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I Heart Mac & Cheese

3.0 (68 reviews)
Closed • 11:00 am - 8:00 pm

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I HEART MAC & CHEESE ATMOSPHERE

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Ordering counter (like Subway or Chipotle)
Gage G.

Honestly, a little disappointed but worth the experience. But first, the pros: The staff was SUPER friendly and accommodating. They made triple sure we got gluten and dairy free Mac n' Cheese, which is always one of our concerns (the gf pasta and df cheese was so good we thought it was real)! Our food came out quicker than I thought and everything tasted good. However, the portion sizes for what it costs is definitely NOT worth it. And unfortunately, my pasta didn't explode with flavor in my mouth like I was hoping. Maybe if I got the build your own bowl it would be more worth it in terms of price but I'm not so sure.. I absolutely love the concept of this restaurant and I really hope they find success, but it's got to be more worth it for us, the consumers. There are a lot of good looking desserts though that seemed reasonably priced (but none are dairy free). P.S. making your meal a combo isn't really worth it IMO. Costs $7 and it's just a fountain drink and side (small soup cup, dessert bar, or bag of Tim's chips).

Lobster & White Truffle Mac and Cheese
Lauren S.

My family and I are Ruston regulars, so when we saw the storefront sign for I Heart Mac & Cheese we were super pumped as my kids LOVE mac n cheese (as all kids do). We were stoked to have another option that would be a good spot for everyone! We went during the early opening stages so I'm going to chalk up the few discrepancies to that and assume our next visit will be more seamless. We tried an assortment of things as we wanted to get a taste of what they're about across the board. We ordered the Best of Both Worlds, Truffle & Lobster Mac, regular Mac, and the Chicken Parm Flatbread. The experience is sort of like going to Chipotle or Subway, where you can customize your options along the way. That said, I told the employee I was fine with everything ordered the standard way that it comes and didn't need anything added or taken off - yet they kept asking for every dish along the way if I wanted anything added or taken off. It made the ordering process wayyy longer than it needed to be. Again, going early in the opening stages, the staff was still learning and had to keep referencing the menu to see what ingredients went on what dishes, which also added more time. From the time I got in line to the time I paid, it was almost 30 minutes (not exaggerating). We picked our seat and the manager (or who I assume to be) was kind and said he'd bring all our food to us when it was ready, and it was all ready pretty quickly in comparison to the ordering process. The manager was SO nice and very interactive with all the guests. My favorite menu item that we had was surprisingly the flatbread! Super cheesy and I absolutely love pesto so the generous globs of it were great. The Lobster Mac was what I was most excited about, but the truffle flavor really overpowered the dish. The chunks of lobster were actually rather decent, so that's a bonus! My kids also enjoyed the plain mac. The Best of Both Worlds was delicious and the short rib was cooked really well with great flavor. I want to return in the future to try a few more menu items and to give them time to work out the kinks. It definitely has promising potential!

Slightly customized vegan delight with tots
Teresa M.

If you're not familiar, I heart Mac & Cheese is basically a Subway but for mac & cheese. For a fast food place I thought it was pretty good. I arrived fairly early for the day and there were already several people in line and online takeout orders were going out the door. I went with a vegan delight mac, which I kept mostly as written on the menu. I was advised that the vegan cheese is a coconut based product so I opted for regular sauce instead. The employees were all very friendly and clearly received good training. I was a little bummed they were out of the mac & cheese bites so I went with tots instead. The item you order is made in front of you in a disposable metal tin which is then swapped out for a heart shaped bowl. I suppose it's kinda cute, but it's fairly wasteful overall. The food is cooked to order so it takes a little bit, but I wouldn't say that the wait time was unreasonable. Overall it's really not a bad place for a quick meal and I ended up getting 2 meals out of my bowl which is good because of the price...too expensive for what you get. For a little bit more I would have been able to go to a sit down restaurant with a liquor license.

Short Rib Philly Mac and Cheese and Lobster & White Truffle Mac and Cheese
Ronnie K.

Drove 1 hr to this place prepared for some cheesy Mac n cheese from reading all the reviews. Toppings from lobster to brisket. We were welcomed when we came in. The restaurant was clean and a good amount of seating. We ordered the lobster white truffle, and the Philly short rib mac & cheese. We also ordered the BLT (bacon love tomato) grilled cheese to go. That came with a side of tots and tomato basil soup dipping soup. The Mac n cheese was mid at best. Cheese sauce Lacked flavor and was very thin . The lobster lacked flavor and in quantity. The Philly was slightly better in the quantity of meat and flavor. But still thin cheese sauce. The star of the show was the BLT grilled cheese! Taste was outstanding and the tots matched. I ordered it with sourdough bread. Unfortunately, I didn't eat it till I got home which was over an hour and it was still outstanding even cold. I would definitely go back for the sandwich to have it warm. Unfortunately, I will not be ordering the mac & cheese again.

Short Rib Philly Mac and Cheese and Lobster & White Truffle Mac and Cheese
Julie K.

As a mac & cheese lover, I was beyond excited to try this place. Hesitant as I had to drive over an hour to get there, but I've been wanting to try it for quite some time. We ordered the lobster truffle oil and the short rib Philly mac & cheese. We also got a BLT grilled cheese sandwich to go. The grilled cheese BLT (bacon love tomato) came with a small tomato basil soup to dip it in. And a side of tater tots. SO GOOD! I was disappointed in the Mac n cheese. The cheese sauce lacked flavor. The lobster was expensive and only had 6 small pieces of lobster. Not worth $25 at all. The meat with the Philly was really good and tender. And for your base you can pick between pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, or tater tots. I would have only given a 2 star for the mac n cheese but the grilled cheese blew me away, over an hr later, NOT reheated! I will be back for the sandwich and tots. Not the mac n cheese. The restaurant was clean and lively. Staff were very friendly as well. Is it worth the drive?.... For the Mac n cheese.... No For the grilled cheese.... Yes

Lobster Mac and Cheese with tater tots which
Jill E.

I'm giving this place four stars but that might be being generous. It's new so bound to be some growth. First of all it's well located, right next to wild fin although if you are disabled and have to park in the garage it's a long walk. It's bright and cheery inside, with all the yellow chairs. Menu is on the board behind the counter where they put the food together. Lots of options for mix and match and the portion size is very good, larger than most of us can eat so there will be left overs. Both my friend and I had Lobster Mac and cheese in a bowl. You have the choice of pasta, broccoli, quinoa and something else and then the sauce on top. It was good, not wonderful with plenty of lobster but skimpy on the sauce so the pasta was a little dry. I did mention that to the nice woman behind the counter who asked how things were. It makes more sense to get a combo so you get a drink, a main course and a side. Sadly they were out of the Mac and cheese bites so we had tater tots which were ok. Most of the restaurants have the parking validation machines, this one does not. Not sure why but it meant we had to pay for parking which we should not have had to do since we were eating there. We plan on going back one more time and trying a sandwich just to see if anything has changed. Still the idea is great and with a few tweaks it could be a five star place. It's especially great for kids so if you've come to walk along the waterfront you can stop in there and get things to go for a picnic.

Build your own.
Vanessa L.

This is a new place on Ruston. The husband saw it on social media so we decided to give it a try after a movie. It's the first week open so there will be some growth. There is potential for it to be really good. I did a build your own the line was long and it took forever due to only 1 person actually taking orders and customers taking a while to order. Once you order it moved a bit quicker as it's a little like chipotle style to add on and customize things. I got grilled chicken that actually had some good flavor. The flavor was a little bland when it came to the rest however. My husband got a grilled cheese sandwich. He enjoyed his sandwich however the tater tots were not very good. The staff were very friendly and the restaurant was clean and bright especially for how busy they were. I am sure we will give it another try after a while.

Regular Mac n cheese was just meh
Amanda A.

First off what kind of restaurant has NO bathroom? You have to go to another place and buy something to use their bathroom or walk the waterfront all the way to the top of the hill for a restroom. Extremely annoying! We both did the create your own bowl. Overall we both thought it was just meh, not that good. We won't be back.

Two customized bowls with Mac and cheese bites
Jas Q.

Service here is great, the food itself is good, but the prices are insane! The workers here are very friendly and helpful. The food itself is decent and a nice take on Mac and Cheese. Interior is also clean We got two bowls + combos for each and + tax and tip our total was over $50. For some macaroni with minimal protein , that's definitely a lot for such a simple food.

Classic Mac and Cheese
Moani H.

the staff were so friendly! good amount of seating for how small the spot is. i would not go here. i knew nothing about it before going but apparently its a chain and after eating here im not sure how there's more than one of these and how they're staying in business. i will say there's only this option for this type of food so maybe thats how. it is basically cheap man and cheese they're charging $20 a bowl for. it is similar to a subway where you could order set menu items or custom order. you start with noodles, then choose your cheese, then topping/protein and it gets toasted. i got the classic and the short rib bowl with tater tots. i would much rather have had velveeta box mac n cheese than this. but i do give them credit that they have vegan cheese... not sure the taste on it tho.

Lobster & White Truffle Mac and Cheese
Paulina H.

We went their soft opening. When we first walked in it's very Smokey in there and kind of burned my eyes. But good thing was it didn't smell burnt! It felt like going to chipotle, and that's how you order their Mac and cheese or grilled cheese. I have to say they have the best service! There's a male staff was really sweet! He was so patient for me to sign up on the app and he gave us chocolate cookies. The chocolate chip cookies were the best! It's so chewy! It's so TASTY! The Mac and cheese tasted very yummy too! The lobster felt a bit frozen taste but it's not too bad when you mix with the cheese sauce. I also liked the hint of truffle taste. My husband really liked the vegan grilled cheese. He can't eat normal cheese because of lactose! And he said this grilled cheese tasted like real cheese and fulfilled his taste buds of able to eat cheese! The reason I took one star out because the cheesy broccoli tasted watery. And the tater tots were cold and not crunchy. Other than that everything was good!

Menu (7/20/25)
Pearl L.

I secured a table for my friends, boyfriend and myself so I can't really speak for the service. Although, an employee approached me after I got my order and told me they had put the wrong sauce on it. They already had a long line so I told them it was fine. However, I wasn't impressed or content with the mac and cheese and that might be due to the wrong sauce but at the same time, it just didn't take like mac and cheese. It was just sweet and not even really cheesy. I also felt like it wasn't really spicy at all and I got the Skinny, Sweet & Spicy Bowl (which I found out on their website does not have the cheese sauce). There was also barely any chicken and broccoli too. My friends and boyfriend seemed to have enjoyed their mac and cheese but they didn't praise it like they did the tator tots which was very delicious. I had their tomato soup and it was comforting and flavorful. The little take out heart bowls are super cute and you can ask them for a lid if you have leftovers. The interior is bright and cheery with a few neon light signs and a cute photo op spot. They have plenty of chairs and tables inside but it does feel really crowded as the lines were around the area so it was hard to get in and out of the seating area. I'm sure as the hype dies out it won't be as busy but it does feel stuffy in there. Definitely want to try a different mac and cheese bowl as well as their grilled cheese sandwiches which look amazing. The pricing here is definitely more nicer than the other food spots in Ruston so good for those trying to stay within a budget. They also do validate your parking for you, you just have to order and let an employee know.

Riesa S.

We went here the other day during their soft opening, and the mac and cheese was fine. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but there also wasn't anything super special about it either. I do think that they could add a bit more cheese sauce to their bowls (we had a few dry noodle areas in both of our bowls), but I also understand that they're still figuring things out as they navigate their opening. Everyone who helped us was great though, and they even checked on us while we were eating which was nice. I do like the Quiznos-esque style of things, and I think that if you're in the area, then it's worth checking out, but I honestly don't know if I'd necessarily go out of my way to eat here again.

Outside (front of the door)

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1 month ago

I had their classic Mac n cheese, it was aggressively mid. Just kinda flavorless and bad.

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3 months ago

Got the grilled cheese! Soooo good!! such a cute place too, and everyone was so nice, and quick!!

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Burger Seoul - Cute little corner seating

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Shake Shake Shake
Shake Shake Shake - Loaded with Mushrooms!!

Loaded with Mushrooms!!

Shake Shake Shake - Cute vibe inside

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Smitty's In & Out - Smitty's In & Out from outside

Smitty's In & Out from outside

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Turkey Club Sandwhich

Smitty's In & Out - Fries

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I Heart Mac & Cheese - hotdogs - Updated November 2026

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