Noodles & Company launched its biggest menu upgrade ever on Wednesday, the culmination of a nearly two-year effort to revitalize the fast-casual chain.
Nine new dishes were unveiled, including five that are new to the menu and four upgraded classics. With the brand strategy built around the phrase “We know noodles,” it is the latest effort in an ongoing transformation that is expected to touch two-thirds of the menu.
The launch coincides with a comprehensive marketing push and brand upgrades that include new plateware, new uniforms and a “welcome wall” in stores with the digital menu boards and dynamic content to showcase the brand’s made-to-order cooking.
“This is the biggest investment Noodles & Company has ever made in its menu, driven by extensive research, rigorous testing and a deep commitment to innovation—ensuring we deliver exactly what our guests crave,” said Drew Madsen, Noodles’ CEO, in a statement.
And what they crave, apparently is mac and cheese.
The new menu includes three new mac and cheese varieties:
- Buffalo Chicken Ranch Mac & Cheese with elbow noodles in a creamy cheddar and jack sauce with Parmesan-crusted chicken, topped with Buffalo sauce, green onions, crispy onions and a drizzle of ranch.
- Garlic Bacon Crunch Mac & Cheese with a creamy garlic cheddar sauce with bacon and white cheddar, also topped with crispy onions, Parmesan and fresh herbs.
- Pulled Pork BBQ Mac & Cheese in a creamy cheddar and jack sauce with pulled pork topped with barbecue sauce, green onions and crispy onions.
And that’s in addition to the chain’s former Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, which has also been given an upgrade with the creamy cheddar and jack sauce, then topped with more shredded cheese.
“Mac and cheese is a major category for us, and we are the noodle experts,” said Scott Davis, Noodles’ chief concept officer, in an interview. “We do mac and cheese phenomenally well.”
The new Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine in Alfredo sauce. | Photo courtesy of Noodles & Company.
Other new dishes include a Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine in a Cajun-spiced Alfredo sauce with shrimp, bacon and roasted red peppers, and topped with Parmesan and green onions.
There’s a new Green Goddess Cobb Salad with mixed greens, grilled chicken, bacon, hard-boiled egg, avocado, feta, grape tomatoes, cucumber, pickled red onions, garlic croutons and green goddess ranch dressing.
And, because guests are asking for more vegetables, a new side dish is Lemon Parmesan Broccoli topped with butter, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, parsley and lemon.
That dish offers an opportunity to add attachments, said Davis. Salads could also be paired with pastas in the future, but the brand will not likely position as an entrée salad concept.
“We’re still trying to figure out where we land with salads,” he said.
Other upgraded dishes include the Rigatoni Rosa, formerly known as Penne Rosa, which now has more of the spicy tomato cream sauce, as well as slow-roasted tomatoes, and aged Parmesan.
The Basil Pesto Cavatappi also has more sauce, as well as fire-roasted tomatoes, aged Parmesan and fresh herbs.
And the Chicken Caesar Salad with romaine, grilled chicken and creamy Caesar dressing has new buttery herb croutons and is topped with grated and shaved Parmesan added for “more depth.”
Noodles worked with renowned menu consultants The Culinary Edge. More menu enhancements are coming later this year, said Madsen.
And, as with any menu overhaul, some dishes have been phased off the menu, including Noodles’ more healthfully positioned LEANguini, for example, and the zucchini noodle-based Zoodles, which were popular when consumers were adamantly anti-carb. Lately, however, those menu items had reached the point in their life cycle when they were more likely waste than selling, Davis said.
Now guests want protein, he noted. But they also want balance.
“We’re seeing the idea of balance come up in consumer research,” said Davis. “They’re looking for more ways to eat what they want to eat.”
On the new menu, protein is included in almost all of the new dishes.
For protein seekers, a “hidden gem” on Noodles’ menu is the fact that guests get the same amount of protein if they order a small dish or a large dish, Davis said. “You’ll see protein play a more prominent role.”
The type of pasta has also been switched in several dishes, from penne to a shorter-and-fatter mezze rigatoni, which holds sauce better, Davis said.
And the new marketing campaign will attempt to better convey how much cooking is done in Noodles & Company units, from the hand-chopped ingredients to the Parmesan-crusted chicken hot off the sauté line.
“For so many concepts, it’s hard to understand what actually gets done in restaurants. But, for us, the story is it’s pretty much everything,” said Davis.
Last October, the first three of the new dish lineup planned debuted in what Davis called “a teaser.” Those dishes included a Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi, a Crispy Chicken Bacon Alfredo and a Chipotle Chicken Cavatappi.
Three "teaser" dishes introduced last fall. | Photo courtesy of Noodles.
Noodles was once positioned as a fast-casual brand known for global flavors—a tour of the world through the lens of pasta. The new menu appears to focus on more familiar domestic flavors, but the brand has been working on identifying gaps.
The Chipotle Chicken Cavatappi addresses a demand for more spice, for example, and the scampi offered a lighter option. Adding chicken and bacon to the Alfredo brings protein—but also adding bacon to anything makes it better.
No new equipment is required with this effort, but Davis said the menu overhaul has focused on processes and how to better use what’s in restaurant kitchens.
“For us to do this much change, it has taken a whole organizational focus,” he said. “And our operators stepped up to the challenge in a major way as well.”
After reporting signs that sales were moving in the right direction last week, Madsen expressed optimism that the menu changes would be transformational for the 463-unit chain.
Test markets have shown a significant increase in guest satisfaction across all key metrics, and the improved food has brought in new customers, he said.
The Buffalo Chicken Ranch Mac & Cheese saw a 40% increase in sales over the dish it replaced, for example, and more than 20% of guests ordering the new Basil Pesto Cavatappi in the test markets were new to the brand.
“Our new menu does a much better job of delivering against what today’s customer wants,” said Madsen. “We believe we are the only restaurant chain of scale to offer a variety of expertly crafted noodle bowls across cuisine types. This is what we do, and we will do it better than anyone else.”
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