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FRANCHISE RESALES

Buy a Noodles & Company Franchise

Noodles & Company is a fast-casual restaurant chain built around globally inspired noodle dishes, served alongside soups, salads, mac and cheese, and shareables. Dishes such as Japanese Pan Noodles, Rigatoni Rosa, and Wisconsin Mac & Cheese are sautéed to order, with vegetarian, gluten-friendly, and lower-carb options like Zoodles and cauliflower noodles. Founded in 1995 in Broomfield, Colorado, the company is publicly listed on the Nasdaq (NDLS).

The model blends dine-in with a strong off-premise side: digital ordering, delivery, curbside, and Quick Pickup, supported by the Noodles Rewards app. It serves families and on-the-go diners across roughly 470 restaurants in about 30 states. Most locations are company-operated; the brand began franchising in 2003 and has pursued multi-unit developers, with recent expansion targeting Southern and Southwestern markets.

Noodles positions itself as the only national fast-casual brand devoted to noodle dishes from around the world, a “World Kitchen” concept with no direct national competitor. It has recently been refining its footprint to concentrate on stronger-performing locations.

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Why buy a Noodles & Company Franchise?

For buyers drawn to fast casual, Noodles & Company offers a differentiated position: it is the only national fast-casual brand built entirely around globally inspired noodle dishes, giving it broad family appeal and limited direct competition. A 30-year-old, publicly traded brand brings established supply-chain, culinary, and marketing infrastructure that an independent restaurant would have to build from scratch.

The case to buy a Noodles & Company franchise rests on that platform. Franchisees operate within a system geared toward multi-unit development, with company-built technology for ordering, loyalty, scheduling, and performance metrics, and a digital, off-premise sales channel that has become central to the category. Although franchised units are a small share of the wider system, the company has emphasized hands-on support for its franchise partners.

Noodles & Company Franchise Costs & Information

Based on 2024 data reported in the 2025 FDD

  • Brand Profile

    • Year Founded

      1995

    • Franchising Since

      2003

    • New Startup Cost

      $669,000 – $1,412,000

    • Avg. Resale Price

      Contact us for details

  • Franchise Fees

    • Initial franchise Fee

      $35,000

      for new territories

    • Transfer Fee

      $3,500 – $7,500

      per restaurant

    • Royalty Fee

      5%

      of Net Royalty Sales

    • Marketing Fee

      Not Collected

  • Unit Performance

    • Total Units *

      463

    • New Units Opened *

      3

    • Units Transferred *

      0

    • Avg. Unit revenue *

      $1,255,113

    * Based on 2024 data reported in the 2025 FDD

Noodles & Company – Additional  Information

  1. Training & Support

    Initial training covers 32–48 hours of classroom instruction and 300–450 hours of on-the-job training, with general managers certified at established training restaurants. Franchisees gain access to the company's operating systems, including point-of-sale, scheduling, and performance-metrics tools, plus the Noodles Rewards app and digital ordering platform. Ongoing support spans operations, marketing, culinary development, and supply chain. Buyers of an existing Noodles & Company unit should confirm what transfer training and system access the franchisor provides to incoming owners and certified managers.

  2. Ideal Owner

    Noodles & Company suits operationally minded owners comfortable running a multi-unit restaurant business rather than a single hands-on location. The franchisor has favored multi-unit developers with prior restaurant or franchise experience, strong local market knowledge, and the ability to recruit, train, and retain restaurant teams. Owners should be process-driven, comfortable with technology-led operations and off-premise fulfillment, and aligned with the brand's people-first, guest-focused culture. The capacity to manage managers across several locations matters more than day-to-day cooking experience.

  3. Recognition & Awards

    Noodles & Company has earned recognition across the restaurant and business communities. It was named to Forbes' Best Employers for Diversity in 2024 (a fourth consecutive year) and recognized by Entrepreneur among Top Franchises for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (2022) and on its 50 Franchise CMOs Changing the Game list (2023). It has also been named a Best Place to Work by the Denver Business Journal and appears in Entrepreneur's franchise rankings. As a publicly traded company with a 30-year history, it carries brand credibility, though buyers should weigh national recognition alongside a unit's local reviews and reputation.

  4. Industry / Market

    Noodles operates in US fast casual, one of the more dynamic restaurant segments. Technavio forecasts the US fast-casual market to grow by roughly $97 billion between 2025 and 2030, an annual rate near 14%, driven by demand for affordable, customizable, made-to-order meals and the continued shift toward digital ordering, delivery, and pickup. Noodle and Asian-inspired dishes remain a popular niche, and the category has proved resilient across economic cycles. For resale buyers, national tailwinds matter less than an individual restaurant's local traffic, competition, and trade-area strength.

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