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| - Like everyone else giving this Noodlecat location low reviews, I'm disappointed that I have to do so. I visited Noodlecat when it was downtown on occasion, and back then it was a great, chill, sit-down ramen joint.
Those days are long gone.
Since then, whoever runs this place decided that they liked the aesthetic of a Chipotle (minus all the good parts) and the pseudo-techno amenities of a remodeled Wendy's. And that was as far as their ideas went...
They ditched the low-key sit-down style of the former downtown location for a Chipotle/cafeteria style line full of vats of miso broth and octopus tentacles. But why? It's not like you can even customize your food as it goes down the line. You just pick something off the vague, exceptionally overpriced, woefully minimal menu and wait for it pop down to the other side of the counter.
And at the end of the counter, you'll encounter the other half-baked addition to this downgrade of a ramen restaurant.
After visiting Chipotle and deciding that open air bowls of seafood and vegetables was the way to go to store and serve food, the masterminds of Noodlecat visited Wendy's and had their mind blown by those new Coke dispensers they all have now. You know, the ones that can dispense every kind of soft drink imaginable?
Well... those were kind of expensive, so they settled for the off brand model and used the savings to buy a confusingly unnecessary "selfie" machine to put next to the bathrooms (perhaps to use while you wait for your food?).
The only redeeming factors of this place are the great location, and the fact that the food is still pretty tasty.
Unlike some others who hope that management will read these reviews and change, I have no such hopes. Noodlecat had this location built for them. This was their vision. They thought this was the way to go. This Noodlecat can't stop being a lack-luster, poorly-executed rip-off of mediocre, Americanized, semi-ethnic, chain-eateries any more than water can stop being wet.
I'm not a huge ramen buff, and I hate to have to say all these things, but I'm truly saddened by how far Noodlecat has fallen.
I won't be coming back, and you should spare yourself the trip.
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