Noodles & Co. to open Sat. at Pavilion at Lakeview

Noodles & Co., the Colorado chain specializing in Asian, American, and Mediterranean pasta-based dishes, is opening its first North Carolina location this week at Pavilion at Lakeview, next door to Chipotle.

Though chains aren't necessarily the first choice of many in foodie-centric Durham, Noodles & Co. has attracted interest in other markets for providing an affordable, quick lunch option that's of higher quality than your stereotypical fast-food outlets.

This chain joins a number of quick-dining options that have sprouted up across from Duke's West Campus and the VA/Duke medical centers. (And will be joined by Durham-based Green Tango this fall, to boot.)

The outlet is counting down the days to opening in its window and is currently set to debut this coming Saturday, June 14. Learn more about the concept at the Noodles & Co. web site.

Comments

[peetoteeto]

Who needs LSD when you've got noodles.com?

[Bull City Rising]

I should have warned: their web site is a little, er, WEIRD.

Find the "Farmer's Market" page and listen to the singing vegetables if you want to be creeped out a bit.

[Dessert destination]

I need LSD.

[Dave W.]

I think there are now more lunch joints at Lakeview/Erwin Terrace than downtown.

[peetoteeto]

"N-O-O-D-L-E-S!
Fast and quick and oh so fresh!"

Who knew that Sufjan Stevens would become such the corporate sellout?

[Dan S.]

When I lived in Arlington, there was a Noodles & Co. directly across from my Apt, in the Pentagon Row shopping strip. The food was okay -- nothing spectacular and a little pricey (depending on what you bought).

What I really want to see stateside is a Wagamama ( http://www.wagamama.com/ ) which I fell in love with in London, but has only made U.S. inroads in Boston.

[barry]

Dave W. - right you are!

There's a nice big hole in the downtown where Safari used to be. And don't get me started on pizza.

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

We have a Wagamama in Zürich, it's not bad although I prefer Yoshinoya. What I'm really missing is some Bullock's fried chicken; the swiss can't fry anything well other than wienerschnitzel, and there's no Texas Pete to be found.

[Luke]

Noddles & Co. sent DUMC students and staff a free dinner voucher for dinner tonight (Fri). It's a nice gesture. Hopefully it won't be madness.

[al]

Noodles & Co. did today what Heathrow should have done before opening Terminal 5. They tested their training under the most harrowing conditions they could simulate by inducing a mad dash for free food. As Luke mentions, the restaurant distributed dinner vouchers to DUMC staff and students. I was glad to get the coupon, because I walked over to Noodles & Co. for lunch about a week ago, before they opened. When I arrived today around 6:30pm, there were almost no seats empty and several staff personnel walked the line, handing out menus and explaining that since this was a training session/test and since things were so busy, food would take about 20-30 minutes to appear instead of the normal 5 minutes. I'm not quite sure where the "normal" bit comes in for a restaurant that hasn't opened, but I assume that they were comparing to other Noodles & Co establishments. The staff were definitely cheery (despite the constant sprints from kitchen to table -- and I think they had 6 chefs simultaneously cooking in the kitchen!). Their time estimate was correct. Our food appeared in about 20-30 minutes, with plates and food still hot. I brought a friend, and we decided to split the Pad Thai and Bangkok Curry. Both were pleasant, and the Pad Thai matched my expectations fairly well: not too authentic, not overwhelmingly flavored, but with just the right mix for the New American mass production version of an Asian dish. Sounds like the Noodles & Co. I remember from my few visits in other towns... Just enough peanut and spice to recognize, but not enough to be overwhelming... I'm planning to go back for the beef stroganoff sometime, though I don't expect them to hand me a free fountain drink again.

(I've appreciated the Durham notes from your blog as well as other Durham and Durham foodie blogs -- I don't keep a public blog, so here's my sneak preview...)

[Jackie]

We tried Noodles & Co. for the first time yesterday and were very happy with our meals. It is nice that you can customize your meal any way you want so that everyone in the family can find something they like and the food was relatively inexpensive. It wasn't an enormous portion but it was plenty of food. And very tasty. I had the Whole Wheat Tuscan Linguini. While we were eating my husband's comment was that we'll be going back to Noodles. It takes a lot to impress him so this was praise indeed.

[Jonathan]

I'm more excited about Noodles & Co. than anything else that's opened up in that shopping center (though I have made appearances at Chipotle and Dunkies). They'll have a pretty consistent lunch crowd in this location.

And I agree on Wagamama; just tried it in Boston for the first time ... they'd be great in Durham.