The restaurant landscape in the United States keeps changing, and staying afloat is an increasingly complicated task. Although some brands continue to attract a loyal audience, others are beginning to face a reality that is difficult to ignore. Making the decision to close doors is never easy, but sometimes it is inevitable.
A popular fast food chain has announced that it will close several of its locations during the next year. This is Noodles & Company, specializing in pasta dishes from different parts of the world. Despite being highly valued for its varied offerings, new food trends and high operating costs have led the company to reconsider its strategy.
A time of change for Noodles & Company
Noodles & Company once had more than 450 locations across the United States. For years, its main attraction was allowing diners to customize their dishes and choose from diverse options like spaghetti with meatballs or Pad Thai. However, this variety has proven to be a double-edged sword.
Preparing so many different dishes requires having a wide range of fresh ingredients and trained employees to cook them. This greatly increases the operation cost, especially in times when profit margins are increasingly tight. Additionally, public tastes have evolved, and today more healthy options are sought, something that doesn't always fit with a pasta-based menu.
To all this is added the difficulty of adapting to diets like keto or paleo, or to customers who avoid gluten and processed products. For a chain focused on noodles, pleasing everyone has become an almost impossible task. Therefore, Noodles & Company has decided to close up to 21 establishments in 2025, adding to the 9 that already closed in 2024, according to The Street.
A difficult decision amid positive signs
Initially, the company Noodles & Company had planned to close between 12 and 15 of its own locations. However, the new estimate includes the closure of between 13 and 17 company-owned restaurants, in addition to 4 franchises that are not performing well. This measure aims to reduce costs and refocus the business model on what works best currently.
Despite these cuts, the company doesn't lose all optimism. In the last quarter, comparable sales increased by 4.4%, driven in part by new menu additions like the Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine. These new items seem to be connecting with the new consumer profile.
The CEO of Noodles & Company, Drew Madsen, has stated that the results are encouraging, especially considering the current economic context. Although the closures are a tough step, the company hopes that these adjustments will help steer it toward a more solid and focused stage.