Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in Seattle, Washington touts their mac as the best mac. Well, being in Seattle on business, I just had to put them to the test.
At the famous Pike Place Market, you’d be hard pressed to find any locals that don’t know of this magical elixer of goo, this lucious noodle-laced nectar that is the “‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese“. In fact, I got slightly lost on my way to the humble cheese shop and was directed there in no time by a friendly mac & cheese loving passer-by who claimed that his wife’s mac & cheese is better than Beecher’s. I asked if he knew that Beecher’s is actually the “World’s Best” and he seemed to dodge my question, not wanting to offend the Pike Place mac & cheese mafia, I assume.
Beecher's Cheese Gnomes in their natural habitat
At Beecher’s, they make their own cheese, which seems pretty cool. You can even watch the Cheese Gnomes as they go about their business on the other side of the glass. It was kind of like being in an aquarium while eating seafood (which literally and honestly happened the night before), though, so I turned around as to not be put off as I ran their two types of mac & cheese through our rigorous macandcheeseplease tasting process.
<-- "World's Best" & Mariachi -->
The two macs & cheese that they offer are the “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese and the Mariachi Mac & Cheese. Let me tell you, eating two of these back to back is definitely a feat of endurance as the sauce is mighty. Each of these macs has a very nice consistency, the cheese is tart, and the noodles are cooked just right.
In the “World’s Best”, there’s a slight hint of peppery goodness that tickles the palatte in all the right ways. Aside from the aforementioned pepperiness, this mac is your baseline. It is standard mac.
In the Mariachi, they’ve thrown in some peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables that were difficult to recognize, but that reminded me of onions and corn. This mac is spicier, but not too spicy. It’s got a nice subtle zing to it that I dare say even children could abide. This is like mac+.
I would say that each were equally good, and that you really couldn’t replace one for the other. They are macs for different occasions. But, are they the World’s Best? Or at least, is the one pictured on the left?
My verdict is that no, they are not the World’s Best.
But they are mighty good. In fact, these macs definitely make it into my top ten list. If you are ever in Seattle and you’re looking for a good mac, you really should treat yourself to a Beecher’s mac.
These are definitely “Winners”.
