Let's get the complaints out of the way: Early entry in to the building was at 10am. We did not get inside till 10:15am. It took 5 guys to put up the enter / exit sign. Post and emails said the building was heated. It may have been heated but it wasn't very warm. Music should have been turned off and a mic used to give instructions to people waiting. One young lady about 5 ft tall was not adequate to project over the crowd of mostly adults that weren't taught how to form lines. One last complaint WHY WAS UNIQUE HOME SOLUTIONS THERE?!?!? Out of place and not fitting with the event. No T-shirtso over xl. It's a carb lovers event. Next year do some 2 - 4 xl shirts. The good: Event space was bigger. Lines went much faster with the 4 stop stations. Whomever thought of that GOOD JOB! The flow was actually flowing. Lots more seating and tall tables. Great selections even from as far as Kokomo. Nada and Joella were the two best and most cheesy macs. Excellent event! Can't wait till next year. It's a nice break for the winter blahs. read more

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Nice event but a little chaotic until the crowds died down around 2:00. Signage would have been helpful as it was difficult to see which line led to each vendor. My favorites were the creations from NADA and Wildcat. I hadn't visited either of those restaurants yet so now both are on my list. Will visit soon! Some of the vendors ran out of food before I could get to their area, which was disappointing. Fat Dan's, Clustertruck, and Sangrita were three that I really wanted to try but were out by the time I made it to their areas. It was difficult to state which was the true favorite when we hadn't sampled them all. I would suggest a larger area for next year, with separation between the tables for a more orderly event. The lines were so long and wide that it was difficult to tell which vendor's line you were in until you progressed to the table. Separation between the tables, signs above the tables, and a larger area would make this a five star event. read more

Return of the Mac - NADA has the best! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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Great mac, awesome DJ, comfortable space. I take off one star because it was a total cluster trying to get to the front of each "line". I did not leave hungry, I'll say that much! read more

Return of the Mac - Ate before I could snap a pic! Joella's was my favorite of the event. - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Elbow noodles, penne and gnocchi. Pulled pork, smoked brisket, blue crab and fried chicken. Jalapeños, onion strings and mushrooms. Doritos, pork rinds and bread crumbs. If it can be mac'd, it was mac'd! This was a great event. Everything was delicious and I left in a mac n cheese coma. Mission accomplished. Huge crowd as the event opened at 1:00. Took about 20 minutes to fill our first plate, but crowd really thinned about by 1:45. By 2:00, it was free rein at all the stations. Everyone was very friendly and patient. The crowd was not a problem at all. Two big thumbs up! read more

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2nd year and still had fun! The bigger venue was great. Easy to navigate and it didn't feel as congested. There were long lines but they moved pretty quickly. So much mac n cheese and now I'm stuffed. This year, I took better notes and really pulled out my critiquing skills! Can't wait for next year! My rankings were difficult to do because I think there should be two categories: mac n cheese as a side or Mac n cheese as an entree. My top picks (in no particular order because I can't choose!): Livery, Joella's, Nada, Big Lug, and Silkelicious read more

Return of the Mac - Yummmmmy! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

We were in the early entry VIP session 1. The session started late but it also ended later to make up for the time missed. The actual space with the booths was pretty large and we appreciated the tables. A map next year would be really helpful to navigate the space. We did one loop around the entire setup and sampled 1 mac and cheese from each booth. After that, we went back to get seconds we'll really fifths of our favorites -- Nada and the Tulip. So.much.mac.and.cheese. We stayed for the first hour but left after that to take a nap. For us, buying the early entrance pass was worth it if we were going but I'm not convinced the total price + the service charge was worth it. read more

Return of the Mac - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I think it was a great idea for Indianapolis to have this event. I sampled a lot of great food and even learned about a couple restaurants that I didn't know existed. I understand that this event grew exponentially and probably to a capacity that the restaurants or event coordinators weren't prepared for. However... I feel like there was no organization or direction as to how this was all supposed to work. Generally at events where there are small tastings of food (such as Penrod, Zoobilation), it's just on a first come-first serve basis and you grab and go. But at those places, booths are spread out. At this event all of the tables were connected and shaped in the form of a rectangle in the middle of the room. Well what this caused was a weird school cafeteria line to form and go around the rim. So then when my friends and I popped in to a couple of places and grabbed our sample, we heard some say "the line's back there..." What line? Who said anything about forming a line? If the intent was to create lines then I think each booth should have been partitioned off and have lines form for each vendor. Not just one line of 1000 people who are barely moving. Also, with this being a competition, I wish that the restaurant names/logos would have been displayed more visibly (perhaps from the ceiling or just a tall sign on the table). I had several favorites but couldn't tell you what restaurant made what because the signs were constantly covered up with herds of people. Or maybe the little sample cups could have a restaurant "number" and then guests can match the number to a restaurant name using a cheat sheet. $3 bottles of water and $6 Gatorades sent me over the edge. Some people (not I) spent a lot of money for these tickets so the very least that could have been provided is free tap water. Lastly, I wish that some more seating options could have been available. The general admission ticket allotted you just that: admission. No water, no coat check, no seat. People were sitting Indian style on the concrete floors in the middle of the room. I'm not saying that every single person should have had an assigned seat or anything like that, but I do think that Pan Am Plaza is an inappropriate place, aesthetically, to have people sitting on the cold floor. read more

I might be partially biased because I got to stay and work as a vendor for both events. Last year (2017) I was so excited to attend the first-ever ROTM. I felt a cold coming on, so my hippie self decided to pop a Zinc tablet. Shortly after, my stomach was trying any and every way to get that supplement out. In short, I wasn't able to attend. Luckily, this year, I got to attend both sessions and this didn't disappoint. As a vegetarian, I was fearful that there wouldn't be enough options to choose from; however, that was far from the case. I was able to try at least 75% of the cheesy goodness and that was a lot! One vendor even had jackfruit as the meat substitute. That's awesome! Vegans - I wouldn't say it would be worth it for you at all simply because none of them had no dairy products. The event ran very smoothly, the vendors were happy and kept the mood high even after the carbs and fat kicked in, and it was a gouda time. One suggestion: the random home-related business was a bit odd to have at an event like that. Might make more sense to ditch that idea all around and try to fit another restaurant in there, or at least something related to the event theme like a dairy farm, etc. read more

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Pretty awesome turnout for the first year. My boyfriend and I bought tickets to the second seating so we had the 5-7pm time. We arrived about 30 minutes earlier, which was perfect timing because soon after, the line was out the door. Once we got in we were able to hit the front tables pretty quickly & easily (about 7 of the vendors). When we got back up for the other side, it was a lot harder and more exhausting. The "lines" were so crazy and people were just cutting left and right. I mean there wasn't any pushing and shoving but just no organization to these lines. There were quite a few tables that was already out of Mac n cheese by the time we got there and it wasn't even 6 yet.. a little disappointing. My favorites were: 1. Fat dans 2 Cerulean 3. The district tap Some of the others were underwhelming (as in bland, dry, too milky, or too dense in consistency) but overall, I enjoyed the experience. read more

Return of the Mac - First plate full! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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For a first time event, it was put together well and there was a ton to eat! I had 12pm VIP and was a little concerned when I saw a long line outside at 12:05 but we got in quickly. My fave was The Local and I loved Charblue and several others. Oakleys didn't have anything out which was such a bummer because I was really looking forward to theirs. Lines went quickly and all of the vendors were happy and proud of their work. I will definitely go to this every year. Soft Drinks and water were pretty pricey. I get it but but I wish they had been cheaper. I didn't check prices for booze. I also love that Yelp and some other Indy food scene groups were paired up for this! Yelp Indy is the best! read more

Return of the Mac - The Local! Local is always on point! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I attended the afternoon general admission session of the first annual Mac N Cheese Fest. The amount of excitement surrounding this event was spectacular, from the tickets selling out in minutes to the buzz in the crowd during the event. The chefs that brought mac n cheese created dishes full of flavor, but at some point during the mad dash to taste them all, they started to blend together. Common ingredients were bacon, jalapeños/peppers and buffalo sauce. The vendors that stood out were the Local with their smoky mac n cheese with thick Applewood bacon and Mojoe's with their Swanson Craft Mac N Cheese aka Meat Tornado (with craft beer cheese, homemade chorizo, chicken and beef). The explosion of flavors in the Meat Tornado really made it stand out from the rest of the mac n cheeses. One suggestion for the next event would be to have a bigger venue where people could spread out a little. It was frustrating when some attendees decided to picnic (standing or sitting) in the middle of aisles where people were trying to get samples. However, I'm glad that it was indoors! Great event! read more

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Great first time event! So many great flavors and new places to try! My top five macs 1. Nada 2. Local Eatery 3. District tap 4. Joellen's 5. Cerulean read more

Return of the Mac - Nada rocked it out with their Mac n cheese! So creamy and a touch of heat! #1 - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

What a "Gouda" afternoon! This is the "big cheese" of food festivals in Indy! If you want a day filled with golden ooey gooey deliciousness with a crispy topping, this is your day! "Cheddar" later than never! - I think next time I'd like to try the first session as a couple booths had run out of samples by the second session, but the early session tickets sell out FAST! The later session wasn't very crowded though! "Bleu" through the event quickly - It was faster to make it to all of the samples available than I expected and got through all of them in 1 hour. I was able to get seconds on my favorite. Don't "Brie" greedy - a hint for those with smaller appetites: if you're not digging a sample, don't eat it all because there's plenty to make you too full! Then you'll have a better perspective to judge all samples fairly! A "dairy" good afternoon to "noodle" from booth to booth. read more

Good experience but some of the Mac was disappointing I guess that's more on the restaurants then the venue though. Shout out to Nada and Livery! They both get 5 stars ! read more

Return of the Mac - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I was really excited about this event but it was a major dud, in my opinion. The lines were chaotic/did not exist, several places were completely out of samples within the first 30 min, and there were only 2-3 vegetarian friendly samples. It ended up being a total waste of money for me, unfortunately. We did enjoy getting to know the vendors and talking with the staff while enjoying some Founders beer. Can't say I'd go again unless it was more organized. read more

Return of the Mac - Nada by far had the best Mac and cheese!! (And some sweet swag) thanks for having vegetarian options! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Great event, loads more room compared to last year, friendly event staff, will definitely come every year! read more

Return of the Mac - Nada for Yelp's Fan Favorite! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

This event was awesome, but seemed super chaotic at first. We came from Cincinnati for today! One person's take for next year... I think it would be better to have the vendors on the outside, separated more, with additional seating/eating space in the middle. The line along the table made it hard for people to get to some vendors who had food prepped and ready for people to go. One line around isn't practical when you want to go to a specific vendor. It would be super cool if there were plates with everything listed so you could make sure you hit everything! Thanks for doing this awesome event! Bring the concept to Cincinnati! read more

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Definitely get the VIP tickets to beat the crowds. Bring your appetite- the servings look small but they fill you up quickly! I expected more flavor variety - they kind of started to taste the same. Even with the early admission, crowd control at the entrance was an issue. Ropes would be helpful next year to prevent line jumping and keep things less of a mob . read more

LIVERY so good love this event but that was by far my fav of the day STILL LOVE NADA CLOSE 2ND

As an unapologetic lover of the golden noodle, I couldn't have been more excited about this event, and I hope it becomes an annual occurrence. However, I'd suggest moving it outdoors to a larger venue over the warmer months. As indicated by the immediate sell-out of 3 batches of tickets plus a venue change to accommodate more people, there is enough demand to support this, and it would improve noodle-procuring logistics. We arrived 10 minutes before the doors opened and there was a line snaking around the venue outside. It moved fairly quickly and the sunshine helped keep us warm in the 20 degree temps. We were offered a plate and a fork upon entry, checked our coats, and headed toward the mobs surrounding the vendor cluster. It was a bit chaotic as there did not appear to be an official process for moving from one vendor to the next. We got in what appeared to be a line and stood for just under 10 minutes before realizing it wasn't going to move anywhere. We shamelessly began maneuvering between lines to collect some samples. It took us 45 minutes to get 6 of the 25, so we decided to stake out a spot along the wall and take a break from the insanity. It only took 15 minutes before things significantly died down, so we went back for 5 more and were able to walk right up to each vendor. Some vendors I wanted to try, like Fat Dan's, were already out, but I was too full at this point to care, and left several options on the table anyway. Overall, it was a good inaugural event. I think it could be even better with the changes mentioned above, but if they decide to keep it as this venue, then I'd recommend coming an hour late when you'll be able to walk right up to each vendor. One of those around-the-neck Koozies to carry your drink would be a really great addition also. read more

Return of the Mac - Carb coma. - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I enjoyed this event. When we first entered there was a large waiting area and when we were first let in it was a little chaotic. Everyone was so excited to get to the Mac and Cheese that some were running through the barrier curtains. The set up was good and we did have to wait it lines sometimes but the lines moves pretty quickly and they some how flowed from one table to the next. The creatively of mac and cheese was on display and most of them didn't disappoint. Next year I am debating on the VIP ticket to avoid the lines. Oh and pace yourself those samples look small but after so many they catch up. read more

It was a great event, missed the first one! Stepped up and bought the VIP tickets. If you can afford them it's well worth the $!

First review ever so here it goes: For the first annual Return of the Mac event, it was pretty alright. Overall it was enjoyable, but very overwhelming at the same time. There was a lot of hype but didn't live up to the expectations I had. The venue was nice but way too small for the attendance of the event. Good atmosphere but extremely poor layout and setup of the Mac and cheese vendors. Vendors needed larger booths and more spaced out. There were no predetermined lines so it was hard to even get mac and cheese samples most of the time. Event needed much more organization. Now and most importantly, the mac and cheese. 20+ vendors to try some but at the 5-7 time slot, some had already run out before even getting a chance to try and more so by 6. As for the food itself, I'd say only about 5 truly identified as true and good noteworthy mac and cheese. Several were too dry, not cheesy enough, milky, bland, hidden by meat or something else, or tasted like a different pasta dish. Definitely could have better overall true mac and cheese. My top choices: 1 - Fat Dan's 2 - Cerulean's 3 - Clustertruck / The District read more

This was a great event. My request next time would be to recycle more, missed an opportunity to capture all of the small plastic cups. The best IMO was Livery. @livery_indy read more

Return of the Mac - @livery_indy - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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This was a fun event. Our top pick was Joella's traditional style. It was extremely flavorful and creamy. Considering our next top choices we're MoFoCo's w/ BBQ pulled pork & slaw, CharBlue's mac n cheese crab cake, and ClusterTruck's Smoked Buffalo Chicken, Joella's had something great going on to win our vote without the fanciful add-ins. Kudos to Joella's! Thanks to the sponsors and the organizers. I know it got pretty busy with the general admission crowd as the restaurants struggled to keep pumping out the ooey-gooey deliciousness, so I'm happy I'm a smart cookie and got VIP tickets the day they went on sale. My foodie instincts knew this would be a hit, so I was on it! read more

Return of the Mac - Joella's traditional Mac n Cheese with a creamy cheese blend and flavorful herbs was yummilicious! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Torn deep between Clustertruck, The District Tap, and Kuma's Corner...but I have to give Kuma's the nod for best Mac! read more

Return of the Mac - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Best day date ever! Beer and Mac n Cheese! True happiness! Nada by far has my vote for the best! read more

Return of the Mac - Nada has my vote! By God that's delicious! About to come here every year!!!! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I had an absolute blast at this event. Generous samples, great variety, and the best restaurants in Indy! I can't wait for next year! My favorite restaurant was Joellas!! read more

Return of the Mac - So much fun! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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This was my first Mac n cheese event! I had a great time! The space was fitting for the amount of people that attended for session 1. I will say some of the lines were a little out of wack but that's expected. It was a little cold but not too bad. The vendors were all great and pumped for us to be there. Big Lugs Mac N Chesse was my FAVORITE! So delicious and the peeps from there were funny and outgoing. Great event overall! read more

VIP is worth it!! The flow of the crowd worked with the layout perfectly making there not be any long lines. There was a later start but the staff was great at communicating that we would still be receive our full time once inside. Only thing I would consider adding is maybe a fun map of who is all there and their speciality. But overall great event, extremely full , and ready for a nap! read more

So many options! I arrived hungry and left very, very full. Delicious!!! So much fun!

SO GOOD!! VIP was worth it!! The line was insane but I got to skip it entirely. I was able to sample nearly ever restaurant before general admission was let in. It was all amazing. I hope Indy continues this annually. Nada was my favorite! And wildcat was #2. read more

Return of the Mac - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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Tulip Tree is the best. Wonderful complex flavor. Love the golden girl ingredient theme. So so good!!!!

Livery!!!!! Best by far so different the only original in the past 2 years. And the chef is amazing

So delicious. All different kinds of mac and cheese under one roof! Great event early enough in the year to destroy any resolution you're still hanging on to. read more

Hops & Fire is the favorite for me and my husband. And a shout out to Livery. Loved what they offered today. Little pockets of mac'n'cheese. But my real true favorite is still Feast's entry at the 2017 Bloomington Return of the Mac. read more

What a great festival! VIP is worth the money to avoid the crowd. There was a great variety of vendors and different Macs to try.

For a first time event, I would say this went remarkably well. So you ask, "why only 3 stars"? Three reasons- when we entered it was a complete cluster and made it really hard to get to the mac. I am not sure what they best solution to this would be. Maybe a larger space? Maybe spreading the vendors throughout the venue? After the first hour things really cleared out and it became much more manageable. This leads me to my 2nd point. By the time it had cleared out a bit, multiple vendors had run out of mac and cheese. This was a bit disappointing as the ones that I missed seemed to be the fan favorites. The third reason would be the price point. Thirty-five bucks seems a bit pricey for mac and cheese, especially when I didn't get the opportunity to thy them all. I would also have liked a drink included in the ticket price, not necessarily a beer a soda or a bottle of water would be nice. An additional three dollars for water seems a bit ridiculous. So what did I like about the event. The music was on point and the mac and cheese that I did try was great! I think this event has the potential to be one of the best in indy! read more

Return of the Mac - Nada Mac and Cheese for the win!!!! - Festivals Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Amazing amazing!! Love the bigger building and not waiting outside in the cold! I'll be back next year!!!

Flew in from KC for the Mac and Cheese fest totally worth it. Event had a lot of good vendors really put together for first time doing this! It's worth paying the extra $10 for VIP to get in earlier! Only thing I recommend is having a list of all vendors and their Mac and Cheese so it would be easy to keep track of ones you liked and which ones you have gone to. Kansas City needs a Mac and Cheese fest pronto!! read more