Noodles & Company

Just about like any other noodles & co.
Today though tables but being bussed, employees eating with 3 tables around them not cleared. My family is sitting at two sperate tables instead of one because they are not bussing.
Poor management!

Lost my order took 40 mins to get lunch. Staff is useless especially front order chick who can’t put orders in. Shape up also got my order wrong really screwed it up!

Extremely slow service. Compared to the Mineral Point location, this location is sub par!

Noodles & Company is a (new?) chain restaurant across the US offering East meets West fusion Noodle dishes. This location in Middleton was my first experience.
I walked into Noodles & Company with an expectation for Americanized Chinese food. I was surprised to find them to be not very Chinese at all. Their menu offers mostly Italian American pasta dishes and a few Asian noodles dishes. I ordered their Thai Curry Noodles and Potstickers.
The noodles were nicely done with fresh ingredients. The noodles themselves were perfectly cooked to be al dente. Their potstickers nicely done with a nice firm outer skin. The potstickers were served with a nice vinegar chili sauce that complemented the potstickers well.
This a fast food place that offers quick and efficient service without compromising the quality of the food. I wish more fast food places would do this instead of just serving cheaper foods. The seating area is large enough for bigger families and groups without feeling overcrowded. I will definitely come back to try their other dishes.

Let me first admit that my friend and I are Noodles fans; we like Noodles because it is quick, not fried food and typically good. We have dined at most of the Noodles in the area, and they are not all the same.
This Noodles opened several months ago and we frequent it after her night classes at Edgewood. We both agree that the food and service at this location is better than most. We are there at night, when it is not busy… full disclosure. And we are typically there until close. Our food has been well prepared. Our service is fast and friendly. And we never feel like we need to leave so they can clean up.
Yes, I am a fan. Try it some time.

Noodles & Company has long been one of my favorite «not quite fast» food chains. I still have very fond memories of visiting the State St. location (aka: the SECOND ever Noodles!) while visiting Madison visiting in high school and throughout college as a student here… when it was pretty new… because I’m old. ;) I love that some of their staples have been there forever — Wisconsin Mac and Cheese and Mushroom Stroganoff are two old standbys for me, and I’m also loving how much the Noodles menu has expanded over the years. I like that now meat is an option that you can choose and pay extra for, instead of the past when I would have to order a meaty dish and ask for it without meat. I also love that they label their vegetarian items on their menu. I’ve learned the hard way that many, many… MANY times when you order something you think is a vegetarian item it is actually made with with a meat base. I also think their prices, while definitely not cheap, are reasonable, especially when you consider how much pasta you get in the big bowls.
I was thrilled when another Noodles location (how many are there in Madison now?!) opened up even closer to me in Middleton. This is a great family friendly option for when we are brave enough to take our entire brood out for dinner. My six year-​old daughter and I visited for the first time on a weeknight at about six p.m. I want to make sure that my review reflects this particular location, rather than the chain as a whole. Here are my thoughts:
1. The layout is nice. The décor is nice. I love that the dining room is broken up into to sections and there is a little area in the back that is cut off a bit from the main dining room. This was perfect for the poor family with the screaming toddler, which happened to not be my family, for once! There are tables, booths (or at least one in the back) and some counter seating. A nice variety.
2. The staff was exceptionally friendly, including both the girl who took our order and the one who brought our food. They were accommodating when I requested my food without a certain ingredient. The girl who brought the food did forget to take our table number, but no big deal.
3. I was so, so happy to see that Noodles now offers a legitimate «kid’s meal» where you get some noodles, two sides, and a drink for five dollars. My daughter chose the Mac and Cheese, broccoli, and a «kid krispie» which is just a small version of their totally delicious Rice Krispie treats. She ate it all and enjoyed it all. Her only complaint was that the food was «just warm… not really hot.» I have mixed feelings — I know they are catering to kids and don’t want them to burn their mouths, but I also know that eating cold broccoli is not so yummy.
4. They have one of those crazy cool soda machines that lets you make any random, awesome, maybe nasty combination of soda ever. I used the cup from my daughter’s kid’s meal and got her an Izze soda, so I felt especially cool with my little tiny cup. ;)
5. My food (the Penne Rosa) tasted great and was, indeed, hot. My one itty, bitty, tiny complaint is that when they brought the food, there was sauce and cheese all over the bowl (inside — sides above where the pasta sat, not the outside… you can see it in the photo). I know, you are rolling your eyes reading this, but honestly… if Noodles wants to present itself as a «nicer» dinner option, they need to have a good presentation, and a messy bowl just don’t convey that image. Also, can someone from Noodles confirm this for me… do you put a random piece of contrasting pasta in every pasta dish, because every SINGLE time I eat at Noodles I always get one (just one) random «other» pasta. This time it was a corkscrew in my penne. My daughter had fun trying to figure out how it got all curled up that way. ;)
6. Finally, one more little area for improvement — when we sat down, the table next to us had two empty soda bottles on it. When we left, the table next to us had the same two empty soda bottles on it. The restaurant wasn’t packed and the table on the other side of us was bussed while we were dining. Just keep you eyes open a little more.
I think I am going to love having this Noodles & Company close…

So the prices are high for noodles but the quality of the food to me is pretty good. This location on deming is very busy during lunch hour. If you want to laugh just watch people try to get their drinks at the electronic soda machine. It works so bad and older people have no idea where to start with it. People that even know how to use it have problems with it. Ill bet this goes away soon.