Elbows Mac N Cheese

Might want to change the name of the Philly Cheesesteak Melt to Philly Cheese Melt as you can see by the lack of steak in the sandwich

The food was OK, nothing worth recommending. I have prepared creamier and tastier mc myself. I was looking forward to eat here because we saw it in one of those food shows. I will not make my way back there, not worth the hassle but i am glad I gave it a tried. I thought that because this is a mac and cheese specialized place, well, the mac and cheese was going to be superb.

I’ve enjoyed Elbows at many events. The food is amazing, different, diverse land everyone is awed. Those organizers have chosen to cater again and I often look forward to having more great food from Elbows… Sometimes looking forward to the food more than the event.

What happened?
I blame myself for the downfall of Elbows. After my well respected Review of the Day for Elbows hit, I’m sure they were inundated with huge crowds and massive amounts of fanfare. And perhaps after that, the success must have gone to their head. They’re resting on their laurels.
My most recent visit was very disappointing. My wife and I were both disappointed with our meals. The least egregious was my 4 cheese Mac and cheese with added bacon. One side of the dish mad burnt food and the the middle seemed a little cool. Burnt and cold. It was odd. Wife’s sandwich was even worse.
She ordered the chicken pesto and had no interest in finishing it. In the past this was her favorite and she was really bummed with how much the quality went downhill. Her biggest gripe was the chicken. It tasted like frozen chicken was quickly microwaved and thrown on the sandwich. She said it used to taste very fresh. And aside from the quality, the quantity was bad. There wasn’t much chicken to be found at all. Not that she necessarily wanted more after how it tasted, but they clearly skimped or ran out. And the pesto was very bland. Kind of gross and she just lost interest. It was one of those meals where you are upset because you know you made the wrong choice and just wasted money.
We were both let down because the food here used to be great. Maybe they were having a bad night, but something was clearly different. And with so many other food places around, there’s no reason to keep coming back.

So we will definitely be going back. I got the buffalo Mac with chicken and my friend got three cheese Mac! Good for my kids to they loved it! My only suggestion would be that the chicken and blue cheese is crumbled on top I wish it was all inside and chicken was shredded but other than that amazing!!!

I have had Elbows bookmarked for I don’t know how long now. I have also had this review on the backburner for some time now. I love Mac N Cheese, all kinds, but especially when it’s homemade, so I was looking forward to trying this place out. The first thing that we noticed was how small this place is. It probably seats about 50 people inside, maybe, I’d say.
It was a sweltering hot day in Brea, over 95 degrees, and it wasn’t too crowded. Perhaps not the best day to eat something heavy and cheese-​laden but we went on in.
When I walked up to the counter, I was intrigued by the potato chips on a skewer thingies called Chipstix.
I love homemade potato chips, so I had to try some of these. I got a skewer. These came with dipping sauce and were awesome, although a bit on the overcooked side.
One of my friends decide to start with the Bruschetta. This was pretty standard as far as bruschettas go.
Looking over the main entrees, my friend decided on the Hangover which was a Breakfast mac made up of eggs, peppers, onions and potatoes. You could also add bacon or sausage, but since she is a vegetarian she opted out on that. She seemed to enjoy it. My other friend decided she wasn’t in the mood for mac, so got a grilled cheese melt which she said was ok. After looking over the many different choices of mac n cheese, I decided on When Pigs Fly as I love anything with bacon.
Smoked Applewood bacon, Gruyère and Swiss cheeses made up this mac n cheese. While tasty, it was just ok for me, especially since this bowl of mac cost over 8 bucks. It seemed a little on the dry side to me. I don’t know if it was overbaked or what but it was just ok.
Since I drove about 60 miles round trip to get to this place, it was definitely disappointing. Honestly, the thing I was most excited about was the homemade potato chips not the mac n cheese. My friends who joined me kinda expressed the same sentiment. It was not what we were hoping it would be. I think the prices were high for the things we ordered. While service was helpful and friendly here, the place was amazingly small. If it got really crowded here, I really could not see waiting a long time to eat here. I have a lot of places local to me where I love the mac n cheese and I make all kinds of mac n cheese at home, so I think I will stick to those options for mac n cheese in the future.

I love a warm and freshly baked bowl of mac & cheese, and Elbows does not disappoint! They even have vegan and gluten-​free options, although I had to splurge and order one loaded with dairy.
You can choose one of their signature bowls or build your own cheesy creation. The regular sized dishes here are huge portions, so I picked the combo with a half sized bowl of mac and a side caesar salad. I ordered the Fun Guy, loaded with truffle oil, garlic, mushrooms and lots of cheese, and I paid a dollar extra for the gluten-​free noodles. My dish was so flavorful I couldn’t even tell the noodles were gluten-​free; sometimes gluten-​free noodles can be less than desirable, but that wasn’t the case with my mac.
My bowl was delivered fresh from the oven, cheese bubbling and steaming. The top was baked to perfection, with a delicious crust of warm hard cheese (the crunchy cheese on top is always the best part!). Once my bowl cooled off, I was able to taste the rich and creamy noodles, loaded with the umami flavor of the mushrooms and truffle oil. It was by far one of the best mac & cheeses I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.
Ordering the half sized bowl was just enough, and I wasn’t bloated after finishing the dish. Again, the regular sized portion looked massive!
My side salad wasn’t anything exciting — just a bowl of romaine lettuce topped with shredded cheese and Caesar dressing on the side. It comes with croutons, but since I can’t eat gluten I opted out. It was nice to have a little green with my meal, and not just load up on cheesy carbs.
Service here was quick and my dish was freshly baked. Parking’s free in the movie theater structure, but since it’s Orange County, I guess parking is always free. The next time I’m in my hometown, I’ll definitely come back!

Late lunch, I had the So Shellfish (Lobster & Asparagus) and Truffle fries. My cousin, had the Fun Guy (Garlic & Truffle oil). All prepared and cooked to a perfection. Nice crust on top and gooey goodness on the inside. It’s a small store front, limited seating inside and out; but this small place knows how to throw a punch with creative dishes and worth the calories. The food is good and the service was ok. We got here at a good time.

Although the mack n cheese in my kid’s kids meal was delicious, my grilled cheese wasn’t grilled at all. I am now grilling it at home myself.
Tasty none the less.

I’ve had this place bookmarked for a long time and finally had the chance to try it out! I got the caprese Mac n Cheese, which while fresh, was a little too oily for me but still really good. My friends got the one with bacon, and also the blue box Mac. While I like the idea, I wish they were more cheesy.
For the amount of food, I think the price is a little high. But the workers were really nice, and I’ll come again to try the build your own Mac and the sides.

Amazing food. This is definitely a place to go eat if you’re in Downtown Brea. Try the
Okey Dokey Artichokey, its easily the best macaroni dish there.

This place has been in my bookmarks for so long because I’ve seen and heard about this place for so long! The food was okay good — definitely comfort food and you have to love cheese (like I do).
I ordered the SO SHELLFISH and TRUFFLE FRIES to go. I guess the lobster Mac had lots of flavor and cheese. The asparagus was great addition in the combo. There was definitely a decent about of lobster, but the portion size of the regular shellfish Mac was not enough for $ 12.95. Definitely overpriced to me. I also love the baked mac and cheese, however there was pretty thick layer of bread crumb at the top. The truffle fries were a disappointment. Not much flavor at all and the fries were soggy when I got them.
I felt a little sick after this meal so idk if I would come here that often. I’d still probably come back just cause it’s Mac n cheeeese

The e-​foodie coupon brought me in, and the yummy food will keep me coming back. I love how they each have clever names to go with them! The place seemed pretty clean so that’s also good!
I had the More cheese 4 me, which has four different cheeses. It came out hot and still bubbling so I had to wait a few minutes for it to cool before I ate it, but I’m not complaining, it was delicious!
My boyfriend got the philly cheese steak which he said wasn’t bad. And we shared the truffle fries. I could go without getting them again, they just seemed dry or something, but he enjoyed them.

My first impression was, «Classic American kid food with an gourmet adult twist.»
Who doesn’t love Mac and cheese and cheesy flat melts? Now add some unique and savory ingredients and combine with delicious types of cheese and you’ve got a perfect combo. Baked to order, the Mac and cheese satisfies any cheesy craving and is hearty for lunch or dinner. Nice crust and perfect with a side of their delicious freshly fried green beans. The spinach artichoke melt was good, but I’m definitely opting for something more savory or spicy on my next visit! The side of potato chips that it came with was addicting.
The lasting impression? «A great spot to snack, indulge, and try many different variations of the classic Mac and cheese!»

Man, I was so excited when I decided to come here. This place has been on my bookmark for so long. They got so many different selections for flavors and you can customize what you want in your mac n cheese too! I was excited when I saw the menu, just trying to narrow down to just one dish to order took me so long.
In the end I went with the Cajun Mac n Cheese combo with cranberry walnut salad. Also got the Sweet Vanilla Sweet Potato Fries.
The fries were very good (though I couldn’t taste much of the vanilla understandable since vanilla is a very mild flavor), it would have been the perfect sweet potato fries if they just served it/​plated it differently. The presentation was cool but the way the fries are stacked made most of the fries go from crispy to soggy limp-​y sweet potato, nobody likes a soggy fry, in a matter of minutes. I would have preferred a different dipping sauce but I suppose most people like the creamy tartar sauce. Otherwise they did a great job with the flavor, crispiness and how its cut.
The Mac n Cheese were disappointing. They’ve laid on a thick layer of cheese on top that forms into a hard thick crust after it cools, sprinkled, nay, doused with oil all around your macs and on top of the cheese crust. Normally I love the cheesy crispiness layer but they’ve overdone it and then some. The Cajun dish was good but needed a bit more spice, most of the spice you get are from the sausage.
I also tried the Bacon Mac n Cheese which were much more disappointing than the Cajun macs. The bacon lacked flavor, seemed like all they did was added bacon to the macs instead of putting any other sort of spices (or if they did, it wasn’t enough).

Going all out with 5 stars here, 4 for the food and an additional one for the exceptionally good service! Not only was our Mac trio made quickly with a smile, even though they were super busy, but they also took time to make sure to ask if we were enjoying our food and customized menu items to my liking. Awesome! We went with the hangover, the Holy Cow and the Pizza mac.
To balance that out, I had the chinese chicken salad minus the chicken with it, also very fresh and tasty.
My fav was the pizza, my son loved the holy cow and my husband the hangover so it worked out perfectly.
I cannot mention enough just how fabulous the service was.
Everyone working is so efficient, the place super clean and our food was great.
Filling, decadent and flavorful, I will be back for more!

We ordered the combo meal with the half macaroni and salad and a grilled turkey panini. The panini was excellent with its melted cheese and crispy flat bread, very tasty and a bar higher than most that I’ve had elsewhere. The chips it comes with was also good considering it wasn’t drenched in grease and oils. The salad was like any other, now the star of the show the macaroni, a nice toasted cover over a creamy bowl of delicious macaroni. It had a bit of spice to it, nice little kick. I’ve never had a salad, macaroni combo but it complimented quite well. Overall an enjoyable meal and I would recommend to anyone. It is a little tight inside so try to avoid the rush hour times.

This place is next door to Bruxie.
My friend and I ordered the Wingin’ It mac, Fun Guy mac, and truffle fries to share. Both mac n cheeses were not cheesy enough. They didn’t have that gooey cheesiness that you would get with your typical gourmet mac n cheese. The fun guy was pretty bland so I ate with the sriracha they had at their condiments counter. I enjoyed the wingin’ it more because it had more of a kick to it. It also came with 4 pieces of boneless chicken wings which was great. The fries were more like garlic parmesan fries than truffle fries but they pretty tasty. Overall, I would not make my way back here but it was worth a try.

Cheese overload!
Came here for lunch on a Friday. It wasn’t too busy which was great since we didn’t have much time during a lunch break.
Got the hangover which has breakfast Mac, eggs, peppers, onions, and potatoes $ 8.65; the So shellfish which comes with lobster, asparagus, with asiago and Parmesan cheese $$ 12.95; the Tuna melt $ 6.50; and, the chipstix $ 4.95 which is basically deep fried potato twisters on a stick.
We may have over ordered because by the time we were done i could feel the cheese coming out of my pores. haha! We couldn’t finish everything so we took the rest home.
Visit if you’re in the area and a fan of mac & cheese.

I love mac n cheese and it was a pretty easy choice when we Unilocaled places to eat nearby while in Brea.
The last time I tried Elbows at another location, I wasn’t impressed because the cheeses in my dish tastes funky together (must have been the goat cheese).
This time around I got the «when pigs fly» which had Gruyère cheese, Swiss cheese, and bacon. The dish itself wasn’t cheesy enough, but it was a lot better than my last experience and the crispy bacon was good!
The fiancé got a combo with half spinach and artichoke melt & a cup of tomato basil soup. I had a bite of the melt and it was pretty tasty.
The service from the owner and staff was friendly and helpful when we were deciding between dishes.
If you like mac n cheese and more than just the OG box mac n cheese, you will enjoy Elbows Mac N’ Cheese!
Unilocal 100 Challenge — 7 of 100