Anyone who knows me is aware of my addition to Mac-N-Cheese.
If I go to a fancy restaurant and there’s a version with truffle oil and gruyere? Yes, please. Make that two.
If I’m home and my cupboards are bare? You’ll always find a box of Kraft Mac N’Cheese on hand, even if you have to move spices to find the emergency box.
If I host book club and find myself with odd bricks of left-over cheese? Come back in 24 hours and I’ll have a Pyrex dish with the homemade variety, including chunks of smoked ham in it.
What I’m trying to say is, I’m something of a fan. I wouldn’t say connoisseur, because that implies I’m picky. And really, it’s pretty rare for me to meet mac-n-cheese that doesn’t make my flip my wig.
So it’s a bit painful to write this review of CapMac, because I really wanted to like it. But I didn’t.
Pesto Pasta Salad. Big Whoop.
One thing I’m beginning to learn about food trucks (and again, it’s a lesson my friend Kelly has recently taught her middle school daughter): don’t confuse popularity with well-liked. There’s an adage about size not mattering, and I’ll say it’s valid when it comes to food trucks: the size of the line is not an indication of the quality of the food.
In fact, I’ve generally been most pleased with the meals that have come from the over-looked trucks with no lines. Remember that, self!
So back to CapMac. I was picking up an order for myself, and one for a colleague. I tried to scout their menu in advance online, but there was just a note that it changes daily. When I got within eye-sight of the truck, here were the options awaiting me:
- Classic Mac – $6
- Pesto Mac – $7
- Goat Cheese Mac – $8
And you could pay $2 to have them throw a sausage in/on it. I got the pesto mac for myself, and it was a decent cold pesto pasta salad — but not worth $7 — and I picked up a classic mac for my colleague. I didn’t get one of those for myself because (glancing at someone else’s) I gathered that it used both cheddar AND Cheese Whiz. I have a serious problem with Cheese Wiz. And Velveeta. You might as well serve me a turd.
Apparently they recognize that their Classic Mac is sort of the White Trash of culinary adventures, because they take it to the next level by topping it with crushed Cheez-Its. (Which, ironically, I happen to love.)
I was a bit skeptical of the meal as I toted it back to the office. My cold pesto pasta wasn’t what I set out hankering for, and I’m pretty sure my colleague wasn’t craving WT Mac N’Cheese.
In the spirit of science, I decided to conduct an unbiased experiment, so I just slid the box in front of her, offered her a fork and returned to my desk. Twenty minutes later, I walked back by and stuck my head in.
Me: So. What did you think of that mac?
Co-worker: It was all right.
Me: Just all right?
Co-worker: It would be great if I was PMS’ing or hungover. But normal like today? Not so much.
Noted. I’ll certainly file that advice away for future reference, but I can’t see CapMac adopting that as their new slogan, catchy as it may be…
Hungover or hormonal? CapMac’s your truck.
pithypants 
Too funny; I was out last weekend and had the most amazing mac & cheese… with bacon and crab meat in it. OMG. I’ve been thinking about it all week.
I find mac & cheese to be a comfort food and therefore I tend to make it more in the fall/winter, and I was saying to Jack as we ate this glorious conglomeration of foods that I have always restrained myself from putting bacon in mine because I already know how hideously bad for me it is with the regular ingredients… but now the bacon might just have to happen.
Bacon makes everything better. And the only thing better than bacon? Lardons — which are like fat bacon chunks. Nom nom nom…