Noodles & Company

Review by eFreeware

Most restaurant apps try to do a bit of everything. The Noodles & Company app is narrower and more coherent than that: it is the chain's own tool for ordering its food ahead of time and for running its points-based Noodles Rewards program. That combination, ordering and loyalty in one place, is the most distinctive thing about it.

It is free to download, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so nothing here is gated behind a second payment beyond the food itself. The app has been on Google Play since June 2013, has passed a million installs and holds a 4.7 average from more than 18,000 ratings, which suggests a settled, well-used tool rather than a novelty.

If you eat at Noodles & Company with any regularity, the appeal is obvious: you order through the same app that tracks what you earn. If you visit once a year, or you are looking for a general restaurant discovery app, this one is built for a specific chain and a specific habit.

Ordering ahead for pickup or delivery

The core job is ordering before you arrive. You can put together a meal for quick pick-up, or have it delivered, and the app is presented as the fastest route to either. For pick-up, the point is to have the food ready when you walk in, so you can collect it without joining the queue at the counter.

The menu side gives you two paths. You can choose from the chef-curated dishes the chain has put together, or customize your own order. That balance matters: regulars who already know what they want can move quickly, while anyone who wants to adjust a dish has room to do it.

Delivery is the other half of this, and it is framed as an alternative to pick-up rather than the main event. Which of the two you use will come down to whether you are passing a location anyway or would rather not leave home. Either way, ordering ahead is the feature the app is organized around.

How Noodles Rewards works

The loyalty side is a points program. You sign up inside the app, then earn points on each purchase, and those points can be redeemed for rewards either through the app or in the restaurant itself. The rewards are not limited to a token side item; the developer lists dishes such as Wisconsin Mac & Cheese and the Crispy Chicken Bacon Alfredo as things you can redeem against.

If you are already at a table or in line, the app still has a role. You can scan a barcode in person to both earn and redeem, which means a visit you did not plan through the app is not a lost opportunity to collect points. That is a small thing, but it is the difference between a program you use when you remember and one that keeps up with you.

Beyond the points themselves, signing up is pitched as a way to receive freebies, discounts and word of new menu items. Those extras are the kind of thing the developer promises rather than something you can count on in advance, so I would treat them as a bonus on top of the points rather than the reason to join.

One limit is worth stating plainly: the rewards program operates at participating locations only. If your nearest restaurant is not taking part, the ordering features still work, but the loyalty side is where the value concentrates.

Getting set up

There is not much of a setup process to describe. You download the app, and if you want the rewards, you sign up for Noodles Rewards from inside it. That account is what ties your purchases to your points, so it is the step that turns the app from an ordering tool into a loyalty one.

The app is the intended channel for both pick-up and delivery orders, and the barcode scan is available when you are in the restaurant.

The practical advice here is simple: sign up for the rewards early, before your first order, so the purchase you were going to make anyway starts counting. Doing it later means the visits you already paid for do not come back to you in points.

A good fit for regulars, less so for occasional visitors

This app rewards frequency. The more often you order from the chain, the more the points accumulate and the more the freebies and discounts matter. Someone who eats there weekly will get real use out of having ordering and earning in one place, and will probably find the barcode scan the most convenient part of the whole thing.

For a household that orders in for several people, the order-ahead side is the draw: one person builds the order, chooses pick-up or delivery, and the meal is handled. That is a straightforward convenience, and it does not depend on how often you visit.

The people who will get least from it are those who stop in rarely and never sign up for the rewards. They would still be able to order ahead, but the loyalty layer, which is where most of the app's ongoing value sits, would stay dormant. The app is free either way, so the question is not cost but whether you will use the parts that make it worth keeping on your phone.

What to expect from the app itself

The numbers behind it are reassuring for a chain app. More than a million installs, a 4.7 average across over 18,000 ratings, and a listing that has been live since June 2013 point to something that has been refined over a long period rather than rushed out. The most recent update was about smoothing the ordering flow rather than adding anything new.

The rating is Everyone and the category is Food & Drink, which tells you what you would expect: this is a utility for customers of one restaurant brand, not a general food app. It does one thing for one chain.

My read is that the app is at its best when it is doing two jobs at once, letting you order ahead and crediting you for it. If you are already a Noodles & Company customer, installing it is a low-risk move, since it costs nothing and the points only accumulate if you are signed up.

A straightforward pick for Noodles & Company regulars

I would recommend this app to people who already eat at Noodles & Company often enough that points would add up, and who would rather order before arriving than wait at the counter. It covers both jobs cleanly, it is free, and it does not interrupt the experience with ads or purchases.

The caveats are the ones the app itself sets: the rewards program runs at participating locations only, and the whole thing is tied to a single restaurant chain. If you are a regular at a participating location, that is not a drawback. If you are not, the ordering side still works, but there is less reason to keep it installed.

For everyone else, the honest summary is that this is a well-established loyalty and ordering tool for one brand. Judge it by how often that brand ends up in your week.

What's new in version 11.2.0

Thanks for using the Noodles app! We’ve made some improvements and optimizations behind the scenes to make your ordering experience even better.