Noodles & Company

My friends and I usually maintain a strict diet of pizza and watermelon Sour Patch candy when we're together, but this time we decided to give a place with real food a try: Noodles & Company. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I mean, maybe that's because I blindly agreed with our friend, Laith, when he suggested it, but life is about new experiences, right? I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did the restaurant have a pleasant feel to it, but it had a large variety of menu options that I wouldn't mind taking part in again.

______________________________________________________________________
 The Location

I'd like to start off by going over how the building itself is situated before I get to how the food tasted. On our brisk walk across the parking lot to the entrance (It was really cold... not a good time to stop and take in the scenery), I noticed that the building is clean-looking and welcoming with it's simple, appealing architecture.

It has plenty of windows to let in light, and this makes it feel open and informal. Despite the place's smaller size, I didn't feel crowded because even though it was lunch time and the line was long, (from the register to the door) the space was used well. Not only does this location fully utilize the power of the sun, but it also has a lot of well-chosen, round light fixtures that went with the simple, yet practical decor inside for dining hours. It's the kind of layout that most kinds of people would be appreciate since it's pretty neutral in theme.

I was comfortable there not only because of the lighting, though. The temperature of the room, while it might not seem that important at first, was everything I would expect. It was warm enough to save my friends and me from the chills of the outside world in January, yet moderate enough that people who were still wearing their coats wouldn't feel overheated.

 Now, one of the things that's most important to me when I go out to eat is the cleanliness of the restaurant. If there's a cockroach husband and wife sitting on a table and having lovely dinner conversations, I'm not putting the food from that place in my mouth.

Luckily, that was not the case at Noodles & Company. The tables were kept clean, and there were only a couple of lonely noodles chilling in the corner from the chaos of rush hour. It's not something I would be picky about, and the establishment was still in perfectly good condition. Not to mention, I didn't happen to run into any customers of the insect kind.

After the meal, I checked out the bathrooms which, like most public bathrooms, were not the cleanest, but they weren't bad. I have this theory that it's impossible to come out of a public restroom cleaner than when you went in, but that will require further testing. I can't personally attest to how the men's restrooms were kept for obvious reasons, but I'll take my male friends' words that they were alright. 

There was nothing that really made me stop to question the safety of the kitchen where my food would be coming from, so I was pretty happy. I can't really say if the building has the same level of cleanliness on all days since I've only been there once, but at about 2pm on a Sunday it was in perfectly acceptable condition.

Building Overall: ★★★★☆
          Lighting                           ★★★★★ 
          Cleanliness                      ★★★★☆
          Room Temperature         ★★★★★

______________________________________________________________________
 The Food
  
Now, since eating is usually the main reason for being at an establishment such as Noodles & Company, we did just that. The five of us all ordered different things, mostly from the American section of the menu, with the intention of getting a good idea of how the food is on average.

You see, the menu (above) had a good variety of items within each category of Asian, Mediterranean, and American. This is a pretty neat way of setting up the menu options since you can choose whether you want something simple from the American section or something that's a little bit beyond what you would normally eat.  With a total of 23 meal options and 6 additional meat/tofu options, I would think it's safe to say that there's something for almost anyone whether you're picky or adventurous. Not only that, but Noodles & Company utilizes symbols on their menu to indicate vegetarian options and levels spiciness. It was extremely convenient for me, as someone who dislikes spicy food, and the consideration was not overlooked. In addition, this place is hospitable to those of you who have or have friends with allergies, offering an allergen guide, referenced on the bottom of the menu by the symbols mentioned earlier.

         Pasta Fresca                Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with Bacon                              Chicken Noodle Soup

Considering how quickly we got our food during lunchtime, approximately 8 minutes after we sat down to get all 5 of our meals (about 20 minutes total), I wasn't expecting much in the way of presentation. However, as shown above, I thought that they all looked pretty classy. The pasta fresca (left) was plated nicely with cheese on top, the Wisconsin mac & cheese (middle) was served in a simple, white bowl and covered in a layer of bacon and cheese, the chicken noodle soup (right) was served in white china with a package of crackers, and the steak stroganoff (below) had layered noodles, cheese, sauce, and meat in a very clean, appetizing way. It was the speed of fast food with the class of a sit-down restaurant. Noodles & Company is a neat hybrid of the best of both worlds. It's probably not the best place to go if you're trying to impress your boss, but it's great for most situations if you're just hungry and want some good food that won't take a lot of time or money.

I ordered steak stroganoff.

But what good does pretty plates and a plethora of options do if the food doesn't taste as good as it looks? From what I tried, the taste lived up to the standards set by the presentation. The regular-size steak stroganoff I got had a good balance of salt and other delicious flavors from the marinated steak, mushroom sherry cream sauce, fresh herbs, cracked pepper, sautéed mushrooms, egg noodles, and parmesan. They blended well together, encouraging me to eat more than I had wanted. My friends had similar situations with their picks, and the tastes that I had of their food indicated equally tasteful seasoning. The cheese on the macaroni was rightfully gooey, all of the noodles in the dishes were cooked properly, the food arrived with the perfect amount of heat that was pleasant without being scalding, and none were too plain or too intricate for my liking.

Wisconsin Mac & Cheese (left) in small size           Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with bacon (right) in regular size

 
But just as important as taste is the amount that you get for what you pay, right? This restaurant offers two sizes: regular and small (shown above). While I'm pretty satisfied with the two sizes, I think more options could possibly add convenience to the experience of certain customers. The small is a good amount for me personally, but I don't see how little kids can eat through a whole bowl without sharing or taking some home in the convenient containers (right) that there are for your leftovers. I guess that's alright, though, since the leftovers I had from the regular I got were plenty delicious the next day.

But anyways, at $5.35 for most regular-sized meals, $4.25 for most small-sized meals, and a dollar more for a soup on the side, I would say that it was worth it. While the food at Noodles & Company might not be as cheap as McDonalds, it's not overly expensive considering the speed, flavor, atmosphere, portion sizes, and presentation provided by the place.

Food Overall: ★★★★☆
          Variety                     ★★★★★
          Presentation             ★★★★★
          Flavor                      ★★★★★    
          Temperature             ★★★★★  
          Portion Size              ★★★★☆            
          Cost                         ★★★★☆            
______________________________________________________________________

Overall Restaurant Quality

Basically, even though it was a little bit hectic and the floor had a couple stray noodles on it, I loved Noodles & Company and would definitely go again. It had all of the right elements in its physical space to make me feel welcome and like I had enough space, and it also exceeded my expectations in the food department. I left happy, and would definitely recommend that people try this restaurant out. You won't be disappointed.


Restaurant Overall: ★★★★☆
          Building                     ★★★★☆
          Food                         ★★★★☆




View Larger Map

The Best Place for an Interesting Twist on the Usual

Whether you're at Subway or Portillo's, soup you order will almost always be served in some kind of Styrofoam cup, flimsy container, plastic bowl, or some other kind of dish. While the device that keeps your meal from ending up in a puddle on the table may not be any indication of the taste, it's an area of opportunity that most restaurants leave untouched.
  

One place that I know of that addresses this untapped potential, which many of you might have heard of, is Panera Bread. While they offer soup in plain bowls, there is the option to have your soup poured into a hollowed-out loaf of sourdough bread. Leaving the removed section on the side, the staff at Panera will put a soup of your choice, menu options including brocoli cheddar and all-natural chicken noodle, in the cavity when you order. This process leaves the inside gooey and soaked with the flavor while the outside remains a sturdy shell that crackles when you take a bite.

Of course, the bread bowl is more expensive than an ordinary, non-food container, but from my experience, it's worth the extra bit. Besides, the prices are reasonable to begin with, especially for the quality, which is complimented by the restaurant's atmosphere as referenced in this video:

 

So if you're looking for a little something extra to add to your soup experience, Panera is certainly worth a try.