Knotts Berry Mac

Have you ever seen that Halloween episode of the Simpsons, where they're spoofing Stephen King's The Shining and Homer snaps because he didn't have TV and beer?  A refresher in case you don't remember it.

Woob woob woob woob!

Well, while I don't need TV and beer to function (though it may not hurt things), I have not, however taken any kind of extended vacation yet this year and that has helped bring me to the point where I could "go crazy".  A day here or half day there, to keep my hours down below capping just wasn't cutting it these past few months, so I finally took a week off.  Part of this much needed week off had me jumping in the car and driving down to L.A. where I hit up both Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland.  I couldn't go and not look for mac n' cheese while I was down there, and fortunately I did find that both amusement parks had some ready and waiting for me to review.

Knott's Berry Farm, I learned was truly a firsts kind of place, that thanks to the success of the Knott's, the family steered how amusement parks would operate even today based on things they did first as they were just trying to keep people entertained while waiting to order a meal.

In 1927, seven years after the Knott's family settled on 20 acres in Buena Park on Highway 39, Knott's Berry Place got it's first building, which served as a five table tea room and berry stand to sell the farm's wares.  In 1932, Walter Knott created the Boysenberry (a hybrid of red raspberry, blackberry and loganberries) and named it after a friend.  By 1934, with the Great Depression firmly entrenched across the country, Walt's wife Cordelia reluctantly served to tea room customers her fried chicken, on their wedding china to make ends meat.  By 1937, they had greatly expanded the tea room, given it a full kitchen, dining room and parking lot for their customers.  That Thanksgiving in 1937, 1,774 dinners were served.  Soon, old west buildings were being bought and moved to the property to entertain customers waiting for tables in the restaurant, allowing Walter to create a whole new western town, 'Ghost Town' to occupy the minds (and wallets) of the those restaurant customers.  1947 saw the Knott's Berry Place get renamed, Knott's Berry Farm.

What started as an attraction to keep people busy who came for fried chicken dinners had converted to a full fenced in, admission amusement park in 1968. It's now owned by Cedar Fair, who own amusement parks all across the country, including California's Great America in the SF Bay Area.

Though the park has had some ups and downs over the years, it's still very much alive and kicking. The park has some great roller coasters including the massive wooden GhostRider, the non-inverted loop (you take the loop from the outside!) Xcelerator, the suspended coaster Silver Bullet and the Pony Express, where you ride like you're on a pony!

While the park is a great place to spend a day if you're in L.A., what I think is their best kept secret is still Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. The restaurant is outside of the park to the left of the entrance and you can not only get food to go if you so choose, but park for free (with validation from the restaurant) and have some incredibly tasty chicken.

I had decided to make part of my visit to L.A. include Knott's because I hadn't been there in so long and because I knew that I'd need a good dinner after the long drive down.  When I peeked at the posted menu before going inside I knew I was in for a treat if the mac n' cheese that I saw on the menu was half as good as their chicken.


The Review

Brand:
Mr.s Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant macaroni and cheese

A little difficult to discern, but this was really the only angle I could (safely, while standing in the middle of the road) get a shot of the restaurant's name.

The best restaurants don't need flashy names to attract your attention. Direct and to the point.

Price:
The menu has one price for entrees, $16.99. A standard side order of their mac will cost you an additional $4.25.  If you're eating family style (requires a minimum of 4 people), the side will cost $5.99.

A bit blurry, but the only mention of sides on the menu is on the Family Style Meals portion of the menu.

Packaging Menu Description:
N/A

Preparation:

*So you've made it to Knotts.  I drove down from the Bay Area (5+ hours), but you could fly and land at the closest airport (John Wayne/Orange County) and drive there in about 30 minutes traffic permitting.

*Let the host/hostess know how many people are in your party and when a table is open, they'll take you to it.

This was the room I ate in.  As you can see, a packed house.

*Upon being seated, you'll see that your place setting has an incredibly informative history of the park.  It's a pretty good read and full of cool facts about the Knott's property.

This place-mat gives a quick history of the park. Many of the blurbs show amusment park firsts for not just Knott's, but ANY amusement park.

*You'll be given a menu (this is a sit down restaurant after all), but there are some things that you'll quickly discover.  All meals cost the same and you've only got 7 choices.  Appetizers, additional sides and drinks are the only 'extras'.  This is a full 4 course dinner you're about to have for one nice price.

Dinner.

Choose, but choose wisely.  I can say without hesitation, the fried chicken is great and so is the country fried steak!

*After deciding on what you'd like for dinner, let your server know.  Before they leave however, you will have to answer a few questions.

*Your server will first ask you for your choice of soup. Creamy Chicken Noodle or Cherry Rhubarb

As you can see, I chose the Creamy Chicken Noodle (which was excellent!)

*When the soup comes out (if not before then), biscuits will also show up.  Make one accidentally fall into the soup before you help it find it's way to your mouth.

So many biscuits.... drool

*Don't forget to butter and/or jam up that biscuit!

While you can still buy Knotts Berry Preserves, that division is now owned by Smuckers,  No longer are the tiny jams on the tables, though they're still available in grocery stores and the gift shop.  Online sluthing shows that one can still get tiny food service portions in small glass containers.

*Next, your server will ask you what kind of dressing would you like on your salad.  The correct answer is ranch.

A tad too much dressing, but you can work around it.

*You're then asked if you'd prefer corn or cabbage as your side dish.  I voted corn.  I also didn't take a picture of a cup of corn.  I think you know what buttered corn nibblets looks like.

*Finally, make sure that your order a side of macaroni and cheese, which will be served with your main course.  [note: Once again, I was thinking about the mac and not the rest of my meal.  The best (and only decent) shot of my dinner was a close up I took of the mac, seen below].

I didn't come *just* for the chicken fried steak, let's all be honest here.

The side is actually pretty darn big.  It's easily enough for 2 or 3 people and there isn't much chance of polishing it off, considering the huge amount of food you've got on the way.

*Sit back and wait for your dinner to come out.  Things seemed to fly right out of the kitchen and I had dinner before I knew it.  After you've finished dinner, your server pulls one last question out of their pocket.  What's for dessert?  Your choices are Boysenberry pie, Apple pie, vanilla ice cream or Boysenberry sherbet.  I had some very tasty vanilla ice cream.

*Commence with the nomming!

Taste:

As the huge amount of food is brought out, the first thing I got a whiff of was the corn.  Sliding that out of the way, I turned my attention to the mac, where I buried my nose and got a nice whiff of melted cheese.  The sauce was helped by the melted cheese on the top giving the sauce that little extra cheese taste it needed. The sauce itself was had a mild cheddar/processed cheese taste.  The noodles were a bit overcooked but still held their shape and weren't ones that broke down the second they hit your mouth.

Final Score:
So. Much. Food.  If I review the whole dinner, the below icon would be an empty bowl. The fried chicken blows away anything that you'd get at a place like KFC and the chicken fried steak that I had was also very good.  Very tasty biscuits, great mashed potatoes and gravy and great dessert.  But this review is really about the mac.  A smaller portion would have been nice, as there was just way too much food, but hey, 'murica!  The noodles being somewhat over cooked took this down a peg and the sauce while cheesy (thanks to the gobs of melted cheese on top) wasn't incredibly so once you got past the top of it.  It did work out quite well as a side to the chicken and country fried steak so smart of Knott's to leave it as such.

Nutritional Information:
Checking the website for the restaurant I didn't see any mention of nutritional information.  I also didn't think to ask when I was leaving.  Chalk this mac up to one that was made with good ingredients that bring the fat and calories, so please enjoy in moderation.