Watch Out Italio, High End Fast Casual Noodles & Company Opening First Florida Location in Downtown South
Right now Italio is about the only place one can find fast-casual style noodle dishes in the Orlando area. That is about to change when Florida’s first Noodles & Company opens in Downtown South. Located at the Market @ Southside the new restaurant will reportedly be a standalone 2682 sq ft building built in what is currently parking in front of the yet to open Walmart Neighborhood Market.
 |
| Noodles & Company will be in one of the two outparcels along Orange Ave in front of the new Neighborhood Market |
Noodles & Company uses a familiar concept of ordering in an assembly line style fashion (just like Chipotle, Italio, or Subway). The veggie option is a bit larger than some other restaurants though with an ever changing selection of 14 toppings and the menu items are more global in nature.
The restaurant, which has been around since 1995, uses traditional noodles for all its dishes. The rice noodles are shipped in from Thailand, the udon noodles are from authentic Japanese Noodle Masters located in Brooklyn, and the pasta is from top of the line amber durum wheat grown in North Dakota. The toppings include locally grown veggies and the beer selection could give some local pubs a run for their money. Each restaurant has its own unique beer list that is designed specifically for what that area would want. Expect a mix of local Florida beers and favorites such as the new to Florida New Belgium Brewing Company and 312. Two nice things are all menu items have their calories posted and the restaurant uses the new Coke Freestyle machines giving diners a much larger drink menu.
On May 23, 2013 the company filed registration statements for an IPO on the NASDAQ under ticker symbol NDLS. The company currently has 339 restaurants in 25 states in both a corporate and a franchised owned model.
