Noodles & Company (N. Academy Blvd)

After running a few errands, Mike and I decided to drop by Noodles & Company for a quick lunch. Besides our curiosity about the place (as we've driven by it on North Academy Blvd for aeons) - we had a coupon for buy one, get one free (Thanks, Jennifer B!).

Noodles & Company is a chain that originally started in Denver.  It was founded by a New Yorker who wanted to bring fresh, fast food with variety to the masses. He based his restaurants around noodles - since noodles (or pasta) are the shared ingredient of many Asian, Italian and American dishes.  One restaurant can please multiple tastes. I think he hit on something there!  (By the way - besides noodle dishes, they serve soups, salads and sandwiches - but for this visit, let's just stick to the noodles.)

There are essentially three sections to the menu (I said this before, didn't I?):  Asian (pad Thai, Japanese udon, curry, Indonesian, etc); Italian (penne, linguini, curly pasta, etc); and American (mac & cheese, spaghetti, butter noodles, etc).  After looking over the menu, we walked up to the counter to place our order and submit our two-fer coupon.  For this, our first visit, both Mike and I decided to order off the Asian side of the menu.  Mike got the Japanese dish: udon with veggies and beef. I opted for the Indonesian with rice noodles, veggies and a chicken breast.  It was rated at two peppers and they nailed the spiciness.  If you don't like spicy (in this case, spicy and hot) - don't get any food rated at two peppers. Stick to one or none.

We got our drink, grabbed a table at the front of the place and stuck our number "18" on the stand so the waitperson would know which table to bring the food to. It wasn't but 3 or 4 minutes and here it came - delivered by a seemingly happy employee!  The portions were plenty - we had both ordered the standard size - and the aromas were spectacular.  As we dug in, we agreed that the food was tasty, fresh and well cooked. 

I tried a bite of Mike's lunch - and he a bite of mine - and we agreed that we both liked the Japanese dish just a bit better - luscious, smooth brown sauce, tender mushrooms, tasty beef.  Although my lunch was fine - don't get me wrong - I just enjoyed the Japanese one a bit more.  Individual tastes, you know. You might go and like the Indonesian dish better!

I didn't finish my meal, so I got a carry-away box for the leftovers.  Which I ate for breakfast on Mids last night - spices and all.  Maybe I should eat spicy food more often on Mids - didn't even get sleepy the whole shift!  Anyway - the noodles re-heated well - and I had another chance to enjoy the hot, spicy Indonesian noodles. 

Noodles & Company - yes, Do Again - and next time, we'll try a couple of the Italian dishes!