The Willamette Noodle Company is in a building appearing only slightly larger than a drive-through coffee place. It actually seats 26! That doesn’t seem possible. The kitchen must be quite efficiently laid out is all I can imagine. There was a 50s inspired diner here for many years, which finally outgrew the building and moved further south along the street, so it has actually been a functional restaurant for a long time but this restaurant only opened in July of 2003. I wish them well. More than half of all new restaurants fail in their first year.
Located at the corner of Hood and Broadway Streets there is free parking behind the building although it can be awkward to get into and out of. Free on street parking is also available in the surrounding neighborhood.
The interior space is decorated in a minimal fashion with mismatched colors on the walls and simple furnishings. The small space is prevented from becoming claustrophobia inducing by having two walls of café-curtained windows. Tables are covered with white paper and small containers of crayons are supplied -- use them or ignore them. This isn’t the kind of place you’d find normally recommended for its ambience. That’s fine because the food is really more than enough reason to be here, prices are good and service is friendly and efficient.
The entrée is served with minestrone soup or mixed green salad and the fresh baked daily focaccia bread, but you can get entrées a la carte for about $2 less. The owners have years of experience in catering which they have applied to a menu of creative pasta and sauces such as penne with sautéed mushrooms and sage cream sauce ($8.75), a flavor I developed an immediate fondness for. Also quite good is the artichoke and mushroom penne ($9.95), which comes in a cream sauce flavored with the slightly licorice tasting tarragon and the penne with lemon garlic cream and roasted chicken ($8.95) gets high marks too.
Rob’s Famous cheesy garlic bread ($2.50 a basket) is focaccia with cheese, but a warning to vegetarians -- it contains Worcestershire sauce and this is not noted on the menu.
The desserts, made elsewhere, are flavorful, especially the tiramisu ($2.95), an exclusive. Beverages include, teas and coffee, bottled soft drinks and beer, and wine.
They don’t take reservations but should you arrive to find the dining room full and the wait too long they have provided the option of "Noodles at Home," a pound of fresh pasta and a quart of sauce with a loaf of garlic bread, all for $12.95. The hard part will be getting three or four people to agree upon one of the three sauce choices.
You can, of course, order any dinner to take with you.
Opens at 11am and closes at 8pm Mon-Thurs, and at 9pm Fri-Sat.