For a Bar Filled to the Brim with Mac and Cheese: “Macbar”

I love macaroni and cheese. There are some days I just crave it. I can watch a commercial for Easy Mac and know that it is garbage but it still looks good to me. There will always be a love affair for me with salt and cheese, of any kind. My love is blind and unconditional.

Over the last few years, New York City’s food scene has become a hodge-podge of small restaurants focusing in on one specific food group. Sometimes these specialty places start out as a food truck and for many they stay that way. But others open a small shop and once they set up they can perfect their game but they are only focused in on that one thing.

My latest trial was of Macbar, which is a place that one goes to worship macaroni and cheese and all its gooeyness. Macbar, just thinking of it or saying the name out loud makes me drool. It makes a simple dish delish. It becomes a decadent and high class treat depending on which you choose. You can go with a classic, like I did: Cheeseburger Mac. Or with something new and intriguing like my cohort did: Mac Quack. Both were incredibly satisfying choices in their own right. I would give my left arm for either of them to magically appear as I write about them as they would if I were speaking about them on TV like on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”.

All together there are twelve incarnations of this staple of American cuisine. They all have a few ingredients and whether they are additional kinds of cheese or even duck, they all add to the experience. You will never experience Mac and cheese the same way ever again.

I don’t see how this place will ever go out of business. While I was there, people where coming in and out, constantly bringing takeout orders for lunch. It was though there was a constant revolving door. But I am happy to report I was able to get a seat and enjoy my meal. There was no waiting for a table or real waiting for my food. It was served hot, fresh, and fast. You can’t ask for more than that. No one seemed to be able to pass up the chance for a quality version of an American classic meal. This establishment provides the perfect blend of a trend and stable of our culture.

The plastic containers that the food comes in seem average in size (there are actually three sizes: small, medium and large), but because of the decadence of the product you leave with your head wanting more but your stomach knowing that it is for another time. You feel as though you have had a four course meal. But this is all together a different kind of happy meal. It is reasonably priced and you are stuffed to the gills. Even better you have had an extraordinary experience in one of the greatest cities in the world. It made me happy to be a New Yorker but sad I had to go back to work. But this is what a real lunch break should be like. It is what all breaks should be like.

I wish I had come up with one of these unique restaurant ideas. It seems like such an obvious idea now. Actually its quite impressive and popular might I add. Everyone I talk to has heard of it and if they haven’t they want in right away.

Oh how I need to stop writing these types of blogs on an empty stomach!

For Macbar:

http://www.macbar.net/

For my other favorite specialty restaurants and food trucks:

http://ricetoriches.com/puddy.aspx

(http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011/08/for-rice-pudding.html)

http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/

(http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011/04/for-keys-to-my-new-york-city-part-iii.html)

http://www.doughnutplant.com/

(http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2011/07/for-most-delicious-doughnut.html)

http://www.eileenscheesecake.com/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

(http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2012/04/for-eileens-extraordinary-cheesecake.html)