Panera is a wondrous place with many choice menu items, but nothing comes close to its signature mac and cheese. The Vermont white cheddar and shell pasta combine for a creamy and sublime experience that is matched by no other mac on the market. There’s absolutely nothing like it.

— Jordan Reynolds, Arts Editor

Food snobs, this one’s for you. Every other microwaveable food that college students claim to be the best can sit down, because I’m here to talk about the one, the only, the infinitely great Annie’s organic microwaveable mac and cheese. Before all you people who actually cook scoff (first of all? Teach me), be aware that Annie’s is no Kraft knock off. Annie’s is made with actual cheese. While it comes in a powdery form, when you mix it into the water and pasta, it feels like you’re eating a gourmet meal. With Kraft, you know and accept the artificiality, but at least Annie’s tells a believable lie. Next time you’re at the grocery store, walk right past Velveeta and Kraft and head straight for Annie’s — you won’t regret it.

— Natasha Roy, Assistant Managing Editor

Tucked away on a sleepy street in the East Village is Sarita’s Mac and Cheese. Often abbreviated S’Mac, this spot is a haven for both mac and cheese aficionados and dilettante alike. The gooey, delicious cheese is mixed with expertly crafted noodles, and sits under a crispy top crust of cheesy goodness. Many types of mac are featured, ranging from Cajun to Mediterranean. To top it all off, S’Mac delivers. S’Mac is loved because it sticks to what it does best and ignores the rest. This mecca of mac and cheese simply cannot be missed.

— Connor Gatesman, Music Editor

Although he’s known for his shining bald head and his chocolate concoctions, Max Brenner is the ultimate mac daddy of mac and cheese. Brenner is really trying me with deciphering the good ole cheese versus chocolate debate since both have been mastered equally. It offers all the mix-ins you could possibly need to satisfy your mac and cheese dreams. Every mac and cheese dish is served up in a skillet — so don’t burn your fingers from your impatient hunger — and topped with breadcrumbs. I know it’s a little bit on the pricey side, but let’s be real: if you’re going to do mac and cheese, you better go all out.

— Pamela Jew, Copy Chief

To me, Kraft mac and cheese is America. When I moved to the United States, one of my American friends introduced me to the wondrous world of fake cheese and microwaveable noodles. It changed my life, and I’m not even exaggerating. Nothing parallels the level of convenience that Kraft mac and cheese offers — it’s there all the time. Dependable like the moon and the sun. And it’s so surprising! It surprises me every time. How can cheese dust, water and plastic macaroni noodles make real mac and cheese? I couldn’t tell you.

— Jemima McEvoy, Managing Editor

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