On January 26th, I bundled up, hopped on an ‘L’ train, and braved the freezing Chicago winter for my one true love: mac and cheese. And boy, was it worth it. Chi Life Event’s Mac & Cheese Crawl: Chicago’s Cheesiest Bar Crawl assembles eleven of the tastiest mac and cheese crawl samples for you to devour.
After getting my wristband and punch card at Moe’s, I was off. I am slightly ashamed to say that I did not make it to all eleven stops, but I was so happily full that I decided to call it a day after five ooey-gooey mac and cheeses.
The date of the next mac and cheese crawl isn’t posted yet, but I highly recommend trying these five cheesy spots! I have rated their mac and cheeses on a scale of 1 to 5 noodles.
First stop: Moe’s Cantina
115 W Kinzie Street
No better way to start off my crawl than with a classic Cavatappi mac and cheese. Moe’s Cantina’s mac & cheese looks pretty simple simple, yes? No! This mac and cheese has interesting peanut-y vibes, which I had never tasted in my macs of the past, but I can tell you now that it’s great. Of course, you can’t overlook noodles – cavatelli is the perfect cheese vessel.
Noodle score: 3/5
Second Stop: El Hefe
15 W Hubbard St
El Hefe’s Nacho mac and cheese has a spicy kick and a crunch, as it’s topped with tortilla chips and Pico de Gallo. I was quite the fan, and I couldn’t get enough of this unexpected take on mac and cheese.
Noodle score: 4/5
Third Stop: Hubbard Inn
110 W Hubbard Street
Hubbard Inn’s South of the Boarder Mac & Cheese (topped with jalapeno, Pico de Gallo, and cotija cheese) tasted like SpaghettiOs in the best way possible – I kid you not. Not only was their mac and cheese GRATE (I’m sorry, I had to throw in a mac and cheese pun) but the restaurant itself had the best vibes. A loft bar with loud music and mac and cheese? I don’t think a better combination exists.
Noodle score: 4/5
Fourth stop: Ironside
546 N Wells Street
The only note I took at Ironside about their Truffle and Mushroom mac & cheese was, “fuck yea” and I don’t think I can do Ironside’s mac & cheese any more justice than that quote. It was truffle-tastic and amazingly gooey. AND the best part was that Ironside didn’t care about the punchcard, so when they came around with more mac and cheese trays I got a second serving!
Noodle score: 5/5
Last stop: Bub City
435 N Clark Street
There was such a long line for Bub City’s Phoebe’s Classic Mac and Cheese that I was considering ditching, but I am so glad I didn’t make that grave mistake. I must meet this “Phoebe” person because her mac and cheese was so yummy, I would live at Bub City if they would grant me unlimited access to it. Out of a beautiful vault of cheese, they scooped the mac and cheese into bowls and then let guests top it with chili! Since I’m a vegetarian, I just had the mac and cheese plain, but my crawling partner got it with chili (pictured above). I would liken Phoebe’s mac to Panera’s, which is saying a lot given that Panera is known for mac and cheese.
Noodle score: 5/5
I am literally counting down the days until the next Mac and Cheese Crawl, as it was the most glorious and gooey day of my life. And even if mac and cheese isn’t your thing (though I don’t know how it couldn’t be), Chi Life Events has plenty of other tasty food crawls that you should definitely check out!