Weight Watchers Smart Ones

Product Name: Weight Watchers Smart Ones Macaroni & Cheese
Website: http://www.eatyourbest.com/

I had high hopes for this mac. I wanted to like it because it only had 270 calories. Sadly, it tasted like only 270 calories. The mac was pale yellow and looked very unappetizing. The elbow mac cooked perfectly in the microwave. The sauce was awful. There was very little sauce. It was not creamy, instead it was pasty. The sauce left a horrible aftertaste. The ingredients list states that they used cheese powder and cheese flavor for the sauce, which was obvious. The mac was also a tad bit salty. The meal, of course, was not filling.

I would give this product 1 wedge. I will never buy this again.

Boston Market

Restaurant: Boston Market
Address: Multiple Locations
Website: http://www.bostonmarket.com/home
Name on the Menu: Sides-Macaroni and Cheese
Price: Regular  2.49  Large  4.49

I used to go to Boston Market quite frequently for their corn bread and Mac n Cheese. The quality of the mac varied depending on which location I visited. However, the mac always had a lot of sauce that would spill all over my plate. The sauce is made up of the following cheeses: American, Cheddar and Bleu. The pasta is semolina rotini. The mac was usually lukewarm, I never seemed to get it hot. I liked the choice of pasta because it seemed to absorb the sauce. The pasta was usually cooked to be on the al dente side. Sometimes I found the mac to be on the salty side. The nutritional facts on Boston Market's website have the sodium content as sky high, confirming the salty flavor. The regular portion never filled me up even with the addition of a piece of corn bread. The large portion with the corn bread was a little more filling.

I give this mac 3 wedges. 
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TGI Fridays #2

Restaurant: TGI Fridays
Address: Various locations
Website: http://www.tgifridays.com/home/welcome.aspx
Name on the menu: Gourmet Mac n' Five Cheese
Price: N/A-Discontinued

Rick Massa won the Ultimate Recipe Showdown with his Mac n Cheese that had 5 cheeses in it. His original recipe looked delicious. Part of the prize involved TGI Friday's creating a dish based upon his recipe. They created Gourmet Mac n' Five Cheese. The five cheeses were blue, white cheddar, Parmesan, gruyere, and fontina. The dish also came with bacon bits and strips of chicken. The menu stated that the dish was supposed to come with blue cheese crumbles and a Parmesan crust. I never had a Parmesan crust on my dish. Only once did I see the blue cheese crumbles. They used penne pasta for the dish. The sauce was not creamy and there was not enough of it. The sauce tasted nothing like a typical sauce for Mac n Cheese. Instead, it resembled something closer to an Alfredo sauce. Between the sauce and the shape of the noodles, I did not get the sense that I was eating Mac n Cheese. The bacon bits, which were impossible to pull out if you wanted to, overpowered the dish. Towards the bottom of the bowl everything tasted like bacon. The dish was not filling and always left me wanting more of something else. 

I give this dish 2 wedges.
Click here for an image.

Domino's Pizza

Restaurant: Domino's Pizza
Address: Various locations
Website: http://www.dominos.com/home/index.jsp
Name on the menu: Breadbowl Pasta-Three Cheese Mac-N-Cheese
Price: $5.99

The first time I ordered the Three Cheese Mac-N-Cheese from Domino's I tasted a bowl of heaven. The penne pasta was cooked perfectly and covered in cheese and cheese sauce. The sauce was not thick and did not have a creamy texture. It was just enough sauce to coat all of the pasta. The bread bowl it came in was flavorful and tasted like garlic bread. The garlic flavor worked its way into the pasta, seasoning it perfectly. The three cheeses refer to two cheddars and mozzarella. The dish was enough for two people to eat and be very full.

The second time I ordered it from the same Domino's it was beyond awful and cured me forever of ever ordering it again. The whole thing was under cooked. The pasta was hard and the bread was doughy. There was too much garlic on it. The sauce was oily. It was a mess, needless to say we did not finish eating it.

I would give the first order 5 wedges and the second order 0 wedges. Thus, I would average it out to 2.5 wedges. If any of you have ordered this mac and have an opinion, please share. I just cannot bring myself to try it again after the last one that I attempted to eat.
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TGI Fridays

Restaurant: TGI Fridays
Address: Various locations
Website: http://www.tgifridays.com/home/welcome.aspx
Name on the menu: Appetizers-Fried Mac n Cheese
Price: N/A-Discontinued

I am so sad that Friday's took this item off the menu. I was addicted to these little munchies. Every time my family went out, I dragged them to Friday's just so I could order this appetizer. I can still remember the first time I ordered this appetizer. I was away in Florida and the family went to Friday's. As soon as I saw the words Mac n Cheese, I knew what I was ordering. The waitress brought them out on a long rectangular plate. There were 6 fried Mac n Cheese balls. Beneath them was a zig zagged line of cheese sauce. Sprinkled around the plate were some herbs. It was a sight that would bring a tear to the eye of any Mac n Cheese loving girl. However, my family was under the impression I had ordered the appetizer for the table, so I had to share. This left me with only two mac balls. The mac balls were hot and crispy. The inside was filled with cheese and pasta. The pasta was soft, but not mushy. I savored every bite. I have ordered this dish so many times that I am surprised I did not turn into a fried ball of mac.

I have to give this dish 5 wedges. They were always good, no matter what location I visited. Friday's please bring them back!
Click here for an image.

Blue Smoke

Restaurant: Blue Smoke
Address: 116th East 27th St. NY, NY 10016
Website: http://www.bluesmoke.com/blue/
Name on Menu: Vegetables & Sides-Macaroni and Cheese
Price: $7.95

My food took 40 minutes to arrive. They felt bad and offered a free dessert to make up for it. When my food finally arrived it looked beautiful. Some of the macs being delivered to the nearby tables looked a little done for my taste. However, mine was not. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot of sauce, which came in handy for dipping my corn bread. The sauce was very cheesy and creamy. They used elbow macaroni, which was cooked perfectly. It came out nice and hot. It retained its heat while I ate it. The pasta was not hard and it was not soft either. After a couple of bites I realized there was a kick to the mac. The mac has spice in it. It was not overwhelming though. Even though it was a side, I found it filling. Out of the three meals we ordered the only one we liked was the mac. I would give the mac 4 wedges. It would have gotten a 5 if it had had a crust. 

Silvertone Bar & Grill

Restaurant: Silvertone Bar & Grill
Address: 69 Bromfield St at Washington St Boston, MA 02108
Website: http://www.silvertonedowntown.com/index.html
Name on Menu: Sandwiches & More-Mac and Cheese with buttered bread crumbs
Price: $8

I know there is a large group of people in Boston that would disagree with me, but I am not a fan of Silvertone's Mac n Cheese. I had read about this place and their famous Mac n Cheese in a Boston magazine. I then went on the web to read more reviews for the restaurant. It seemed like a great place to eat in which they served heavenly mac.

I ordered the mac and so did the guy at the next table. It arrived in a round casserole dish. It was definitely large enough to be a meal for the average person. The entire top layer was a thin layer of bread crumbs. The crust was not burnt, which I was happy about. I was excited to take my first bite. The bread crumbs gave it a little bit of a crunch. They chose not to go with the traditional elbow macaroni and instead they chose cavatappi. The pasta was hot and cooked perfectly. However, their cheese sauce was not that flavorful. It was thick and coated my mouth. I ate the entire top layer because I liked the crunch. I kept eating hoping the mac would get better, but it did not. The mac seemed to sit in my stomach like a rock. I looked over to the guy eating it at the table next to me and he seemed to be struggling with it as well. I saw him eating more of his date's meal than his own. We both wound up leaving about half of it over.

I really wanted this mac to be good and live up to its reviews, but sadly it did not. I give it two wedges. I forgot to take a picture of it. If you would like to see a picture click here.

Popeyes

Restaurant: Popeyes®
Address: Many locations
Website: http://www.popeyes.com/
Name on Menu: Signature Sides-Macaroni n Cheese
Price: $1.76 sm $3.71 lg

Fast food versions of mac are controversial. There are people who either love them or hate them. When it comes to the Mac n Cheese side at Popeyes, I am a big fan. I usually order the small, which makes a great snack. It is usually moist and cheesy. You will never experience the dangling cheese effect because there is no baked cheese. There is also no crust on top. It resembles Kraft's. What I love about it is that it satisfies Mac n Cheese cravings without having to go to a restaurant or baking a whole pan. The 120 calories small version also won't hurt your waistline. One warning is that their mac tastes horrible if they scrape the bottom of the tub. It is hard on the bottom. So if you see your server scraping, just tell them that you do not want it anymore.

I give this mac 3 wedges for quickly satisfying my mac attacks.

Zeytuna

Restaurant: Zeytuna
Address: 59 Maiden Lane NY, NY 10038
Website: http://www.zeytuna.com/
Where to look for it: Buffet Option (not everyday)
Price: $6.99 a pound

Though they do not always have Mac n Cheese on their buffet, I often go out of my way to check everyday. It is always a wonderful treat when I see the familiar orangey yellow glow as I approach the buffet. They usually use elbow macaroni. The top of the mac is coated in a layer of baked cheddar cheese. The cheddar cheese adds wonderful texture to the mac. The pasta is soft, which I prefer. The sauce is extremely creamy and there is lots of it. It also has a little tang to it. It is not very filling, so you need to put a lot of it in your container if you want to try to make a meal out of it. They usually scatter some herbs on top of the cheese. If you live or work in the neighborhood, then I definitely recommend trying it for lunch or dinner.

I give it 4 wedges because some days it is better than others.

Silk City Diner

Restaurant: Silk City Diner
Address: 435 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Website: http://www.silkcityphilly.com/
Name on Menu: Appetizers-Baked Macaroni & Cheese with a Goldfish crust
Price: N/A-This version is no longer on their menu

Unfortunately, Silk City no longer sells this version. I wish they would revert back to this version because it was heaven on a plate!!! This was the only time in my life that I was sad I did not have a second stomach because I really wanted to order a second order.

I went to Silk City a couple of years ago after I watched it on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The mac was listed as an appetizer and I was scared it would not be enough food for me. The waitress assured me that one order would fill me. Sure enough, when the mac came it was enough for about two people. It came in a large oval casserole dish. The entire top was covered in Goldfish crackers. Underneath was creamy cheesy pasta. The dish was shallow, which allowed every forkful to have the crunchy goldfish mixed with the creamy pasta. I loved the salty flavorful crunch that the Goldfish gave the dish. I ate every bite even though I was beyond stuffed. I never wanted it to end and unfortunately the next time I went back they put a different version on the menu.

This was my perfect Mac n Cheese, so I give it 5 wedges. Silk City please bring it back!!!

Silk City Diner #2

Restaurant: Silk City Diner
Address: 435 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Website: http://www.silkcityphilly.com/
Name on Menu: Appetizers-Baked Macaroni & Cheese with garlic bread crumbs
Price: $6

Upon being disappointed with the news that my beloved mac n cheese was changed, (click here for post on the original) I settled for the new version that came with garlic bread crumbs. I was shocked when the waiter put my mac in front of me. It was very small, at least a 1/4 of the size of their old version. The top layer was rich and creamy just like the original version. The garlic bread crumbs gave a nice aroma and flavor to the mac. However, the garlic bread crumbs only lasted about 5 bites. After that, the mac was on the bland side. It needed more bread crumbs. I really wanted it to be layered, so that between heaps of mac would be a layer of crumbs. Another thing they could have done, was to bake it in the long shallow casserole dish that they made their original version in. Thus, distributing the bread crumbs evenly throughout. I have gone back several times and have ordered this item. I usually order fries and put them in the mac after the bread crumbs are gone. The fries add crunch, substance, and seasoning.

I give this mac 3 wedges. Please Silk City bring back your original one or change this one!!