Zingerman's Roadhouse Mac 'n' Cheese can be a frugal treat

There's no reason to deprive yourself of some of the very best foods that the Ann Arbor area has to offer just because your budget imposes strict limits upon your dining habits. Yes, you can enjoy the famous macaroni and cheese at Zingerman's Roadhouse even if you've been busy watching your pennies and guarding them carefully to make sure they don't escape.

Mary Bilyeu, Contributor

Restaurants often offer smaller — and thus less expensive — menu options at lunchtime; and so, Jeremy and I took advantage of this opportunity this past Wednesday, when I had a day off mid-week.

At dinner, the mac 'n' cheese costs $14; at lunchtime, though, it's only $9.50 ... and that means it costs less than $5 a person — the Frugal Floozie Friday limit — if you share it.

Now, this isn't any ol' Kraft or Velveeta dish — it's been featured on the Food Network's "America's Best: Top 10 Comfort Foods." Here's how the menu describes it:

"Roadhouse Macaroni & Cheese
Housemade cream sauce and lots of 2-year raw-milk Vermont cheddar caramelized with the Martelli family's artisanal macaroni from Tuscany."

Well, isn't that just temptation incarnate??

And so, Jeremy and I relished a small-ish but spectacular portion each of the luscious macaroni cheese at the restaurant recently granted the enormous honor of a 2011 James Beard Award for Alex Young, who was named Best Chef: Great Lakes.

I told the waitress that we'd be splitting the dish when I ordered, so it was very graciously presented to us on two plates. We were offered a gorgeous brown bread with a crispy crust that literally crackled when broken; this was accompanied by sweet, creamy (rather than refrigerated and rock-hard) butter.

And you know what? The food was so rich, not to mention so intensely flavorful, that Jeremy and I were both completely and utterly satisfied without feeling as though we either needed or wanted more. Half of the macaroni and cheese was actually the perfect serving size.

In all honesty, I have to tell you that the Roadhouse's macaroni and cheese tasted remarkably like my own; Jeremy and I nearly had to say "jinx" as we said it almost in unison!

So I promised to quote him directly after he said: "If you can't get my mom's macaroni and cheese, then you need to come to Zingerman's to get some that's just as good." I'm so proud!

The walls of the Roadhouse are decorated with shelf after shelf of salt-and-pepper shakers, ranging from the tasteful to the cute and kitschy. It's a bit noisy, but we were there right at lunchtime. And the service was impeccable and exceptionally friendly... everything about our meal was just lovely.

When we were shown to our table, we were also presented with a cheese menu from which we could have selected an assortment offering Parmesan or Cheddar or goat cheese or Maytag Blue... a wide range, each choice costing anywhere from $2.50 - $4.50.

So if we hadn't already had our hearts set on the macaroni and cheese, we could have had a Frugal Floozie Friday option of two-to-three lovely cheeses to try, still within our per-person price range.

And you know perfectly well that this is already on my "to do" list!

Zingerman's Roadhouse
2501 Jackson Ave.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
734-663-3663

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Mary Bilyeu has won or placed in more than 60 cooking contests and writes about her adventures in the kitchen. She was thrilled to have her post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread named as one of the daily "Best of the Blogs" by the prestigious Food News Journal.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — on which she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related. Her newest feature is Frugal Floozie Friday, seeking fun and food for $5 or less... really! Feel free to email her with questions or comments or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured at the top of this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers as they cook along with her ... may you always be happy here.