Lawrence, KS: Noodless To Say, We May Not Be Returning To Noodles & Co

Noodles & Company

8 West 8th Street

Lawrence, KS 66044

Phone number: (785) 841-4300

Website: noodles.com

Prices: $$$$

Noodless to say, our experience this evening was less than stellar. OK, we are talking about Noodles & Company, a chain, so this review will not be as detailed as usual, but I need to comment.

The place is clean, standard Noodles & Company layout, lots of poor KU students eating big bowls of noodles. You get the idea. The staff we are friendly and helpful and the food decent, with one major exception. More on that soon.

We ordered the Korean BBQ Meatballs ($5 for 10) as a starter, I the Spicy Korean Beef Noodles ($9.25), and my better half the Steak, and I use that term loosely, Stroganoff ($9.25). The meatballs were pretty good and a decent value. My Korean Beef Noodles had barely a trace of beef, so I tossed in some of the meatballs, but otherwise it was pretty good although lacking enough broth (and meat).

The BIG problem came when my wife started eating the beef stroganoff. There was more beef than in my Korean noodles, but she chewed and chewed and chewed and chewed. You get the picture. The beef was "cartilagine" (literally "cartilage"), she said in Italian. I said: "Huh?", not being familiar with this word. Oh, you mean gristly! Yes, that was what she meant. I tasted a piece and it had the texture of a large, thick rubber band.

A very nice young lady came by and asked how our meal was. I told her "gristly", so she offered to exchange the stroganoff for something else. Well enough, so my wife asked for the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese ($6.25), a $3 difference. The mac & cheese came quickly and tasted very much like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a big bowl of it. The main problem was that nobody apologized, nobody offered a refund for the difference, to comp the meal, or even offer a free dessert. When I asked for the manager to leave my card as we left, three people pointed at each other (must have been Larry, Moe and Curly), so at that point I gave up. We left with a sour taste in our mouths ... or was that just gristle in our teeth?

Considering the fact that you can get a much better, quality sit down Asian fusion (Thai, Chinese, Nepalese) meal at ZZ's just up Mass Street for about the same price, Noodles & Company is not such a great value either.
CombatCritic Gives Noodles & Company 4 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Four Bombs Equates To:

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17

Tabelog - Official Judge (Silver)

Zomato - #1 Ranked "Verified" Foodie





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Read Chris S.'s review of Noodles & Company on Yelp

Noodles & Company

Title: Lawrence, KS: Noodless To Say, We May Not Be Returning To Noodles & Co

Key Words: Noodles & Company, noodles, company, Lawrence, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mass, KU, University of Kansas, university, fast, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp, Zomato, 

Translation for Civilians: BOHICA = "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again"