First Northern California site for this intentionally cheesy restaurant chain opens in Turlock
Mac attack is about to have a whole other meaning thanks to the opening of the first I Heart Mac & Cheese in Northern California.
The fast-growing national franchise debuts Monday, Aug. 28, in Turlock, the inaugural location for the chain in the Central Valley and only third site so far in the state. As the name suggests, the restaurant specializes in cheesy delicacies. It serves mac and cheese bowls, of course, but also grilled cheese sandwiches and seasonal novelty dishes.
Turlock-based husband-and-wife franchise owners Ben and Tracy Bazar had been looking for another business opportunity for their family. Tracy left work as a business analyst with Hilmar Cheese during the pandemic to look after their two young sons. After more than a year of development and construction, the now larger family (they added daughter Taylor six months ago) is opening its first restaurant together.
Ben Bazar is president of Cecil Mitchell Equities and a RE/MAX Executive, specializing in flipping and building houses. He was able to draw on his development background to build out the site at the corner of Monte Vista Avenue and Crowell Road, across from Stanislaus State University.
The chain joins Dutch Bros Coffee, Sourdough & Co. and Domino’s Pizza in the Warrior Crossing shopping center. The retail strip has been slowly filling up since it was completed in 2020, and now has only one unopened space left. But that too has been claimed by national chain Hummus Republic, which soon will begin work on the site.
The Bazars said the Florida-based company’s flavors and options sold them on the concept. They picked the site because of its proximity to the university and nearby regional shopping centers.
“We thought it would be a good addition to Turlock,” Tracy Bazar said.
Ben Bazar said he was also impressed by the franchise’s marketing and its ambitious growth in recent years. The company’s slick branding includes using heart-shaped bowls for its mac dishes and a cheese-shaped cursor on its company website.
Founded in 2017, the chain has some 40 locations nationwide and hopes to double that by year’s end, including another Northern California location in Sacramento and a site next year in Fresno. The company’s other open California locations are in Palm Springs and Los Angeles.
The restaurant hopes to fill all your warm, creamy comfort food needs with its menu. You can try one of more than half a dozen signature bowls, from classic mac to buffalo and blue cheese, chicken Parmesan and even lobster (ranging in price from $9.99 to $23.99). Or pick from about the same number of signature grilled cheeses, including bacon and tomato, Cuban and, again, lobster if you want to feel bougie. The sandwiches run $8.59 to $23.99, and all come with a side of tater tots.
Where I Heart Mac & Cheese really excels is its customization, which allows you to build-your-own bowl or grilled cheese however you want. The company uses a corkscrew fusilli-like pasta for maximum cheese-to-sauce ratio, but you can go rogue and get tater tots, broccoli, cauliflower or even quinoa as your bowl base instead.
But, who are we kidding? You don’t come to a place called I Heart Mac & Cheese to eat a broccoli bowl.
You can top your pasta with a range of sauces from its standard mac cheese sauce to mango habanero, pesto, sesame ginger or marinara. Then add a protein from bacon or chicken to beef to ham and the ubiquitous lobster option. They give you yet another option to add veggies (I mean, you do you but this is a mac-and-cheese restaurant so choose wisely).
Finally you can amp up the ooey-gooeyness with more cheese from cheddar to muenster to Swiss and pepper jack. Customized bowls sell for $14.59 (upgrade fees for premium items or gluten-free/vegan options available). The same process is repeated for the grilled cheese options, which run $11.99.
“With all the options and customizations, you could eat 100 meals here and they’d all be different,” Ben Bazar said.
So far, the Bazars said popular picks include the classic mac, as well as hybrids like the Best of Both Worlds sandwich, which is a grilled cheese with short ribs and mac and cheese baked all together. The sandwich you shouldn’t tell your cardiologist about runs $14.99.
The company also runs seasonal specials, including its snack “Macpanada” (an empanada filled with mac and cheese, beef or spinach) for $2.99 each. They’ve replaced the “Tacoroni,” mac and cheese in a crispy taco shell, which the company was touting when the Turlock site was first announced last year. I’m torn between sad and relieved they took those off the menu — leaning a tad more toward sad. Still, who knows what other cheesy culinary challenges could be coming next.
The new Turlock location has been in soft open for the past week to help train staff, but celebrates its official opening Monday. The first 25 paying customers in line by 11 a.m. when the doors open will receive the equivalent of a year’s worth of free mac and cheese bowls (which translates to one per week). The day will include various other giveaways and prizes as well.
You also can order delivery from the chain on DoorDash, Grubhub or Uber Eats or order online pickup through the company’s website or app.
I Heart Mac & Cheese, at 1205 W. Monte Vista Ave. in Turlock, will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information call 209-350-1619 or visit iheartmacandcheese.com.
