I really like Noodles and Company. It's typically very reliable, great for families, and an affordable meal...Except when they miss the mark. In this case, because the East Madison N&C is the only one near the area, they were very busy and we completely incapable of keeping up with quality and service. My family and I went to there on a late Saturday afternoon. They were unusually busy with not many seats available, but because line was shorter, we took a risk and ordered the regular Mac & Cheese, Pad Thai with Tofu, Japanese Pan Noodles with Chicken, Asian Salad and a couple of those amazing Rice Crispy Treats.
FOOD TASTE/QUALITY: After waiting an understandably long time, we were quite taken back with the lack of attention given to most of our meals. First, let's start with the ridiculously large bowls in comparison to the portions. The food was literally dwarfed in the bowl. Not sure who made this decision, but it was a bad one. The Mac and Cheese worked and was on-the-spot (pretty standard for them); the Japanese Pan noodles had one small piece of broccoli and -- oddly -- other random noodles (see pics); Pad Thai was sporting burnt tofu, and the salad was missing several ingredients, including crispy noodles. The overall taste was fine, but the quality and details were way, way of the mark.
PRESENTATION: As mentioned, the presentation was grossly off. Huge bowls, wrong ingredients, and little attention to detail.
PORTION: We did not go away hungry (thanks in large part to the Rice Crispy treats), but the portions were very hard to gauge because the presentation was so off. I actually had to ask them if it was the kid sized portion or the regular, because we literally could not tell the difference in the gargantuan bowls.
PRICES: Regular Japanese Pan Noodle with Chicken is $8.84 with tax; Mac and Cheese is $6.11 with tax; Pad Thai with Tofu is $8.63 with tax, Chinese Salad was $6.01 after tax; and those Crispy treats are a buck eighty-nine each. Typically, I don't have a huge issue with their prices, as the food quality makes it worth the price. However, in this case, $40-$50 for mediocre food made it a bit hard to swallow.
DINING EXPERIENCE: As mentioned, it was really busy and the employees were doing what they could to keep up. But, this was a management problem. They did not have enough people working to handle the amount of customers there, and the capacity of the location was certainly maxed out. When we questioned the staff about the portions and missing parts, they didn't re-make it (the right answer), but brought us out the missing parts one-by-one: steamed broccoli, crispy noodles, tofu, etc.
FINAL NOTES/IMPRESSIONS (2.5 to 3 stars): As I said, I have expectations of N&C and typically like their food and atmosphere. The Madison East Towne Boulevard location did not meet the expectation. While I like the company, as a whole, this location brought the reputation down a notch.