Stella's Tri-Color Cream Dream

Stella is the new Head Chef @ Grooveshark. She took a risk with some tri-color rotini. I suggest you request it next time you're in town.

Tribeca Grand's Baked Mac

Well it's not the Waverly. via room service.

The Waverly's Truffle Mac N Cheese

The end all, be all.

Guest Review: Bandera, Chicago

Reports coming in from CST that this Mac N Cheese is primo. JB from Grooveshark was traveling for Lollapalooza and ran head-first into this masterpiece. His review is as follows. I left the "9 out of 10" because it is descriptive. Not because I have any intention of getting back into rating

Spicy, with a hint of sweet...succulent in the selection of both cheese and breading. A perfect complement to any dish, but best served as an appetizer in order to whet the palette appropriately. 9 out of 10.

Whole Foods Mac N’ Cheese

This looks delicious but is really just "not bad".

S’Mac “Sarita’s Mac N Cheese”

S'Mac is a classic. I should have gotten the sampler but opted for the Buffalo Chicken Mac N Cheese (1), Cheeseburger Mac N Cheese, and The Gluten Free Truffle & Brie Mac N Cheese (3). Al were delicious although the Brie can get overwhelming in such glorious amounts.

MacBar, NYC

Mac Bar is a contender. I had a half and half. 4-Cheese & Cheeseburger. INSANE.

Au Bon Pain's FAIL

This Mac N Cheese was more like soup and tasted like it was made with chicken stock. Huge Faux Pas. Here are some stupid pics.

Abe & Arthurs, Chelsea NYC

Their Mac N Cheese Side is Excellent. Worthy of the pricetag.

I've Taken to Shorter Reviews

More coming every day this week. [EOM]

Mac N Cheese Dawg

I've been spending a lot of time re-reviewing a lot of places. I promise to do a bit more traveling and seek out the Mac N Cheese meccas of the world but I just wanted to take a moment and praise an establishment local to to Gainesville, FL. Gator Dawgs. When you are a gourmet hot dog hut it takes a willingness and dedication to want to whip up a batch of MNC for your dogs. Let me say that this Mac N Cheese is not good by any standards. BUT, when you put Mac N Cheese on a hot dog you take this shit to a new level. Put Mac N Cheese on evertything.

Ignore that "border dawg" smothered in peppers. it has nothing to do with this.

CRAVE Redux

I was at Crave again in Orlando but I needed a burger so i went with that. I asked for their Cheesy Penne as aside. I notice dthis time that it's not bread crumbs baked on top but parmesan! Huge ups on the side dish.

Grooveshark Mel's Mac N Cheese Roux

You may or may not know that one of my three day jobs requires me to work in the offices of Grooveshark.com. I'm there relatively often mostly because they have a team of Chefs working to cook 3 meals a day for us nerds. The food is generally delicious and occasionally cooked to order. Melissa (one of the chefs) made us some mac n cheese last week without knowing what she was getting into. She will probably read this but that won't hinder my honesty.

As most of you know by now, I love Mac N Cheese so I instinctively lean towards positive reviews. You really have to mess up the experience to get burned here. That being said, my goal here is to help people identify the characteristics that they love in Mac N Cheese and choose their meals based on that. There is surprisingly little critical literature on the subject and if I can add even a little bit to the discourse then I can rest easy.

Melissa's Mac N Cheese was a roux which I guess most Mac N Cheese is. A roux is a reduction that I believe (if I am not mistaken) uses butter and flour as the base. Go on, you say? I imagine the cheese to have been garden variety supermarket bought block or shredded (not an indictment of quality). It had a hint of black pepper but I could taste any other distinguishable seasoning. The pepper was enough. Not too salty. In fact I didn't taste any additional salt at all. It didn't sit like an average MNC. It was lobbed on top of standard elbow fare and the diner was tasked with mixing it in. Presented in a Dixie brand paper bowl and served with a plastic spoon, which is perfectly acceptable for MNC.

I can't say that I was dissatisfied with the dish. It was different than any I have ever had but not unwelcome. 4 Stars on level of Cheesiness.  I hope she makes it again (today).

Oh. I accidentally took video instead of pics of the "before".

Big Burger Now with Cheesy Side Dishes

If you are in the market for for a giant burger in Gainesville chances are you've already had a Big Burger. They recently expanded their menu to encompass a vast array BBQ favorites. I'm going to save the fried Mac 'N Cheese wedge review for later because it's really their traditional Mac 'N Cheese that steals the show. It's made primarily of hard cheeses, melted over elbows and served in an authentic styrofoam cup. It's no Cali Chix but it's good enough for a lunch break in the downtown Gainesville area.

CRAVE: Mac N' Cheese w/ Chicken (Again???)

Lots of Mac 'N Cheese with Chicken mixes these days. Must be the new thing. I went to CRAVE near the Mall of Millennia a few weeks back and it was hard to pass up. Especially since I had plans of keeping this site up to date even though I wasn't actually doing it. This Mac 'N Cheese was truly sublime and the bowl it comes in is deceptively deep. Excellent natural chicken and extra creamy cheese w/ breadcrumbs baked on top. It's really the perfect storm. Nothing in this dish tastes cheap. The cheese was certainly a homemade recipe, havy and tangy with a hint of heavy cream that gives its a slightly afredo-y taste and texture. This is the best Mac N Cheese in the Metro West area for sure. Decent date atmosphere and conveniently located, if of course you are shopping for poorly made Scandinavian furniture.

Pom Pom's Spicy Turkey Mac 'N Cheese

If you live in the downtown Orlando, FL and you ride your bike a lot (those are two requirements) you no doubt have heard of Pom Pom's Tea House. With sandwiches like "Mama Ling Ling's Thanksgiving" (my personal favorite) and the Low Rider, their sandwich menu easily overshadows their cheesy treats. One shining star of the Pom Pom Bill of Fare is the Spicy Turkey Mac 'N Cheese.  The name says it all. Spicy, check. Turkey, so check. Mac 'N Cheese? Why else would I be writing about it? Like everything at Pom Pom's it's top notch.

I hate some things about this site

like how it is designed. I am working on improving that.

Feature Removed: Star Ratings!

Tired of them. Just look at the pictures. Don't even bother reading this blog.

Blake's Mac and Cheese with Chicken

Found in the freezer section of any fad-concious supermarket Blake's adds a not-so-clever twist to their teeny-sized Mac N' Cheese... Chicken. Not that I don't appreciate the meat toping, nor the organic certification of the pasta and chicken but in the world of Mac 'N Cheese, size matters. The cheese was tasty and the chicken was pretty decent. I love bow-tie pasta so that works for me as well but I would barely call this a side-dish let alone a meal.

Sorry for the Downtime

No excuses, and its not like I stopped eating mac n' cheese for like 3 months. Quite to the contrary! I've been eating more than ever. I took a 48 hour break to try the master cleanse but that ended in a burrito frenzy. The truth is I've just been super busy. But I am back now and while I am in the airport I aim to catch up and keep up for good this time.

CiCi's Mac-N-Cheese Pizza

Well, we all knew I would make it there sometime. CiCi's Pizza is more known for it's $4.95 all you can eat pizza buffet than its world-class mac-n-cheese but this truly decadent concoction is really tops! Multiple layers of cheese with giant rotelle baked on buttery crush. Even the cheese is better than you would expect; combining mac-n-cheese style melty cheese with mozzarella and whatever else is laying around. This is an instant top 10.

Ted Turner's Montana Cheese Pit

Generally speaking, "home-style" mac-n-cheese always outranks your average chain so i was excited for my first visit to TTMG. I came upon Ted Turner's Montana Grill in Tallahassee, FL the day after a gig expecting a juicy Bison Burger and a heaping side of Baked mac-n-cheese but I was displeased to see that the only mac-n-cheese they served was on the kids menu (already a bad sign). Priced at $5 for kids with a $2 up-charge for kids over 13, (In case you're wondering, that demographic includes me) I expected a dish nothing short of revolutionary. What I got was Velveeta.

Ted, buyback CNN and get them on the right path because you have no future in Mac-N-Cheese.

Cali Chix Got Dat Sticky Icky

I have no idea what this place is really called but it's saved in my phone as "cali chix". It's my 2am drunk dial in Gainesville. A few minutes later and a piping hot tropi-chop styled chicken, rice and corn. A little known secret about this hidden gem is that their Mac 'N Cheese is perfecto!

Unlike most of the dishes on this site that achieve 3+ stars, this one isn't super creamy. In fact it often arrives at perfect eating temperature (a bit above luke warm) and looks more like a bowl of yellow brains. It's an overcooked elbow pasta with some aftermarket cheese blend possessing no distinct quality. The taste is bland and there is no "head" cheese to any topping for that matter. Despite all of this, it makes my top 10 list because it is utterly cravable. Somehow what would be just an average Mac 'N Cheese in the daytime becomes a "must have" at 3am.

[rating:3]

'Uber Mac 'N Cheese' from BriarPatch

Warning: The Uber Mac 'N Cheese is NOT for lightweights.

If this were an average foodie blog I would complain about service, seating and just general mismanagement of Briar Patch in Winter Park, FL. But it's not. Here at Mac 'N Cheese Review we only care about one thing... CHEEEEEEESE. If you want a great dining experience read something else. If you want the LD on the creamy-eemy, then you've come to the right place. Now on to our current reining champion.

The Briar Patch "Uber Mac 'N Cheese"

The casual Mac 'N Cheese eater will scoff at the heavy cheese flavor and strong smell but the Uber Mac 'N Cheese is #1 in my book. A traditional elbow pasta drenched in a low-viscossity melt, the body cheese is strong and tart. There is definitely age to it although I can't identify the exact flavor. It's most certainly a mix NOT containing cheddar--more likely provolone, asiago and a cream base. Briar Patch tops off this decadent dish with twice-baked bread crumbs. I sense that there is a head melt of parmeasean. If you consider yourself a conesour of Mac 'N Cheese, Briar Patch in Winter Park, Florida is a MUST visit. I'm new to this review thing so i forgot to get the price. I'll get better. Proms!

[rating:4.5]

New Feature: Star Ratings!

I just installed a star rating plugin that should help you make better decisions about your mac 'n cheese eating habits. Look for it in my upcoming posts.

Charlie's Truffle Mac Brings the Heat

Most of my reviews are glowing. that's probably because I have an insatiable taste for macaroni and cheese so I tend to lean towards liking it. I'm trying to break the habit so I can be a reliable reviewer. That being said, I do eat some mac n cheese that I don't like but I'm not inspired to review it. Charlie's Truffle Mac N Cheese at Street Car Charlie's in Ybor (Tampa, FL) does not fall into that category. I visit Ybor regularly but only recently found out that Charlie's had an exquisite Mac 'N Cheese. This is the second time I've had it and I have to admit that it wasn't as good as the first but it still lands itself on the Top 10 so far.

The Truffle Mac 'N Cheese is considered a "specialty appetizer" which means that it's not always offered but I've never had a problem getting it. It's served in a ceramic boat, piping hot. The main "body" cheese is very light and at first glance, watered down. As it cooled the cheese thickened. There is definitely more than a hint of "savory" obviously brought by the truffles. Unlike most baked Mac 'N Cheeses, the crispy top was not just bread crumbs. the topping was a tangy blend of heavier cheeses. probably parmesan or asiago. It was baked golden on the top. The portion size was average. Overall, I'd say that Street Car Charlie's Truffle Mac 'N Cheese is a thumbs up and pending an improvement in the consistency of the product I would call it a must have in Florida.

Publix Prepared and Reheated

Publix "gets" prepared foods. Generally speaking the fresh foods in their bakery and the subs in their deli rival, if not compete at a level far and above other chains--particularly supermarkets. The prepared Mac 'N Cheese is usually a little bit cold from sitting under heat lamps far too weak to keep the cheese melty. This evening I decided I would try the packaged version. It's made fresh in the deli but packed in plastic and sold near the fresh packaged cheeses and deli meats.

Preparation instructions are vague but because the sauce is so thick I figured just a quick microwave heat up would do the trick. 4 minutes (breaking twice to stir) was dead on. The cheese was thick and gooey. This isn't a creamy sauce per se. The viscosity would be comparable to a cold casserole style Mac N Cheese but without the baked texture. I would mark it down as average tasting but by far one of the best in the "prepared foods" category. Pics below.

CHEESEcake Factory's Standard Mac N Cheese

I forgot to take a picture of this one before I ate it. Like everything at the Cheesecake Factory, it's good if it's your only choice. Better than microwave and maybe a few other chain restaurants but not something to go out of your way for. There is nothing notable about this mac n cheese at all and that makes me mad.

Mac N Cheese Burger

Hamburger Mary's in Ybor, Florida is part of the flamboyant franchise of the same name but it sports a unique addition to the menu not found at other locations. The "Macaroni and Cheeseburger" is a classic Mary Cheeseburger with a ridiculous macaroni and cheese topping. In this creamy concoction all of the traditional fixing are replaced with ewwy gooey mac and cheese that could easily stand on its own. Paired with a delicately grilled burger the Mac N Cheeseburger makes it in my top 10 must haves.