Noodles and Company, a Boulder, Colo., -based restaurant known for its pasta dishes, may open in the Northland Plaza in the 2500 block of Sycamore Road by December.

The restaurant is applying for a Class B liquor license, which allows beer and wine to be served, DeKalb City Clerk Donna Johnson said.

Kelly Pascal Gould, a spokeswoman for Noodles and Company, said the company plans to move into the area by late December but did not reveal which space in the shopping center it would occupy.

While Noodles and Company may be moving in, Chipotle Mexican Grill has stalled its plans to come to DeKalb.

Chipotle was planning to come to DeKalb but never got as far leasing a site, said Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle.

“DeKalb is still on the list at some point, but it’s not on the 2004 plan,” Arnold said. Arnold said the 2004 plan includes infiltrating existing markets and expanding into new markets. He wouldn’t reveal where the future site of the restaurant would be but did say most of the restaurants are about 25,000 square feet.

Arnold said the qualities the company looks for in a site are as varied as the customer base it serves. He said the restaurants emphasize sit-down dining over fast-food service.

“We actually have a long history of moving into college towns,” Arnold said.

The first Chipotle restaurant opened in the college town of Boulder, Colo., home to the University of Colorado. Chipotle also has locations in other college towns: University of Texas at Houston, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of California at Berkeley and others.

He said he wasn’t sure why the store was delayed but suspected it was likely because of a change in location priority. Arnold said the company makes decisions based on what it determines to be the best investment at the time.

Arnold said that just because DeKalb isn’t getting a Chipotle now does not mean it will not in the future.