Noodles and Company — Restaurant in Maplewood

The best Noodles & Co. I have ever graced. I would say the only con to this place is how hard it is to enter. The small turn to get in is like the final boss of a video game - impossible to beat. Spent about 10 extra minutes just trying to enter. Nonetheless, all of my grievances resolved when I finally did. The inside of this Noodles is pristine - so clean! A nice contridiction to the Noodles & Co.s that I usually go to. Their cleanliness was a good sign from the start, a reflection of their great employees. I didn’t catch the cashier’s name, but it was a woman with brown hair. She was so nice! Granted, it wasn’t very busy, but she greeted us right away and gave us time to peruse the menu. I’m Celiac (Gluten free, basically) so I had to customize my order a little bit to make sure there was no gluten. She understood right away and was so accomodating! She even made sure that I knew that the grilled chicken might have cross-contamination & made sure to let them know it was an allergy. One of the nicest fast-food cashiers I have ever met! Very caring & emanated good vibes. My friend and I sat down, and our food was out within minutes. Not to mention, the presentation was spectacular. Could have been on Chopped, or a Gordon Ramsay show. She even presented our forks to us on a separate plate with napkins. For a Noodles & Company, this was fine dining. When I had to use the bathroom and realized it needed a secret code to enter, she came and entered it for me right away, without me even asking. So well put-together and organized. The food was delicious as well, and I say this as a gluten-free person who really only tastes good food every once in awhile. It was great. So happy. Not even mentioning the frickin all-knowing, customizable soda machine. The person who invented those things and decided to put one inside of every Noodles ever is an angel descended from heaven that knows exactly what the people of America want. It’s just glorious. So, to summarize, if it’s date night in Minnesota and you’re craving Noodles, this is the only one you should ever go to. Trust! A hidden gem (Literally hidden- hard to find...

DO NOT GO TO THIS STORE! I normally don't leave reviews but my experience last night was incredibly bad. I came in around 9 30 (about 30 min before they close) and when I came in it looked like they had already closed everything. I wasn't sure so I wanted to just ask since I could hear someone in the back so I first waited about 15 min just to see someone and eventually the person came up and we made direct eye contact but he just walked away. I tried to call for them to get their attention but they had earbuds in and probably couldn't hear me so I tried calling louder and I was still being ignored I also tried knocking on the wall to see if that would get their attention and still nothing. By the time I left it was 9 50 and I got nothing. I tried going through the takeout window too see if I could get anything there and once I did I watched a woman come our of the bathroom and I tried honking my horn for them to now come up to me and still nothing. She made direct eye contact with me and an annoyed expression on her face as she clocked out. I will not be returning and I recommend other people to not go there either. I would also strongly recommend who ever manages that store to really looking into punishing those 2 for that kind of service. I dont have a problem with the company and I will still likely go to the other one farther away but this store has given me nothing but horrible service ever since I...

I feel like over the years the quality of food coming out of this noodles and co has taken a steep decline. Last 2 times I’ve gone (within the last 6 months) the noodles have been very subpar. First one I had was the mac and cheese. I subbed the elbow noodles for penne noodles and those noodles were chewy. Not even al denté, but chewy. Also anytime you order the mac and cheese, there is the most minuscule amount of cheese and cheese sauce. You’re essentially eating plain boiled noodles with some melted cheese on top. If you want any sort of actual creamy mac and cheese you have to order extra cheese sauce on the side which is a small portion for $1. It’s like they don’t even put any cheese sauce in the mac and cheese to begin with. Anyways, second time ordering in the last 6 months was today. I got the buttered noodles with Parmesan-crusted chicken. Again, the noodles were chewy. Not al denté, but chewy. Minimal butter coating the noodles… So many were un-coated even when shaking and stirring everything. I get that we’re experiencing inflation but when the prices start increasing and the portions of sauce and general quality of food goes down, you need to make some changes. It’s come to a point that if I ever order from noodles again it will be from...