School of Business > UPDATE > Summer 2002 > Article

Noodles Magnate is Wisconsin Alum

By Rebecca Smith

Aaron Kennedy

From macaroni and cheese to Japanese pan noodles, people all over the world grow up eating some form of noodles. That realization inspired Aaron Kennedy, MBA '89, to develop a successful new restaurant concept.

Kennedy is the founder and co-CEO of the Midwest-based restaurant chain Noodles & Company that is based on a unique, albeit simple, idea-a global noodle shop offering Mediterranean, European, Asian and American-influenced dishes. Kennedy has focused on culinary excellence, healthy ingredients, affordable prices and fast, friendly service.

Walk into any one of the 45 company-owned restaurants in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington D.C. or Colorado to sample one of the 10 made-to-order noodle dishes, and you'll see (and taste) why each shop cooks up about $1 million in revenue each year. In all, more than 15,000 bowls of noodles are sold each day. Not bad for a company that started with a business plan scribbled on a napkin.

It all began when Kennedy, then the marketing director of a New York City design agency, visited an Asian noodle shop in Greenwich Village in 1993. As he sampled the restaurant's collection of Asian-influenced dishes, he realized noodles are a staple all over the world. Although Kennedy had never considered a job in the restaurant industry, his previous experience as a brand manager at Oscar Mayer and PepsiCo was relevant to the task he had in mind.

That weekend he took his wife out to dinner and shared his idea, jotting down a rough business plan right there. He refined the concept and approached 25 friends and family members for the $250,000 needed to get started.

Kennedy and Executive Chef Ross Kamens opened the first restaurant in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. The second restaurant opened in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, six months later. Kennedy said the company plans to open its 60th restaurant by year-end. The path hasn't been completely smooth, however.

"The first two restaurants nearly killed us, physically and fiscally," said Kennedy. "It took a heap of determination for us to figure out the right formula. By 1997, we opened the third restaurant in west Madison, and I felt for the first time that we were stable financially. We had fine-tuned the concept, we were attracting customers and by 1998, we kicked into high gear. It actually became lucrative at that point."

Perfecting the Noodles & Company "recipe" involved more than just refining a menu. It meant creating a unique atmosphere, including serving each freshly prepared dish in a heavy china bowl.

The company is starting to gain national attention. In 2001, Noodles & Company was one of six restaurants in the nation to receive a "Hot Concept" Award from an industry publication, Nation's Restaurant News, and was #45 on the Inc 500 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies.

Kennedy, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, credits his MBA experience at UW-Madison with helping him develop creative business solutions that led to his company's success.

Rebecca Smith is assistant director of alumni relations at the School of Business.