8 Chain Restaurants That Make Macaroni And Cheese From Scratch

Most will agree that macaroni and cheese is one of the tastiest inventions out there. Created in Italy during the 14th century, it's become so popular over the years that the U.S. even has an entire day dedicated to it on July 14. One reason for the dish's popularity is how customizable it is. After all, it can be just as delectable with only a few ingredients as it is with numerous additions. The one caveat, however, is that mac and cheese is easy to get wrong, which can lead to hit-or-miss experiences — particularly when it comes to chain restaurants.

While many chain restaurants offer some sort of pre-prepared macaroni and cheese — the type that lacks the fresh taste of a from-scratch recipe — some actually serve the real deal. To help you avoid the countless whack mac options out there, we've put together a list of eight chain restaurants that make the dish from scratch in-house. Whether its called macaroni and cheese, mac and cheese, or mac n' cheese, this list will help you find your from-scratch fix.

With a name like Noodles & Company, the mac & cheese better be stellar — and it had better be made from scratch. Luckily, that's definitely the case here. What's more, Noodles & Company elevates mac and cheese to new heights, offering not one or two options, but four varieties.

Like many restaurants, the chain keeps the recipes a secret. However, a former employee shared the alleged build order of its creamy cheddar mac and cheese on social media. It starts with the noodles, followed by cheese sauce topped with shredded cheddar jack. Of course, the purported recipe was shared in 2020, so the process may have changed since then.

Along with traditional mac and cheese, the menu features Parmesan-crusted buffalo chicken ranch mac and cheese, smoky pulled pork barbecue mac and cheese, and garlic bacon crunch mac and cheese. If those aren't appetizing enough, the restaurant also offers a customizable "macaroni and cheese bar" designed for get-togethers or catered events. Dubbed the "mac bar," it includes the flagship mac n' cheese, and your choice of two proteins, two sauces, and eight toppings (among options such as broccoli, bacon, green onions, and Parmesan cheese.

From the bright lights of Las Vegas to the rock and roll capital of the world, you'll find BrewDog outposts serving pints of craft beer. In addition to offering punk-inspired IPAs and an impressive selection of non-alcoholic beers, the popular beer brand from the U.K. has one of the more vegetarian-friendly menus of any brewery out there. This includes a freshly prepared mac n' cheese dish topped with crispy onions.

Now, as is often the case, the ingredients and recipe are kept under wraps. But according to previous customers, the mac n' cheese arrives in a tin cup nearly overflowing with cheese, and is sprinkled with a healthy dose of fried onions. Additionally, in February 2024, one BrewDog location offered a brisket mac and cheese; it was made with a 10-hour braised Angus brisket loaded atop a beef-infused béchamel, but was only available for a limited time.

Another location temporarily added lobster mac n' cheese with fresh baby rigatoni to its menu, which is a good sign for anyone hoping to see other delicious iterations in the future. Clearly, you know BrewDog's not messing around when it comes to mac and cheese.

Despite having a menu of over 250 items, Cheesecake Factory still impressively makes everything from scratch — except its cheesecake. This isn't as blasphemous as people make it seem, though, because this merely ensures its cheesecakes taste the same everywhere. Of course, a loaded menu would be incomplete without mac and cheese, of which three varieties are available (along with an additional option for kids).

Two of these are fairly popular — the viral fried macaroni and cheese balls and standard panko-topped macaroni and cheese — and both have inspired countless attempts by fans at remaking them. Cheesecake Factory is fairly tight-lipped about its proprietary recipes, so the staggering amount of copycats prove that the chain knows a thing or two about mouthwatering mac n' cheese. That said, a chain with 250 menu items is bound to include some dishes you should avoid from the chain, and in this cheesy case, it's the macaroni and cheese burger.

Now, if we're being honest, it does sound delicious on paper. Made with a charbroiled patty, it's topped with fried macaroni and cheese balls, drippy cheddar cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion. By our metrics, however, the combination of two itis-inducing foods was too much to tackle in one sitting.

Chick-fil-A is an unlikely place to find macaroni and cheese made from scratch. But according to our ranking of fast food mac and cheese options, the quality is nearly up there with Noodle & Company. It features a blend of Parmesan, Romano, and cheddar cheeses, baked in-house until the top layer is crispy. The chain offers small, medium, and large sizes, and two catering sizes, as long as you order 2 hours in advance. Melty, and with an impressive cheese-pull, it isn't hard to find positive reviews praising the taste.

It's pretty clear that Chick-fil-A makes the best from-scratch mac and cheese around when it comes to traditional fast food restaurants. Considering the thousands of Chick-fil-A locations and its late hours of operation, that's especially true when it comes to price and availability. That said, some fans have warned the mac and cheese isn't always as fresh as it's purported to be. In fact, some claim you may be unlucky and receive a batch that tastes like it's a day or two old. Macaroni roulette aside, Chick-fil-a gets props for even offering a from-scratch menu item in a sector that rarely does.

Every menu item at Modern Market Eatery (a restaurant chain primarily located throughout the Southwest) is made from scratch, and the mac and cheese is no exception. In fact, among a menu of generally health-forward bowls, salads, and sandwiches sits a vegetarian-friendly and nut-free macaroni and cheese made with white cheddar, asiago, and whole milk mozzarella.

Now, while it no longer mentions this, the company's website once described how the mac was made. According to Modern Market Eatery's previous description, "We start with freshly grated white cheddar and Muenster for richness and then our three-cheese pizza blend of mozzarella, asiago, and Parmesan to take it over the top."

In addition, rather than regular macaroni noodles, Modern Market uses Cavatappi noodles, which is a short, corkscrew-shaped pasta designed to better hold sauce. There's also a kid-sized mac and cheese option along with catering, which comes in a ½ pan that can feed up to 10 people.

Cracker Barrel, the restaurant chain with a country shack aesthetic, is one of the most well-known purveyors of homemade-style comfort food. Given that, it's hardly surprising to discover it also excels at making oven-baked macaroni and cheese from scratch. If anything, we'd expect the mac to be good, and customers wholeheartedly agree. You can purchase it as a classic side or have it catered to your mac and cheese-themed kickback.

If you're craving the mac and cheese but don't live near one, unfortunately, you're out of luck. The Cracker Barrel boxed macaroni and cheese sold in grocery stores isn't from the restaurant chain; it's a Kraft Heinz product.

An artisan cheese shop that makes macaroni and cheese? Sign us up. First opened in 2003, Beecher's Handmade Cheese – a Seattle-based shop located in Pike Place Market – eventually expanded to four locations throughout Washington. There, customers can ogle with anticipation as cheese is made by hand through a glass wall. The chain's signature cheese, the flagship reserve, won the top honor at the annual American Cheese Society competition in 2017, 2019 and 2022, to give you an example of how delicious it is.

Beecher's offers six mac and cheese varieties, from the award-winning "world's best" mac and cheese to hatch chile, broccoli, gluten-free and more. Beyond its accolades and awards, numerous fans have described the chain restaurant's mac and cheese in glowing terms.

Of course, a macaroni dish made with handcrafted cheese — even the single-serving 12-ounce boxed variety — isn't cheap, so don't expect to find any bargain prices. The brand's frozen mac and cheese is similarly pricey but worth it, and costliness aside, countless reviews say it's totally worth the splurge.

Unless you frequent the local mall, you may be unaware that Nordstrom owns restaurants. In fact, there are more than 188 locations nationwide as of October 2025, including bars, cafes, lounges, bistros, and even satellite locations. Some offer a fine dining setting that's in line with the retailer's designer reputation; others look upscale in a fast-casual sort of way, or have a more grab-and-go setup. The great news is that the bistros make food from scratch, which presumably means any other Nordstroms that carry macaroni and cheese do, too (the marketplace cafes and grills being the others).

Nordstrom keeps it simple, using multigrain macaroni noodles and American cheese, with your choice of four sides, including crab bisque or a rustic cheddar chive biscuit. The grills offer another variety in a heaping helping of carb-loaded mac with fusilli, jumbo lump crab and roasted pepper fonduta, fontina cheese, and green onion, crusted with Parmesan bread crumbs. Based on the ingredients, it makes sense why it's over twice the price as the multigrain one.