Noodles & Company

My opinion: Unilocalers should review a restaurant by considering what the establishment claims to be and if it meets that expectation. Noodles is fast food made with natural ingredients (save for some drinks and baked goods– read the fine print that accompanies the asterisk).
For fast food, this place is right on par. During a lunch on a deadline I have plenty of time to drive there, park, order, take my time to eat without feeling rushed, and drive back. Huge portions for the prices. Ingredients are fresh. Food tastes consistent. The pesto pasta is my go-​to. The small portion is more than enough for lunch. The regular portion is at least half a box of pasta!
The restaurant is always clean. The rest rooms are always clean. The food is delivered to your table after ordering via numbered place card. There is a beverage/​napkin/​condiment kiosk. My one gripe about the place card is I doubt those cards are disinfected after every use, and seeing as they are passed from customer to customer, that may get really gross really quickly.
I gave four stars mostly because the staff are ALWAYS friendly, smiling, helpful, and efficient. Tables are cleared and cleaned promptly. Food is delivered quickly. I saw an elderly woman standing at the menu station, clearly confused and discouraged. A young man on staff approached her. English was not her native language. The young man was SO patient with her. He explained the menu, helped her order, and saw her to a seat. He personally delivered her meal, and he checked in with her every few minutes to make sure she was okay. How sweet is that? I’m sure she appreciated it. I appreciated it, and I was just a witness!
Bonus: one of the managers is a doppelgänger for the actor Clancy Brown. Shawshank, baby!

After being tempted many times to stop last evening the temptation finally took hold. The small dining area was packed, good sign. Note, during warmer weather an outdoor area is available.
Cafeteria styled, line; read, decide, order, pay, receive a number card for your table, find a seat, and wait for your order to be delivered. In line, all of the dish options are displayed on a large wall with descriptions and if your neck couldn’t stand the angle, printed cards were available. The menu is fairly cast in stone choices, nice variety with the choice of protein options. I was pleased with the selection of beverages, including wines & bottle beer.
We found allergies (in our case Gluten) are addressed at the counter, in a hurried, but confident manner. Our allergy was offered 3 choices and the Pesto bowl was assured the noodles & additives would be Gluten Free.
We fished our way to a table, which seemed to turnover frequently. Our bowl arrived within 5 minutes. The food was enjoyable, Thai Hot Bowl, «GF» Pesto Bowl, Japanese Noodle Bowl, 2 Izzies, & a Founders Breakfast Stout. All bowls were uniquely spiced and «doggie» boxes are available.
Summary: Cafeteria style dining, small dining space, more attention to detail required, no chicken in my bowl as requested, and most importantly the Company needs to revamp their Food Allergy approach.
Their policies for Food Allergies are fine print on the menu, rushed at the counter while ordering, and the kitchen staff may not be properly monitored. Shortly after our meal on the way home our daughter suffered an uncomfortable reaction. She’s fine, but Noodle Company is now off her list.

Have not had good luck here. Love the concept but never a good experience.
The good– I was so excited for this place as a noodle lover. And it’s semi-​healthy fast food. That’s exciting. But not the case here.
The bad– more than once when I order my udon noodles, they are burned and charred to the point where they are stuck to the bottom of the bowl. If you have «noodle» in your name, just think you should perfect the art of making them. Or at least be somewhat decent at it.

I heard about this place when it first opened up around 2012. I was going to school in the area and I thought I’d stop by here for lunch. My initial thought about the name of the place was, «Oh my goodness, what if they sell ramen!?» I am a sucker for ramen anything so I was really excited to see what this place had in store. I was disappointed to find out that they, in fact, did not serve anything close to ramen.
I came in and didn’t know how the ordering system worked. There was a large billboard on the wall upon entering which shows you the steps: choose entrée, pick medium or small, add meat/​tofu (optional), add side of salad or soup.
I got the small steak stroganoff with a side of chicken noodle soup. I didn’t like the stroganoff. Tasted artificial to me and just wasn’t anything special to me. I couldn’t finish it. I ended up enjoying the chicken noodle soup more and finished all of it.