Mama Mia!

Macaroni and cheese is a decidedly American dish I've come to realize.  I would think that this pasta dish would have worked it's way into (or out of) all kinds of Italian restaurants because of it's ease of making, when in reality it doesn't ever seem to be on the menu unless you're looking at the children's menu.  That means the planned Mac N' Steve's world tour of eateries (in Italy) that serve mac n' cheese vacation I had planned won't really net me any new blog posts.

While the lack of main menu mac's may stop some from trying to order the worlds best use of cheese and pasta, it doesn't stop me.  What's the harm in asking if I can order off the menu even if I don't come close to looking like I'm 12 (just because I may act my shoe size sometimes...)?

Just over a month ago I went to dinner with my parents for their birthdays (born just 4 days apart) and while Strizzis has an Italian flare with some American influence, I had no option for a mac and cheese on the main menu (I guess I shouldn't be surprised).  The waitress however was kind enough (or didn't care) that I asked if it was O.K. to order off the children's menu and she even told me that the potion was a pretty respectable size so I didn't need to worry about going hungry ordering it.

With that kind of reinforcement, I had no choice but to fulfill my destiny... erm order it.

The Review

Brand:
Strizzis (Kid's Menu) Macaroni & Cheese

One If By Freezer, Two If By Store

There aren't too many places that have their own lines of foods available in stores in addition to having actual restaurants that serve the same food stuffs. Often you're given the 'inspired by' route when you see that same meal at your local grocers, rather than the same exact thing that is in the restaurant.  To a degree the chain/company loses out if you're not in their establishment enjoying their food, but if they're smart, they make good money because of the licensing that they've got on those meals.  I really don't know how it all works out and I really don't care.  I care about getting at Mac N' Cheese, in whatever form it may come to me.

Boston Market a decade ago was HUGE (actually their rise started in the late 90's, man I feel old).  They had restaurants all over the place serving up all kinds of rotisserie chicken, turkey, meat loaf (barf!) and those other big dinner favorites that we Americans love in addition to sandwiches that had the same stuff in them.  That massive expansion did eventually catch up and McDonalds of all companies bought them up in 2000. They were originally bought for the real estate, but because McDonalds was trying to expand their image past the drive through / food in 30 seconds feeling their restaurants and menu's had at the time and because the Boston Market brand still was pulling in good sales, they didn't shut them down.  McDonalds sold Boston Market off in 2007, just a year after they had pulled out of Chipotle as well.

While Boston Markets are rare finds here in the Bay Area now, I had recently gone back to the city of my youth to drop some stuff off at my parents and the wife and I stumbled onto the fact that the one I ate at those many years ago that opened when I was a teen, was in fact still open.  Having a meal that was something completely different than the typical fast food lunch struck a cord and realizing that there was a mac waiting for me to review once we got inside, I was excited to see how it compared to their frozen variety mac & cheese.

The Review

Brand:
Boston Market Gourmet Side Mac & Cheese

I used to work across the street from this place and I ate a ton of their Carver sandwiches all those years ago.

Every Day Is Friday

I've been relatively lucky so far with this blog.  Not too many of the meals that I've had (or picked up and am sitting on for review) have ceased to exist.  I know we've lost the Four Cheese Hot Pocket and menu items have changed at homeroom recently (fresh review of new mac coming soon!) but the losses are much shorter than the new additions.  It's sad that things get dropped, but sometimes sales don't dictate keeping something around or that the costs to produce it have become too high.  But today, this is a blog first.  The return of a long lost friend.

T.G.I. Friday's has gone through some rough times of late and locally (SF Bay Area) has shuttered a good number of their restaurants.  One thing that they had on their menu for a number of years starting in the late 2000's, was a fried mac & cheese appetizer.  There would be six breaded wedges of mac and cheese that would come out on a long plate that was drizzled with some kind of cheese sauce and a little bit of parsley (for color!).  Sadly they disappeared off the menu probably two years ago.  It was better for our midlines that they weren't there, but the blog lost a potential review and I lost a tasty appetizer. 

At the store not to long ago, I did my check of the frozen food aisles and what did I see, with a *New* burst on it's box, but T.G.I.'s frozen appetizers had gained an old friend back, the mac wedges.

Brand:
T.G.I. Friday's Mac &Cheese Wedges - Three Cheese

Back from the dead. This calls for a celebration, the party starts at 8!

A Pyramid Made Out Of Cheese

People like booze.  It's a pretty well known fact that a bar in a restaurant can bring in a sizeable chunk of the profits for the establishment on any given night.  Restaurants have begun to create a hybridization, teaming food and beverages together where both are created in the same place.  This has begun to happen on a mostly regional level over the last few decades and breweries have led the charge with alehouses and brewpubs.  Not only do they serve classic bar food, but often they've got some pretty fancy foods (that use when possible the beers made by them) that are served with their in house crafted beverages.  They leave the major booze making to their factories, but these smaller establishments do produce for in-house consumption. 

A mostly western region brewery, Pyramid has opened up a number of alehouses that run along the west coast of the US.  Being in the Bay Area, I've got access to a pair of these, with one in Walnut Creek and the other in Berkeley (which does do tours because of the amount of beer produced there).

Some of the early ideas for this blog were discused out during a dinner with coworkers at the Walnut Creek Pyramid alehouse during a spring evening in 2010.  While the mac I had then isn't the same as the one they have on their menu currently, it was about time that I got back there and gave them an official review and another recent group office lunch gave me that opportunity. 

Brand:
Pyramid's Bacon Mac & Cheese (as served at the Walnut Creek, CA location )

Snapped as I was leaving.  I wasn't able to take any other pictures of the establishment because I was trying to avoid including those in the restaurant just trying to enjoy their meals and not become internet famous thanks to this hip and stylish blog.



Not Just Country Gravy

A few years back I went out to Ohio to visit some friends.  While there we discovered a chain of restaurants that seemed to be in every town. This restaurant was a mix of a number of other restaurants, Cracker Barrel, IHOP and Denny's all put together into a single place.  Bob Evans is a restaurant chain that focuses on the down home cooking and big meals.  We ate breakfast when we were there (they had some wicked biscuits and gravy among other tasty things!) and while this was before I was pondering bringing this blog to light, I didn't think about the possibility of mac and cheese.

During the summer (yes this review has been in 'limbo' for a few months) I was at our local Safeway, I was in the meats department grabbing some hamburger and other things for dinners when lo and behold, I saw a bunch of Bob Evans side dishes .  There were a number of potato options and our favorite staple  mac n' cheese.  It came home with the plan on it being a side dish for one of the meats I had just bought.


Brand:
Bob Evans Everyday Classics Macaroni & Cheese / Bob Evans Tasteful Sides Macaroni & Cheese

Picture of a farm seals proves farm fresh goodness.

The new packaging as of Nov 2012.  Also, these are still kept in the meats section for whatever reason...

Mac Street, U.S.A.

The focus on almost every post that I have made here on Mac N' Steve has been about macaroni and cheese meals as the entree.  I seem to be experiencing this because I am often eating these as a lunch at work and because most of these meals are heavy enough (either weight, or calorically) that they don't need something else to go along with it.

I've neglected to mention that our beloved mac n' cheese is often served as a side dish on our nightly dinner tables.  The many grocery stores that have hot foods available for purchase (like rotisserie chickens) also tend to have a small open case refrigeration unit nearby loaded with side dishes that would go well with those hot foods.  A while back I swung by one of our local grocery stores for a chicken and I walked through that strategically placed fridge full of sides.  I discovered (and rediscovered in a few instances) a whole new part of the store that had meals that I had somehow completely neglected for the blog.  Just heat sides. 

While these are often made in the microwave like the countless frozen meals are.  These aren't sold frozen, have a much shorter shelf life (we're talking 30 days, vs. the a year or more frozen options have) and are much larger than the typical one person sized dishes. 

I had the chicken, I wonder how this mac will take it's role as a rhythm instrument rather than the lead on the dinner plate. 

Brand:
Reser's Fine Foods: Main St. Bistro Contemporary Comfort Classics Baked Sides : Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Longest. Name. Ever.

Whole Cheese

A mainstay of the American grocery store is still the deli department.  A place where you can get meats, cheeses and all kinds of prepared sides by the pound.  Major grocery stores and boutique ones alike all have a variety of goods.  Some even have hot case items.  Normally the hot case items at a standard grocery store includes all kinds of fried staples like corn dogs, chicken strips and potato wedges, but those higher end stores grace our pallets us with expanded selections that in some cases may include mac n' cheese.  I've known for a long while that Whole Foods has a hot case mac, it's time it got reviewed.


Brand:
Whole Foods Market Hot Case Macaroni & Cheese

The only grocery store where you can go in with a whole paycheck and come out having purchased two loaves of bread, some cheese and a few bananas.