A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I had never heard of Noodles and Company before, but I was picking up my cousin at the Route 128 train station and we were looking for a place to grab a quick bite. Now let me tell you how much I love noodles. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be noodles. I love them plain with butter and with bolognese sauce. So a place called Noodles and Company seemed like there would be something I’d like, right?

This chain restaurant was founded in 1995 by a Pepsi marketing executive. While I like the idea of the restaurant chain, it leaves something to be desired. It felt like the McDonald’s of noodles. When you look at the pictures on the website, they look delicious. Yes, that penne rosa looks like I would want to eat it, and hey, that spicy Korean beef noodle dish looks totally edible. What we got was totally different. Let me also mention that we were one of the only people at the restaurant, so there wasn’t a big lunch rush we were competing with…

Noodles were tossed into bowls, it looked sloppy, half of the things that we ordered came out cold. If they say that you eat with your eyes, I’m thinking I’ll pass.

They do have gluten free options and vegetarian dishes. They have options with 500 calories or less for those watching their figures and they call out options for those watching their sugar or watching their sodium intake. While they have all the right potential to be great, I felt let down. Perhaps another location would be different.

Have you ever been to a Noodles and Company location? Love it or hate it? What did you get? How was the service?

Noodles and Company

125 University Ave., Westwood, MA

https://www.noodles.com/

Tags: casual dining, fast food, noodles, pasta, restaurant, takeout, vegetarian, westwood