During our stay in North Carolina, Nikki and I found out there was a chain Mac and Cheese restaurant just on the other side of the border, in South Carolina. We decided to check it out, partly for the Mac and Cheese, but also partly because we thought it was funny to add South Carolina to our list on a technicality. (This restaurant was right along the border.)

Now, I had somehow never heard of I Heart Mac & Cheese, but apparently it is a fast-casual chain that has franchised all over the USA over the last few years. They have a small number of standard Mac and Cheese dishes, but they also let you go wild and fully customize your Mac. Nikki and I wanted to try one of their standard offerings though, so I just ordered the "Short Rib Philly" Mac and Cheese, and Nikki got their "Buffalo Blue" Mac and Cheese.

The interesting bit about this experience was that, once you ordered your dish, the employee would assemble the whole thing right in front of you, similar to Chipotle or one of those other "fast-casual" restaurants. So you really got to know their whole process. The employee would take some cold cavatappi noodles (not macaroni) and then add some sort of base cream sauce. They would then add any other ingredients for the specific dish, such as mushrooms, beef, and onions for mine. They would then slap 2 squares of pre-sliced cheese on top. After seeing that last bit, I was 100% ready for the Red Robbin Mac and Cheese experience - where there was a disappointing square of burned cheese on top of some neutral cream sauce. But then, I Heart Mac & Cheese did something that Red Robbin would never even dream of - they put the dish under one of those conveyor toasters, and then MIXED the dish afterwards. So that the melty cheese mixed INTO the now-hot cream sauce. Crazy right? MIND BLOWN. 🤯

Anyways, that's all they had to do, really. My Short Rib Philly Mac was overall pleasant: they used 2 squares of muenster cheese, and what with the beef, noodles, and mushrooms, the dish reminded me of a cheesy beef stroganoff, which was in no way a bad thing. Nikki's Buffalo Blue cheese Mac was subtly spicy, kinda tangy, and overall nice.

So yeah. I guess if you have an I Heart Mac & Cheese near you, maybe check it out. It's not a revolutionary Mac and Cheese. But then again, when I go to Chipotle, I'm not looking for a revolutionary burrito. It fits the bill, and I'm glad that if there is to be a fast-casual Mac and Cheese place running amok, it a place with offerings like this. Plus, the bowls are shaped like hearts, and that's just lovely.