Noodles & Company (Noodles) is a restaurant concept offering lunch and dinner within the fast-casual segment of the restaurant industry.
The company’s core offerings include noodle and pasta dishes, staples of many different cuisines, with the intention of delivering fresh ingredients and flavors from around the world under one roof. The company’s globally inspired menu includes a wide variety of cooked-to-order dishes, including noodles and pasta, salads, soups and appetizers. As of December 3...
Noodles & Company (Noodles) is a restaurant concept offering lunch and dinner within the fast-casual segment of the restaurant industry.
The company’s core offerings include noodle and pasta dishes, staples of many different cuisines, with the intention of delivering fresh ingredients and flavors from around the world under one roof. The company’s globally inspired menu includes a wide variety of cooked-to-order dishes, including noodles and pasta, salads, soups and appetizers. As of December 31, 2024, the company operated various restaurants in 31 states, which included some company locations and franchise locations.
Concept and Business Strategy
Noodles is a broadly appealing concept in the national fast-casual dining space. The company is focused on offering customers flavorful, cooked-to-order dishes in a warm and welcoming environment at an attractive value. The company offers approximately 20 globally inspired and highly customizable dishes that can be enjoyed inside its restaurants, taken to-go, or delivered to the company’s customers.
The company’s customers experience the Noodles brand through the company-owned and franchise operated locations, and digitally through the company’s mobile app, website www.noodles.com and third-party delivery services. In 2024, approximately 56% of the company’s sales were derived from digital ordering, where guests have the opportunity to select in restaurant quick pick-up or delivery to their home or office.
The company is one of the only national restaurant chains to offer a menu devoted to noodles across a variety of cuisines. The company offers a wide variety of flavor profiles, combining classic noodle dishes with more contemporary options. The company hand-chops fresh vegetables and prepares nine noodle varieties in-house every day. All of the company’s dishes are cooked-to-order. Choice and customization have always been a great strength of the brand. This focus on culinary innovation allows the company to prepare and serve high-quality food and meet changing consumer expectations.
In late 2024, the company began one of the most comprehensive menu upgrades in its 30-year history. This includes reimagined favorites featuring more sauce, more vegetables, and more premium ingredients. Additionally, the new menu includes thoughtfully curated new dishes with bold flavors that address gaps in its existing menu offering. The company began the rollout of its updated menu in late 2024 and will be substantially complete by the end of the first half of 2025.
Restaurant Portfolio and Franchising
Restaurant Portfolio
As of December 31, 2024, the company had various company-owned restaurants and franchise restaurants in 31 states. The company’s restaurants are typically between 2,000 and 2,600 square feet; and are in endcap, in-line or free-standing locations across a variety of suburban, collegiate and urban markets. The company continues to analyze its restaurant prototype design to better facilitate future expansion and better meet the needs of the changing consumer experience.
Franchising
As of December 31, 2024, the company had various franchise units in 20 states operated by 14 franchisees. In 2024, the company’s franchisees opened three restaurants and closed seven restaurants. The company has 10 area developers who have signed development agreements providing for the opening of 119 restaurants in their respective territories.
Site Development and Expansion
The company has used a combination of its own internal team and outside real estate consultants to locate, evaluate and negotiate new sites using various criteria. In making site selection decisions, the company uses several analytical tools designed to uncover the key site, demographic, business, retail, competitive and traffic characteristics that drive successful locations. The company utilizes third-party resources to assist with evaluating potential new sites.
Restaurant Marketing
The company's strategic marketing efforts seek to drive sales and increase brand loyalty by highlighting its competitive strengths through a variety of channels, including digital marketing, social media, public relations, guest engagement, and local marketing. The company focuses on attributes that set it apart, including the breadth and customization of its menu, as well as its best-in-class convenience offerings, ultimately using a data-driven approach to guide its strategy.
Contemporary Menu Offerings
The company focuses some of its marketing efforts on new menu offerings to broaden its appeal to customers, and it continues to invest in high-quality ingredients and portions that improve the taste and appearance of its dishes. At the same time, the company showcases the dishes that continue to be loved by many. For instance, in 2024, the company's focus on new menu offering efforts centered around the launch of three new dishes: Crispy Chicken Bacon Alfredo, Chipotle Chicken Cavatappi, and Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi. In 2025, the company is set to introduce five new contemporary dishes and implement culinary changes to four other dishes.
Brand Platform: From time to time, the company launches new brand platforms to enhance its brand awareness, introduce Noodles to new guests, and remind existing guests what sets Noodles apart.
Loyalty Program: The company’s Noodles Rewards program had approximately 8% during 2024 to approximately 5.6 million members. The Rewards program provides the company with guest data that can be used to target and personalize offers and communications. The program allows guests to accumulate reward points associated with each purchase that can be redeemed for offers, such as free bowls, free side dishes, discounts, and free delivery. Rewards members are typically the first to learn about new offerings, and in some cases are provided exclusive access to certain menu items for a limited time.
Digital Business: The company continues to make strategic investments in its digital capabilities to improve the overall guest experience and increase its digital sales. Its digital platforms, inclusive of its website and app, offer guests a differentiated and seamless ordering experience, making it convenient for them to purchase their favorites. The company uses its digital platforms to increase brand engagement and usage of the Rewards program.
Additionally, the company has expanded its third-party partnerships to increase its brand's reach among guests who primarily place orders through these delivery providers. The company invests in digital advertising to promote specific product categories, highlight convenient off-premises channel offerings, communicate rewards, and encourage guest action and long-term guest loyalty. The company leverages zero-party, first-party, and third-party data to drive effective and efficient advertising spend, helping to improve the return on its investment. The company has installed digital menu boards across all company-owned locations that allow it to showcase key menu features, target guest communication, enhance pricing capabilities, and increase flexibility for culinary testing.
Seasonality
Seasonal factors and the timing of holidays cause the company’s revenue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter (year ended December 31, 2024). The company’s revenue per restaurant is typically lower in the first and fourth quarters, due to reduced winter and holiday traffic, and higher in the second and third quarters. Other factors also have a seasonal effect on the company’s results. For example, restaurants located near colleges and universities generally do more business during the academic year.
Intellectual Property and Trademarks
The company owns a number of trademarks and service marks registered or pending with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The company also has certain trademarks registered in certain foreign countries. In addition, it owns the internet domain name www.noodles.com.
History
Noodles & Company was founded in 1995. The company was incorporated in 2002.
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