I have been doing food reviews for a while now, and there is no food topic that I love more than mac n’ cheese. My experience with food is large, my love for mac n’ cheese is large, I am large, and my knowledge of mac n’ cheese is the largest. These five restaurants are all restaurants that I know comprehensively and have gone to with my family for my entire life. Simply put, these are the easiest places to get some good mac n’ cheese grub.

Mac n’ cheese is objectively one of the best side dishes in the world, and it’s in the running for the best main dish as well, so if it sounds like I am not being critical, just keep that in mind.

Chick-Fil-A:

I have had a lot of experience at Chick-Fil-A. I worked there during the summer, I know how the mac n’ cheese is actually made, and I’ve been eating there for my entire life. When I say that this mac n’ cheese is absolutely amazing, I am your most trustworthy source. 

The hardest part of my job at Chick-Fil-A was the station where you assembled the mac n’ cheese because it was absolutely beautiful. The mac n’ cheese was cooked in an oven in yellow trays, and once it was done in the oven it would be moved to a heating rack. The mac n’ cheese has this amazing crust on the top that puts Chick-Fil-A on top of every other fast and casual food restaurant’s mac n’ cheese. 

I have been critical of Chick-Fil-A in the past. Especially in regards to their nasty wraps that could choke a public pool. When I am really craving their mac I get the large size which is $8. It isn’t a terrible price and the mac n’ cheese is their best side on their menu. 

McAlister’s:

When I was a kid my favorite thing to order from McAlister’s was mac n’ cheese. I remember humiliating moments where I would ask the waiter for “mac n’ cheese with a side of mac n’ cheese,” which I believe McAlister’s was the only place to ever offer me that. Now when I go to McAlister’s I don’t get the mac n’ cheese with the side of mac n’ cheese, but I still always get the mac n’ cheese with my Memphian sandwich. The mac n’ cheese is no more than $5, and it is my favorite part of getting my food. 

Out of all the mac n’ cheeses mentioned here, I would say McAlister’s is second place to Chick-Fil-A mostly because Chick-Fil-A has a nice cheesy crust on top of it that puts McAlister’s in second. McAlister’s is located off of 1st and Patterson, and is a short drive away from GJHS. 

Popeyes:

Popeyes and KFC are very similar when it comes to the quality of the mac n’ cheese. I don’t usually like Popeyes because the food is generally very dry, so you have to put up with the entire experience of Popeyes. First you have to go to Popeyes which is all the way in Clifton, and knowing Clifton you already know that whoever is in this Popeyes is Clifton’s finest individuals. Then you order your food and receive it in a reasonable amount of time. Then you scarf down your food and it leaves absolutely zero moisture in your gullet, but in general it’s simply OK food. For Clifton it does the job. The usual price that you pay for a Popeyes meal with mac n’ cheese is $15, which never made my wallet too happy. 

Then it’s the home stretch. You put down the chicken, you put down the dry biscuit, now it’s time for your mac n’ cheese. Out of all the things that Popeyes has going for it, the mac n’ cheese is probably the best. It’s similar to Chick-Fil-A in that it has a nice cheesy crust that goes on it which automatically gives it points. However, what makes it not as good as McAlister’s or Chick-Fil-A is that the quality is too close to KFC, and you usually eat it after an already mid-tier meal. 

Remember this, when you eat food, always eat in context. Something can be delicious, but if you eat it in a dump it won’t taste as good. Popeyes is fourth on this list, as it’s not as high of quality as Noodles & Company, but it’s 100% better than the slob known as KFC. 

KFC:

Kentucky Fried Chicken is the most nasty slop anyone can get off of North Avenue. If you want an even worse experience go to the second KFC on North Avenue down by Clifton. I have never understood why people go to KFC because it’s nasty, the food is expensive, and the restaurant is never clean.

When you go into KFC there 

are always 5 million flies and you’d probably think there was a dead horse carcass in the restaurant. You also better have good traction on your shoes because there’s so much grease on the floor that you’d be better off crawling on all fours to the counter. No elderly people are allowed in KFC either because if they slip on the grease they’d break their hip. What do you think happened to Colonel Sanders?

KFC has had some meal deals in the past, and knowing the slop they make they would probably have to in order to make sales. Usually a combo with mac n’ cheese will set you back $10. 

Now I will say that mac n’ cheese is really hard to mess up and KFC mac n’ cheese is OK. It’s an overall awful 

experience and you usually feel sick after that you can’t really enjoy the mac n’ cheese. Going through the drive through and pretending your chicken wasn’t made inside of a grease bucket isn’t going to get rid of the fact that KFC is absolute slop. Remember, always eat in context. KFC is by far the worst on this list. 

Noodles & Company:

Noodles & Company, located off of Highway 6 & 50, provides 

good mac n’ cheese. They are the nice guys of mac n cheese, but once you actually start to date them they show you their true colors.  The food at Noodles & Company is pretty good, but unfortunately for Noodles & Company I found out about their dirty little secret. 

Shame on you Noodles & Company for allowing tofu to be an option for a topping on Mac & Cheese, and shame on you for charging another $3.75 for adding it. There are so many better options, and Noodles & Company provides those. You can get steak, chicken, or pork and those are way better options. On this entire list Noodles & Company is one of the only casual-fast restaurants that offers toppings on your mac n’ cheese. Chick-Fil-A offers steak bites on their mac n’ cheese, but Noodles & Company and Chick-Fil-A are the only other ones that I would consider adding topics. Chick-Fil-A also doesn’t charge an extra $4 for putting toppings on their mac n’ cheese. 

I love the quality of Noodles & Company’s mac n’ cheese, but I won’t sit here and allow them to charge $4 for extra toppings when the mac n’ cheese already costs $7 by itself. Why would I pay $11 for mac n’ cheese? 

Because of the quality of Noodles & Company, I am putting this at number three, but because of the better prices of the others mentioned here, I can’t put it up any further.