DTLA Mac & Cheese Recap

I almost thought the DTLA Mac & Cheese crawl was cursed. I originally planned the crawl for September and that weekend turned out to be one of the hottest weekends on record. At 113 degrees, no one wanted to go out much less go out for mac and cheese. So I postponed it to November. I hoped for the best and was worried when the temperatures hit record highs for November just a few days prior to the crawl. Luckily for me, Sunday turned out to be a slightly gloomy day- perfect for mac and cheese.

Unluckily for me though, the time change postponed the crawl another hour or so. For some reason, the Facebook invitation page changed the time to start at 12:30 which meant I was waiting at the first stop for about an hour before people arrived. I’m so grateful to Pete’s Cafe for letting me hang about without any fuss.

I really enjoyed this mac from Pete’s Cafe. It was creamy and had a nice crust to it.

When I initially walked by Nickle Diner, there was a line out the door but it had dissipated somewhat by time we rolled through. This “smac & cheese” was beloved by the group though it wasn’t my favorite. Yes, I liked that it was a bit spicy. Yes, I liked the tomatoes. Yes, I loved the large elbow macaroni pasta. But I was frightened by the amount of grease left at the bottom of the bowl. I would order it again though and try not to think about why am I always deliberating clogging my arteries.

We decided to skip the last stop and end at Mac & Cheeza. Eating that much mac & cheese was taking its toll. Though admittedly we had a normal meal at Pete’s and donuts and a homemade pop tart at Nickle Diner. At Mac & Cheeza, the only distractions to mac and cheese would be what sort of inclusions and toppings you wanted (oh, they sold cool soda and dessert as well).

We decided to go with the classic mac and cheese with no add-ins. The cheese blend was pretty good. I liked that the baby mac was only $5 (though no way would I be able to finish even this small portion by myself). Mac & Cheeza is very small with only two tables. This is definitely more of a take-out place. You can phone ahead and they’ll meet you at the curb with your order or you can buy various sizes frozen and heat it up to eat later.

As usual, we talked about other crawls I’d like to do. As a companion to mac and cheese, look for my grilled cheese crawl next year.

 

Pete’s Cafe & Bar

400 S. Main St.

Los Angeles, CA 90013‎ – (213) 617-1000

Nickel Diner

Mac & Cheeza