S’Mac and Pinch – New York, NY

M.Giant needed to head to New York City for some business reason, and I got the invite to come tag along with him and help keep him company while he wasn’t working. Of course I was interested – I don’t have a job!!! I contacted a friend out there and made sure we could crash at his place and we made our arrangements. It was a quick trip – like 24 hours. We left Minneapolis at 6am and were home by about 4 the next day.

While we were out there, we got to visit M. and Trash Giant’s friends Glark and Tara, who are hilariously awesome. They have a super sweet apartment and got to hang out with us for the afternoon since it was Sunday. They asked us what kind of food we were hungry for, but it really didn’t matter – they knew they were taking us to a macaroni and cheese place. And the best part is by taking us there, we would incur the ire of Trash, who is a vegetarian and survives solely on sticks, grass, and macaroni and cheese (I’m only partially kidding…). She was very upset when she found out that was where we were going. Glark looked at his watch and determined if we left now, we would beat all of the soccer moms and their multi-child strollers. We left post haste.

I really wasn’t sure what a macaroni and cheese restaurant was, but I soon found out. This restaurant is a combination of a pizza place (called Pinch) and Sarita’s Mac and Cheese (shortened to S’Mac) – so yes, the restaurant single-handedly proves domestic violence can be fun and tasty! There were large menu boards with pizza toppings (which you order by the inch and they bring out on long flat paddles) and also a bunch of different mac and cheese combinations. So many, that we had to grab a menu and study it before ordering.

As you can see, there are tons of different ways to make mac and cheese. Glark and Tara warned us to ordered the small size or we would die – which I USUALLY take as a challenge. This time I didn’t. This was their home turf and they knew better than I. Glark asked if we wanted breadcrumbs – which again didn’t matter because that’s just how you get these things. I finally decided on the Cajun Mac and Cheese – Cheddar, Pepperjack, Andouille Sausage, Green Pepper, Onions, Celery, and Garlic. It sounded amazing, but then again, so did everything everyone one of us ordered.

We hob-nobbed for a while and got caught up with life in general and our food came out pretty quickly. It comes in your own little skillet with a handle protector so your hand doesn’t burst into flame when you forget the handle is a bajillion degrees. It was lightly crusted over (hellz yeah for the bread crumbs!) and crunchy on the top while the inside was cheesey and chewy and delicious and awesome. Apparently, Glark and Tara take a lot of people here and everyone loves it. I certainly hope they’re not sick of going here because I expect to go here every time I’m back in NYC now. Simply amazing. Now I know why Trash was so upset that we went here without her (and then raved about it for hours – while she ate a handful of sticks).

Right as we finished up, mobs of stroller moms came in and parker their double-wides (asses and strollers) in the aisles and made a disaster of the dining room. We had to take to some maze-like circuitous route to get out of the door or risk being there for another 4 hours. It was awful. But, I’m VERY impressed how well Glark had the timing down on our lunch. Those Canadians and their metric-time – we could learn some things from the Queens rejects! (Wait, are we the Queen’s rejects, or the Queen’s runaways? I can’t remember!)

Just go to Pinch and S’Mac. And tell your friends – unless they have strollers. Then tell them they have to wait until approximately 12:30 or it will throw off Glark’s space-time-continuum.

Top 5 things about S’Mac
1. Cajun Macaroni and Cheese
2. Breadcrumbs are a must
3. You can get it to go, half-baked, or have it delivered, even in PARTY SIZE QUANTITIES!!!!!!!
4. The handle condom saved my digits numerous times from curling up like the wicked witch’s feet
5. Glark has impeccable timing for stroller moms – I might need to harness this superpower for evil…

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd might have made us move to NYC after this meal. She ate a lot of Mac and cheese, both at home, and whenever she could find it in restaurants. This would have blown her mind that such a place existed
2. Stroller parade – but not until after lunch
3. I wanted to try 13 different varieties
4. The pizza looked good and I wish I could try that, but I’m quite certain I will only get Mac and Cheese at this place
5. I’m sure Trash is going to be très angry at the mean things I said about her in this review

www.arkrestaurants.com/pinchandsmac.html