Noodles and Company — Restaurant in Grandville

Racial profiling, lies, and escalation at Noodles & Company (Grandville, MI).

On September 19, 2025 at about 3:00 p.m., I visited this location and was subjected to conduct that no customer should ever experience.

Here’s what happened:

I briefly stepped behind the counter to ask for clarification, and there was no posted sign stating that customers were not permitted in that area. Instead of handling the situation respectfully, employees immediately began yelling at me.

When I asked why I was being treated this way, staff fabricated lies, falsely claiming that I was “belligerent.”

They then called the police, escalating the situation further. Even worse, the employees told the officer to trespass me, and based on their false story, the officer added it into the record that I was banned from the property—while I was a paying customer who had done nothing wrong.

To cover themselves, the white employees paraded a Black co-worker as their “best friend”, essentially using her as a shield to say: “See, we aren’t racist, she’s causing issues.”

That employee (with the long lashes) then joined them instead of de-escalating.

This was not a misunderstanding. It was racial profiling: deny service, invent accusations, call the police, and weaponize law enforcement through lies and tokenism.

I have the entire incident on video, including the fabricated claims, the police involvement, and the trespass order that employees pushed the officer to impose. The footage shows that I remained calm and reasonable while employees lied and escalated.

Because of this, I will be pursuing legal action against Noodles & Company under:

Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation),

The Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (state protections against racial discrimination),

Defamation (for the knowingly false statements about my conduct), and

Unlawful trespass (arising from fabricated claims used to justify police action).

⚠️ Customers of color should be warned: even if you are polite, pay for your meal, and expect fair service, this location may still target you with lies, racial profiling, and police-backed...

1. Japanese style noodles w/ tofu and extra sauce.
2. chicken kids meal w/ broccoli side

Ordering and pickup: Starting out was okay, the website was simple enough to order off of, though, I do NOT like how much information they require for you to order online. Kids school was doing a fundraiser and in order to enter the code, you are forced to sign up on their site. Upon ordering, I was notified that my food would be ready in 12 min, being 10 min from them, this was perfect. When you show up, be sure to drive to the front of the building, if you come in from the north, there are no signs telling you that the curbside is on the south side of the building. I waited an additional 16 min beyond the time quoted, so, be prepared for that.

The food: 1) -Japanese noodles were very undercooked. -Thankfully I had paid for sauce, was lacking much to start (extra came as a side). -Broccoli was raw / uncooked. -Tofu was cooked until dry, thick black burnt on one side, plastic fork would not go through.

-Kids meal chicken was VERY dry. -Broccoli was raw/uncooked.

Really, the only positive from this was some of the money went to the school last night. Overall with the extra time waiting, there was no time saved (order, wait, and drive was roughly 45 min in total) and with the food being below the quality and standards of any boxed "just add chicken" meal, I can't see myself ever returning even if it is for a fundraiser.

Recommendations: -Fix the online orderings overly optimistic lead time calculator so customers aren't sitting in a car for over 15 min (233% X quoted time to process order). -Re visit and re-train processes, With food being burnt black and dried up and also completely raw in the same bowl, it is clear that a franchise process that was most likely written with higher standards in mind was...

Update: 3.26.24

I walked into Rivertown and knew I was going to have a better experience the second I saw Patti's face. She has been a ROCK to Noodles and was so happy to see her back at my home location 😁 I'm delighted to know she always puts quality first. And if I ever did have a problem she would follow through with the solution! In the past working with her she treated me like family and still does years later! She deserves all the good things that are coming her way and the raise of the year! Her persona is the noodles core values

She IS caring she IS passionate she DOES show proud and she DOES show she loves life even in the hardest days. I know this review is supposed to be about my experience. But she makes the experience each and every time. West Michigan Noodles wouldn't be Noodling without her

I used to manage this place and it has just gone downhill regarding quality. We never ever have an order that is right. Portions are so small. Prices keep rising. I pay $1.25 for any extras and get so little of that extra. Side salads are usually only half good, half the lettuce is wilted/wet/pink/brown. This time I didn't get dressing for the salad and it looked more than half edible this time. No sauce for our cheese bread. It's quite frustrating because this is one of the few places we trust because we are vegetarian. We never get a "5 star service" Don't get me wrong the people there are wonderful and sweet but just take more time to make sure the order is correct and everything is there. I drove 30 minutes for lunch today and it's so disappointing I have to remember to check my entire bag before I leave now,...