When Noodlebox opened up a location in Barrie in May of last year, manager Ronica Sequeira wasn’t sure how things would go. She felt that Barrie was a big town with a lot of food options— what would make them stand out?
“It’s always hard to start a business in a place like that. But once you gain recognition, you get there. Barrie’s been great for us.”
Ronica found that there are many people who have re-located from the Vancouver area to Barrie, so customers were familiar with the west coast-born chain and excited to see it opening close to their new homes.
“There were a lot of people who were already familiar with the concept- they already had favourite dishes and everything,” says Ronica.
The Barrie Noodlebox is located in the Park Place shopping centre in Barrie’s south end. It boasts plenty of seating for customers to enjoy their lunch, as well as an outdoor patio. There is also seating that offers customers a clear view of their meals being cooked up in a wok, a 2000-year-old tradition.
A priority for Noodlebox is their dishes being made fresh. Staff prep food on a daily basis, chopping everything up in-house. Nothing is arriving to their restaurant prepackaged or sitting around before being cooked.
Everything on Noodlebox’s menu comes as a “box,” ranging from a spicy peanut noodle box to a black bean and garlic box, a butter chicken box, and even a "drunken noodle” box— which features a spicy & savoury sauce, fresh Thai basil, garlic, ginger, onions, peppers, broccoli, Asian vegetable mix, sprouts, and green onions.
Every box is customizable to fit customers’ dietary needs and preferences. The restaurant offers options like light carbs, adding extra vegetables or protein, and using zucchini noodles instead of regular noodles.
Ronica’s favourite boxes are the butter chicken and the Yangzhou fried rice, the latter of which comes with pork, shrimp, a fried egg, and plenty of vegetables.
This Noodlebox location offers special offers like Teriyaki Tuesday ($6.95 for a teriyaki box— protein and add-ons are extra) and happy hours in the afternoons, where customers can receive deals on their orders. The customer picks a card, which has a randomized perk like a free spring roll or $5 off their meal.
In addition to its convenient location by the highway, Noodlebox Park Place is in a plaza with lots of foot traffic and other local businesses. Ronica says that they have many regular customers, including people who work in the plaza and pick up food on their lunch break.
These loyal customers tell Ronica that they love seeing the flames and watching their food being made fresh.
“A lot of people expected a typical Chinese food chain— we get a lot of good feedback in Barrie.”
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