I Heart Mac & Cheese (East Lansing)
4790 Hagadorn Road, Suite 158Day two at the Howard E. Van Camp Invitational at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube in East Lansing was brutally long. We got the rink at 7:00 AM and left at 9:00 PM.
L had over eight hours between her two skates for her Saturday event. She had 7:30 AM practice. The first segment was at 11:30 AM. Another practice at 5:30 PM just to get her legs back warmed up. And finally the second segment at 8:00 PM. B also had is only skate of the weekend in there with a practice at 10:30 AM and competition at 12:45 PM.
My parents stuck around for L’s first segment and B’s skate before they headed home. Staying until 9:00 PM would have put them home in Illinois well after midnight.
L didn’t want to leave the rink. She never does. She really wants to sit there all day and watch her friends skate. B didn’t really either. He had clung on to a couple of older girls on his team and wanted to hang out with them. They didn’t seem to mind so I didn’t drag him away….but I’m sure that’s something we’ll have to do eventually.
Once B got his medal (a 1st place!) we needed to get lunch. Everyone said Jimmy Johns…which isn’t too surprising.
That’s boring though.
I put in a mobile order for the Jimmy Johns right next to the rink on Hagadorn road for J and L (B had conned someone else in to buying him lunch if he won and he did) but I had other plans.
In the same shopping plaza as the Jimmy Johns on the corner of Hagadorn Road and Hannah Boulevard just outside of the Michigan State University campus is a I Heart Mac & Cheese franchise. This is one of two locations in the state, the other is in Saginaw and one of eighteen nationwide. The franchise is based in south Florida and specializes in “customizable, made-to-order macaroni and cheese bowls and grilled cheese sandwiches.” This East Lansing location just opened right at the beginning of 2025.
The restaurant is kind of set up like a sandwich shop. There’s a large order counter where you order on one side either from their creations or you can create your own. You also have a choice in the base for the bowl. The most obvious one is pasta but you can also choose from gluten free pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, tater tots or quinoa. If mac and cheese isn’t doing it for you, there are also grilled cheese and flatbread options.
Like I said, it’s set up like a sandwich shop. The pasta is already cooked. They load it in to a bowl then there are toppings they mix in then throw it in the oven. You can do a create your own, which is what I should have done or you can pick one of theirs.
I picked the Buffalo Blue Mac & Cheese bowl and made it a combo adding on a side of Bacon Jalapeno Signature Mac Bites and a drink. The cost for my meal was just over $20 before tip.
There is a pretty large dining room with those slightly uncomfortable metal chairs fast casual places seem to love. I took a seat on one of the stools by the door to wait for my order to come up.
It took less than 10 minutes for my bowl to be popped into the oven, mixed up, and boxed up. I headed back over to the rink because I still had J and L’s sandwiches in the car and they were wondering where the heck I was at.
I started with the Mac Bites when I got back to the Ice Cube. There are three deep fried balls of the classic mac and cheese with bacon and jalapeno bites mixed it. There wasn’t as much heat as I was hoping for but these were really good. The outside was fried but it wasn’t too hard. The inside was just soft and gooey mac and cheese. There was marinara sauce on the side for dipping but I didn’t feel like I really needed that for these.
The Buffalo Blue Mac & Cheese is pasta with chicken, Buffalo sauce, bleu cheese, celery and carrots. If I ordered this again, I’d do without the veggies. They weren’t bad and they added a crunch to the dish but I think I would have been happier without them. The Buffalo sauce really gave this Mac & Cheese a kick which is what I was looking for. J even came over to take a bite and I didn’t tell her there was Buffalo sauce in the cheese….my bad. The chicken is little pieces of breaded, fried chicken pieces. There wasn’t a ton in the bowl but enough to grab a piece every few bites. I definitely could have used more bleu cheese. I love bleu cheese and while I got a few bites of it, I didn’t get it in every bite.
If you like Mac & Cheese, and honestly, who doesn’t? You’ll like I Heart Mac & Cheese. This was way better than Jimmy Johns but also a lot more expensive. That’s the only thing that would really hold me back from going here again. I’m actually really glad my family wanted Jimmy Johns. Otherwise, this could have easily been an $80 meal and I’m not sure if any Mac & Cheese is worth that. I wouldn’t automatically pass it if I was in the area again though. It was really tasty and different from the typical fast casual we usually get while sitting at an ice rink.
SW Michigan Dining 