Repeats with a Twist - Noodles & Company

Saturday was the last day of my vacation back in Maryland.  My dad and I were running a few final errands, and of course we also needed some lunch.  Since we were near College Park, we decided to go to Noodles & Company.  It's yet another of those places that would do really well in Stillwater, or any college town for that matter.  It's inexpensive, fresh, and the food is good. 

I hadn't remembered seeing one anywhere in Oklahoma, and when I checked online, I was right.  However, there are 2 in Wichita and one in Lawrence.  Looking at the map, there's lots of places they could expand into, and I think they need to get on the ball and do that.

As usual, I have a couple of staple meals whenever I go...Pasta Fresca and Pesto Cavatappi.  There's basically 3 types of pastas--Mediterranean, Asian and American.  And they've actually added numerous items since the last time I visited, including salads and sandwiches.  What I really like is that all the pasta comes meatless, and you can add chicken, shrimp, steak or tofu.  So there really is something for everyone.

Since I had stuck with the Mediterranean menu for so long I decided to branch off to the Asian side this time around.  I went with the Japanese Pan Noodles, and topped it with marinated steak, since that was what they recommended.

Caramelized udon noodles in a sweet soy sauce, broccoli, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, Asian sprouts, black sesame and cilantro

I had never tried udon noodles before...I am officially now a fan. They're chewier than regular pasta, but I really like the texture and taste.  The whole dish was really delicious.  They now offer 2 bowl sizes, and since I hadn't eaten breakfast, of course I went with the large.  But it wasn't huge, and was still smaller than a regular plate you would get at a lot of restaurants. 

There's lots of new places to try in Wichita, but next time I'm there I may need to go back to my old standby, and try out a different item on the menu.