‘With a heavy heart,’ a unique Boise restaurant closed. But its food truck is rolling.
When Mad Mac opened at the Boise Spectrum in late 2017, it was the first of its kind in the Treasure Valley: a restaurant dedicated to macaroni and cheese.
But like other hospitality businesses, Mad Mac struggled to hire this spring. So several weeks ago, the counter-service restaurant closed at 7709 W. Overland Road — “with a heavy heart,” Mad Mac announced on Facebook.
What wasn’t entirely clear was whether it could end up being permanent. “Hopefully this is only temporary,” Mad Mac wrote on Facebook. A note on the door at the restaurant is significantly more optimistic: “We are temporarily closed until we can hire more employees,” it says. “It’s not permanent by any means.”
Boise Spectrum management expects the restaurant to reopen. A call and Facebook message to the Mad Mac owner were not returned.
Fortunately, Mad Mac’s food truck, which has served Boise since early 2016, is still rolling. Here’s where the truck is scheduled to be this week: Scentsy employee appreciation, 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 1; Loose Screw Beer Co., 1511 W. McMillan Road, Meridian, 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 2; Motorfest at Meridian Speedway, 335 S. Main St., Meridian, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 3.
Mad Mac’s menu is straightforward in the same direct way that comfort food hits the spot. It offers a handful of mouthwatering mac-and-cheese variations in a bowl, ranging from the classic Mad Mac in a five-cheese sauce to Buffalo Chicken Mac (chicken thighs in cayenne pepper sauce over Mad Mac with ranch dressing) and Philly Cheesesteak Mac (thinly sliced rib eye steak with sauteed peppers and onions over Mad Mac).
Mac-and-cheese-craving moviegoers visiting Edwards Cinemas are out of luck — for now. But on social media, Mad Mac put a positive spin on its food-truck-only situation. “We are going back to our roots of where Mad Mac started. ... We’re excited to be back on the streets more.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 11:15 AM.