My First Time: Noodles & Company

I had a board meeting this afternoon for my black journalists organization and we met at Noodles & Company in South End. The restaurant opened at the end of October and I first noticed it a few weeks later when I was visiting Estelle's Cafe and Coffeehouse, which is across from it in the Village of Southend condos. (Estelle's is one of three late-night coffeehouses I profiled for the January issue of Charlotte magazine. You can read that article--"Night, Joe"--online by clicking here.) Today was my first time going to Noodles & Company and I found it pretty interesting.

The restaurant has a cozy, very modern layout. Walking up to the counter to place your order can be a little intimidating if it's your first time there, but the cashier explained the large menu to us. I opted for the Trio, which allowed me to pick any small bowl of noodles (Asian, Mediterranean, or American), a protein (chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu), and a side salad or soup. I ordered the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with the Parmesan Crusted Chicken and the Chicken Noodle soup. It was very good and, actually, the soup is probably the best chicken noodle I've ever had.

I can't say I'm a big fan of noodles. I wasn't like some of my childhood and college friends who hoarded Ramen Noodles (aka oodles and noodles). So I was surprised I liked my meal. And it was great for this freezing weather today--that chicken noodle may have prevented me from getting a cold.

As I was getting ready to blog about this, I visited the Noodles & Company website. It's very campy (Welcome to Noddleville, it says) and one of its interesting features is the Moodle Meter. It gauges your mood and determines which noodles you'd want. You simply place your hand in front of the sensor on your computer monitor and click scan. After scanning your hand, which obviously is not real or computer technology has gone farther than I realized, it asks you a silly question like "What's your preference: innie or outie?" I thought this analysis was fun and games until the results popped up: "Your Mood Analysis: You're Comfortable and Relaxed. Hungry? Settle in with our Wisconsin Mac & Cheese." I am comfortable and relaxed, and the mac & cheese is exactly what I ordered today. I'm scared.

This is the second Noodles & Company location in Charlotte. The first one opened on Providence Road in The Arboretum Shopping Center in July.