The South Florida-based restaurant chain I Heart Mac and Cheese, opened its first Tallahassee location in mid-August on West Gaines Street in the middle of College Town.
It makes you want to rethink whether you truly love mac & cheese.
I recently went to the restaurant, trying to see what all the hype is about. When I first walked in I first noticed the lack of customer service, with employees sitting at the table and behind the counter looking lackadaisical. It took some time for an employee to greet me.
One of the key concepts for the restaurant is its customizable bowls in which it allows customers to be able to create their bowl. The possibilities are endless with different food items such as broccoli and onions or even pepperoni ground beef and meatballs. With my stomach ready to devour some pasta I decided to keep it simple and go with one of the recommended options by the server: the Baked Parmesan Chicken.
One thing I noticed before I was served was how the food looked. At first glance, the elbow noodles looked as if they were drenched in olive oil. The vegetables looked very dry as well. However, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and was going to try and see how it tasted first before applying any harsh criticism.
Once the food was ready I proceeded to pay for my food. The bowl by itself will run you about $9, which is very pricey if you think about it. To get a drink and a side such as chips will cost you about $12.
Now time to get to the main course, the taste of the dish. With the first bite all I could taste was the seasoning and parmesan along with the taste of uncooked noodles. As I forced myself to go through the meal I realized the only thing that fills my stomach is the noodles and chicken. Which in the end hurt my stomach.
One thing that was good was the drink, which was a Coke product. If it wasn’t for that, I do not know if I would survive the chunkiness of the dish.
All in all, this new restaurant is not serving macaroni and cheese that you knew and loved. Maybe the restaurant decided it would be opposite-day, every day and decided to do a play on words with the naming of the restaurant. Instead of making it I Heart Mac and Cheese maybe it should be called “I Am Going To Waste Your Money.”