Saturday, March 15, 2008

Noodles and Co. Comes to Ballston

Taking the place of Chicken Out near the Ballston Mall's main entrance, Noodles and Co. opened today to what seemed to be a fairly large crowd on a near picture perfect day.



Noodles and Co. has a number of locations throughout the DC area, and it will be interesting to see if they can pull in more customers than the normally empty Chicken Out.

My guess is that initially you'll see a surge of business by those who will want to give it a shot, but in the long run, you'll see Noodles and Co. lose out to Vapiano down the street, and other restaurants like Panera and Rock Bottom already in the mall.

I've never been much for mall dining (except for Sbarro's, which is a guilty pleasure), but I'd like to see something, anything do a better business there than Chicken Out (which I've been a fan of since 7th grade) did.

The Ballston area is an oddity when it comes to food. Most of the people, like myself, who live in the area, are willing to bypass local options in favor of DC based restaurants. I don't think Noodles and Co. will reverse that trend, but it may keep a handful of people closer to home.

6 comments:

B said...

I freaking love Vapianos.. and it has nothing to do with their German origin.

Really.

Fortran said...

Wow, a Noodles and Co. and a Rock Bottom? It's like I never left Boulder. (FYI: Both companies were born in Boulder. If you visit there, you too can go to the first N&Co. and Old Chicago.)

Shopper 12 said...

I'm gonna have to check out Vapianos one of these days. My favorite place near Ballston is Ted's Montana Grill. Love their chicken cordon bleu sandwich, but may have to branch out soon.

Britni said...

I'm gonna have to check out Vapianos one of these days. My favorite place near Ballston is Ted's Montana Grill. Love their chicken cordon bleu sandwich, but may have to branch out soon. Disregard the shopper 12... my spam email.

Anthony said...

Apples and I went on our second date...which really shows how far we've come, as I don't think we'd pick it again (not because it's a bad place, but because we just don't eat a whole lot of meat anymore).

Vapiano is fantastic though. Really reasonably priced and quality food.

I have yet to make it to Willow's, but that's supposed to be the best in the area.

Anonymous said...

Vapianos is Okay if you want an Over Priced and very confusing Dinning Experience. The quality is excellent, but there just isn't any value to it.