and I went to there on a late Saturday afternoon. They were unusually busy with not many seats available, but because line was shorter, we took a risk and ordered the regular Mac & Cheese, Pad Thai with Tofu, Japanese Pan Noodles with Chicken, Asian Salad and a couple of those amazing Rice Crispy Treats.
FOOD TASTE/​QUALITY: After waiting an understandably long time, we were quite taken back with the lack of attention given to most of our meals. First, let’s start with the ridiculously large bowls in comparison to the portions. The food was literally dwarfed in the bowl. Not sure who made this decision, but it was a bad one. The Mac and Cheese worked and was on-​the-​spot (pretty standard for them); the Japanese Pan noodles had one small piece of broccoli and — oddly — other random noodles (see pics); Pad Thai was sporting burnt tofu, and the salad was missing several ingredients, including crispy noodles. The overall taste was fine, but the quality and details were way, way of the mark.
PRESENTATION: As mentioned, the presentation was grossly off. Huge bowls, wrong ingredients, and little attention to detail.
PORTION: We did not go away hungry (thanks in large part to the Rice Crispy treats), but the portions were very hard to gauge because the presentation was so off. I actually had to ask them if it was the kid sized portion or the regular, because we literally could not tell the difference in the gargantuan bowls.
PRICES: Regular Japanese Pan Noodle with Chicken is $ 8.84 with tax; Mac and Cheese is $ 6.11 with tax; Pad Thai with Tofu is $ 8.63 with tax, Chinese Salad was $ 6.01 after tax; and those Crispy treats are a buck eighty-​nine each. Typically, I don’t have a huge issue with their prices, as the food quality makes it worth the price. However, in this case, $ 40-​$ 50 for mediocre food made it a bit hard to swallow.
DINING EXPERIENCE: As mentioned, it was really busy and the employees were doing what they could to keep up. But, this was a management problem. They did not have enough people working to handle the amount of customers there, and the capacity of the location was certainly maxed out. When we questioned the staff about the portions and missing parts, they didn’t re-​make it (the right answer), but brought us out the missing parts one-​by-​one: steamed broccoli, crispy noodles, tofu, etc.
FINAL NOTES/​IMPRESSIONS (2.5 to 3 stars): As I said, I have expectations of N&C and typically like their food and atmosphere. The Madison East Towne Boulevard location did not meet the expectation. While I like the company, as a whole, this location brought the reputation down a notch.

Today was the second time I have placed an order online, shown up and been made to wait 15 minutes plus for my order to find out it had been sitting their ready the whole time. I had to ask one of the employees behind the counter if the bag waiting on the back table was my order as I had been standing there for 15 minutes. He wasn’t doing anything and it was not busy by any means. I was the only person standing there waiting for my food. There were several other employees that looked at the bag and said nothing. Terrible customer service! We will not be back!

My family really likes Noodles — healthy dishes that taste great. We’ve stopped at this location 3 times prior to this visit and each time we remember that this one is very poorly maintained. The food is OK, but the dining area is dirty, the bathrooms are disgusting, and it’s been that way since our first visit last year. We will give this place one more chance, but if it doesn’t get better we will NEVER come back.

I see a lot of myself in Noodles & Co. I don’t mean that entirely as an insult, but I do mean it mostly as one.
Listen. I like to come off as classed up and aware and worldly and kind of hip. But you know what, you jackwagon? I’ll shove some pork-​laden, barbecue sauce slathered macaroni and cheese in my gaping yaw just like the next guy from Wisconsin.
Noodles & Co. and I, we talk all kinds of upscale talk, but we walk a portly trundle to the nearest Taco Bell. AND IT’S FINE. If you’re a consistent patron of Noodles & Co. you are invested in the lie at this point as well. Sure, they HAVE healthy options. But you’re getting the Parmesan crusted chicken cheese bonanza like eeeeeeeeveryone else, pal.
Have a 1000 calorie Indonesian Peanut Sauce monstrosity, fine. I will too. Hell, I’ll have some for later as well. You know what? As I drive out of the Noodles & Co., I’ll drive past the McDonald’s and I’ll sneer down my nose at it. «Look at those hogs, knocking fries back like there’s no tomorrow,» I’ll say as my face glistens with cheese and pork.
Eat at the Noodles and Co. Go on. Do it. Be «worldly,» and «healthy,» and wrong with me.

Placed a phone order and the person that answered the phone got my order totally wrong as far as sizes and what I ordered. I would have discussed this with the manager by the price was right so I just left without making it right. Watch them !!!

In the past 2 weeks I have been here 3 times. The soda fountain is always empty of dr pepper and cherry additives. The food has been very below this company’s standards. My dish was cold, dry, and lacking flavor that Noodles and Company’s is known for.

Passing through and needed something quick to eat. The counter person was meh about the whole ordering experience and kept having issues with the register. Looked like he was so out of it, maybe he needed some coffee to put the pep in his step to at least say «HI».
The food came out fast and hot. Tasted ok. It’s actually expensive for what you get. I ordered the Japanese pan noodles with tofu and only got 2 pieces of broccoli. Is there a broccoli shortage? Shiitake mushrooms? Forget about it. I got 2 thinly sliced pieces. Carrots? Maybe 5 sticks. Cilantro you say? Must be a shortage for this too. There is no shortage for noodles though. Tofu amount was standard, but I think it’s because you’re paying $ 2.39 for it.
The person who brought my carry out bag from the kitchen was so pleasant and happy it was great. Such a contrast to the sleeping counter person. There was a little line and so many workers and only 1 cashier… who was sleeping on his feet. No one jumped on to help him out. I really miss the West side location, they were on top of it.

This is one of my least favorite Noodles spot. Who would put a Noodles location in a parking lot with ten spots and a dead end.
However, it is my closest Noodles. The staff is so friendly and as busy as it is, the location is always clean. So tough out the traffic and you will get a good quick meal.

Ate here yesterday for lunch and this was my first time at a Noodles and Co. We won a lunch as a group and Ian was very helpful and we got to sample lots of their food. Everything I tried was very good and all of the staff seemed to be friendly and will to do anything to help out. I will definitely go back

The only reason this place gets 1 stars is because of the food! Other wise the last two times I have been in there I have received shotty service. I’m pretty sure that the same girl took my order both times, neither time did she greet me when I got to the register and neither time she asked if I wanted to add meat or what size I wanted. The gentleman who delivered our food was pleasant, and then the gentleman who asked if we needed our # anymore was pleasant, but then we barely set our plates to the side and this kid comes grabs everything without a word, and then turns around to the table next to us and grabs her plate our of her hands without a word. I understand he wanted to clean up but at least verify I didn’t want to lick that deliciousness!!!
I’ve been to Noodles & Company at other locations and they were always friendly and suggested extras. Heck they even helped me decide a couple of times when I couldn’t decide.

I have been coming to this Noodles and Company for YEARS and have been of many others. This is still the best quality Noodles, hands down. All clean, and the food always tastes like it was just made, not pre cooked like a lot of other Noodles I’ve been to.

Always a clean location. Although it stays pretty busy during peak times there is always parking available nearby and a table at which to eat your delicious meal. I’m a fan of the Pesto Cavatappi with Parmesan Crusted Chicken, the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, and of course, all the Izzy drinks!
The service is pretty quick and the staff has always been friendly to me. My only complaint is the amount of moms with kids that show up. It’s a great family spot if that’s what you are looking for… me, not so much. It forces me to watch my language and topic of conversation with can be somewhat annoying when you just want to relax for lunch.

Grabbed lunch here while passing thru while out of town. Good service, and the fare I’ve come to expect from Noodles locations.

Highlights/​lowlights
1) lots of gluten free options
2) quick
Noodles and Company may not come to mind immediately when you are looking for a fast gluten free lunch or dinner… well it should! Noodles and Co. Offers rice noodles
And gluten free corn pasta. Oh the possibilities! You can substitute most of the regular dishes with the rice noodles or g free pasta (not the macaroni and cheese though as the sauce has gluten). The pad thai is gluten free as is so you don’t even need to make substitutions. This location has one of those awesome soda machines with every coke product flavor you can dream of
Bring on the diet cherry coke!
The East Towne location service was really friendly, however there were tons of dirty tables. I understand not cleaning them as quickly when you are slow (I was there for dinner around 8:30pm on a week night) but 7 – 8 dirty tables with nobody walking around to clean them is kind of gross as the location is small.
Overall not a bad place for a quick lunch or dinner with plenty of gluten free options.

Hidden vegan item bursting with flavor that even the most zealous carnivore could endure: Whole Grain Tuscan Linguine sans cream topped with tofu. Giggity.
If you’ve not had the pleasure of sinking your chompers into their Ride Krispy Treat, you’re not living life to the fullest. I’m convinced the generous wedge of ooey gooey marshmallowy goodness is straight out of an angelic bake sale recipe book. I don’t want the secret — I just want them to never stop — ever.

It’s been 5 years since I’ve been here ya’ll! The last time I was here I bit down on what appeared to be a rusty piece of metal resembling a fish hook. However, because we like to live life on the edge we decided to go here again this last weekend.
I didn’t have any noodle dishes this time though, I tried the strawberry spinach salad minus the blue cheese and bacon. It was really, really good. Everything tasted fresh and the balsamic fig dressing was delicious. My dining companion and the minor had the Indonesian noodle bowl with tofu, and the thai bowl. They both seemed to enjoy their dishes.
Guess what? No one got forked with a piece of metal this time!!! Indications for going back look good.