Noodles & Company

I have been to this place a few times for their food. This is not the world’s greatest place to be ordering food. Neither their selection nor their food quality are excellent. When I have been there the last couple times, I have not expected the greatest.
Considering the lack of quality of the food, I feel that the place overcharges on everything. Also the size of the servings are not great. The food is not horrible, but I have never tasted anything there that has been better than average. For me to be a regular there, they would have to improve their quality. The way they have everything right now, it tastes no better than Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.
On their side, the employees are are friendly and helpful when I need help looking for a particular something on the menu. I have never run into anybody there with a bad attitude. They also appear to do a great job at keeping everything organized and clean. I have never once had a problem with cleanliness there.
Overall, the only way I would keep this place in mind is if my friends insist on going there and only there or if the timing works for that particular second of my life. This is not the best, but this is not the worst.

Carbo-​loading fast food chain popular with teenage kids. Food is filing but lacks flavor. Fine for carbo loading.

Solid food, good variety, reasonable prices. My only complaint is that every Noodles I’ve been to has dirty floors. Would do it kill them to sweep the floors on a regular schedule? A napkin was in the middle of the floor during our entire visit even though staff walked by and actually stepped over it several times.

Agree with another reviewer, the food is definitely consistent between this and the other store I’ve tried. I thought it was bad both times but they were consistent. I found myself here after someone else insisted we go, and though I had already learned my lesson on their noodle dishes I decided to just get some potstickers. They tasted alright but they were very oddly flat. Flat as pancakes. I have never seen such potstickers. I don’t know what happened to these but they were weird. Not the best I’ve had and not the worst. I’d never go here if I’m craving potstickers though, and since I don’t like the noodles I doubt I’ll be back at all.
They do have one of those touch screen pop machines though. I have been waiting to see one in person and never went to the right places I guess. It has tons of choices of beverages you will not typically find elsewhere including many varieties and flavors of Coke, lots of Hi-​C flavors and even flavored Dasani water with 5 or 6 flavor choices.

For some reason, this is one of my favorite on-​the-​go restaurants. I always get the exact same thing (that’s not to say I haven’t tried almost everything) — I get the Penne Rosa, but I am allergic to mushrooms, so I get olives instead. I get a flatbread, and douse the entire thing in fresh lemons. I add fresh cracked salt and pepper, same with the flatbread. The pricing is good in my opinion, and it’s extremely fast.

I confess, I love this place. I have even researched the possibility of opening one of these in Tacoma or Seattle, because everyone wants pasta that is both fast and yummy on occasion. That’s wanting pasta on occasion, not yummy on occasion. Anyways… I pretty much stick with the Pesto Cavatappi with the parmesan breaded chicken and broccoli, but I have been known to stray and get broccoli and chicken macaroni as well. Whatever it is I order, however, the food is lightning fast, it is delicious, and it never costs more than 8 or 9 bucks. I’m even a fan of taking the food to go, as long as I don’t have to travel too far with it. Pasta isn’t the best for reheating, but they do a good job of packaging it so it isn’t a ridiculous, sloppy mess if you do decide to take it home. Love it love it love it.

I don’t always like chains but Noodles and Company is good. I always go there when I visit Rochester. Wisconsin mac and cheese and a side of flatbread and butter. It’s good.

If you go to a Noodles & Company, it doesn’t matter if you go to this one, one in the Northern suburbs, one in California, one in Atlantis (if you can find it), or one on Mars (when it gets there). The food will be the same. It’s a chain. That’s the point. This review isn’t about the food.
(However, I will say, that I do like the food. I usually get a Trio with caesar salad, mushroom stroganoff, and braised beef. Good value. Tasty. ‘Nuff said.)
Noodles could technically be classified as «fast food» because you get your food fast. But it’s a step above linoleum floors, plastic tables, and ketchup dispensers that make disgusting sounds when they are empty. At the same time, it’s a haven for zit-​ridden teenagers looking for a job so they can go to the latest movie with their friends. Because of this, they could care less if they pushed the button for tuna noodle potato chip casserole vs. what you actually ordered. That could be said of anyone behind the register really.
Then there’s management. Management at these places do as much work behind the counter as the rest of the peons and then have to do their manager duties. As a result, if you ever have a complaint, they look at you with a stare that says, «just finish what your saying so I can say I’m sorry and get on with slapping these kids around.»
But then every once in a while, there is an exception. An employee gives me hope that there *is* someone that cares about the people that come into their store, and truly cares that you enjoy your experience there. I found such a person yesterday at this location.
I had an appointment with a friend and she was 15 minutes late. If you’ve ever been to a Noodles, you know you’re supposed to order your food before finding a table. To be polite, I stood near the registers waiting for my friend instead of taking an empty table. While watching patrons come and go, I saw an employee (presumably a manager) help out one of the register monkeys when a customer seemed to ask about something complicated. He offered her some combination of food that seemed to make her happy and I even heard something about it being cheaper (I wasn’t trying to listen in, just watching more than anything). He got points for being helpful.
A few minutes later, that same employee saw me waiting (it had been at least five minutes by now) and offered me a drink. I didn’t need one, but impressive nonetheless.
Ten minutes later, I finally saw my friend drive up and when I turned around to wait for her to get out of her car, the very person was standing in front of me with a glass in hand. «Are you sure you don’t want a drink? I have a glass right here.» Again, I declined since my friend was just coming in, but I was floored. Here is a guy that not only saw me standing around and offered me a drink, but in knowing how long I had waited, really wanted me to be comfortable by nearly forcing me to take a beverage. Had my friend not been imminent, I would have definitely accepted. This gentleman ended up bringing our food to us and was polite and pleasant as ever.
Now that I write this review, I realize I should have thanked him personally and gotten his name to tell corporate. This kind of person is an island competence in a sea of apathy. Not just in the super employee turnover world of fast food, but in retail in general. Good customer service just doesn’t exist anymore. Exceptional customer service is downright rare. I hoe this guy gets noticed. He should. I hope he goes far. He deserves to.