In a world of soggy french fries, boring fried chicken and tasteless hamburgers, Noodles & Company’s pasta dishes are the pinnacle of deliciousness.
Not only is its main dish the one meal that most people can agree on loving—pasta—its menu also has options for every taste. Love Asian food? There’s a whole category for that. Love good-old American cuisine, heavy on the cheese? Comin’ right up.
There’s just one problem: Noodles & Company does not deliver.
Casual dining restaurants have increasingly started to deliver. Burger King started delivering in January. Yamas Mediterranean Grill brings its gyros right to the doorsteps of Bethesda families. Even California Pizza Kitchen, Noodles & Company’s next-door neighbor in Montgomery Mall, offers delivery service through Grubhub. So why does Noodles & Company resist?
It’s hard to explain. For one thing, the restaurant is extremely popular.
According to an Observer survey of 52 CHS students, 44 percent claim that Noodles & Company is their favorite restaurant in Montgomery Mall and 90 percent would want Noodles & Company to start a delivery service.
The facts are undeniable: students want to scarf down hot bowls of Pesto Cavatappi in their PJs and sip Thai Curry Soup during Glee on Thursday nights. They want access to their favorite noodle dish even when they don’t have a ride to the mall.
Delivery service would not only benefit Noodles & Company customers. It would also be great for the restaurant’s business.
According to Montgomery Mall Noodles and Company manager Mark Strugatch, the Montgomery Mall location does not currently have any plans to implement a delivery service, but several locations in the area plan to begin catering by 2013. The Noodles and Company corporation has decided that they would rather deliver to people spending $100 as opposed to $15. This just doesn’t make sense when there are so many CHS students and teachers who want to enjoy only a couple of pasta bowls with their families.
A delivery service would also potentially benefit Noodles & Company economically. As long as it doesn’t deliver anything under $15, the cost of the delivery service is more than covered.
Clearly, it’s as necessary for Noodles & Company to add a delivery service as it is for its employees to add grated cheese to their famous American mac & cheese. It’s time to end CHS students’ deprivation of Penne Rosa (mild, please). So please, Noodles & Company, add some runners to your menu. Do so for yourself and more importantly, for us.
