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/

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If you’re headed to Little Big Diner for lunch, I highly suggest you get there early. They open at 11:30. I showed up at 11:15 and by 11:20 there were people starting to get in line, so I jumped out of my car and got in line – good thing too, because by 11:30 the line was about 20 people deep. I was one of the last people to get a table and since I was the only on there in my party of four, you can imagine the dirty looks I got from the people who didn’t get a table.

The shop has a handful of seats and a few spots at the counter – it’s run by Dave Punch, who owns the nearby restaurant Sycamore.

The menu ranges from little plates to sample a little of everything to big plates if you’re feeling like a full meal.

The steamed cabbage and pork dumplings ($9) with black vinegar, chile crisp, and scallions. The vinegar was so delicious we wanted to lick every last bit of it off the plate!

We all split the cauliflower bahn mi sandwich which was delicious. The key to the perfect bahn me is the bread – not too crunchy not too soft. The filling has to be flavorful, and this did not disappoint.

The shrimp buns were tasty as well, with  pressed cucumbers, lime, and mayo – a perfect three bite treat!

I had the shio chicken ramen ($15)  with grilled thigh, ajitama egg, shaved cabbage, funny daikon, and schmaltz. The perfect thing on a chilly day!

Next time, I definitely want to try the forest mushroom ramen ($14) that my friend had, heiwa tofu, watercress, sesame and marinated shiitakes – it smelled delicious!! Ramen not your thing? Don’t worry, they have brown and white rice bowls and some tasty sounding small plates!

Little Big Diner

1247 Centre Street, Newton, MA

http://www.littlebigdiner.com/

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