Grate Modern Mac and Cheese opens in Menomonee Falls
MENOMONEE FALLS — The first modern fast-casual mac and cheese restaurant in southeastern Wisconsin, Grate Modern Mac and Cheese, will open its doors to the public Tuesday, Aug. 29, in the Whitestone Station development, N92 W16125 Falls Parkway.
Grate will be open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will employ 35 people.
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant features 10 to 12 gourmet mac and cheese entrees for $7-$8, such as “Buffalo Chicken,” ”Chicken Bacon Jalapeno Ranch” and “Green Chile Pepperjack.”
All entrees are crafted from recipes that were developed in-house using only Wisconsin milk, butter and cheese.
The restaurant was opened by Milwaukee-based Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, which operates 55 regional Qdoba Mexican Eats locations, including the Menomonee Falls Qdoba that has been open for nine years.
Grate hosted an invite-only VIP dining week before the grand opening, where guests were served complimentary meals as a sneak peek of the menu.
During its soft-opening week, Grate collected donations to benefit the Menomonee Falls School District's prom in the spring.
"Students have been here every day helping and standing by the door and talking about prom and what the money would go toward," said Abby Hansen, director of marketing at Roaring Fork. "People have been very generous so far.”
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Community response
Through surveys that were distributed during the VIP dining week, guests said the variety of seating — 70 seats inside and 16 on the patio — and the opportunity to watch their food being made right in front of them were hits of the new restaurant.
"We have a wood stone oven, so it’s a large fire deck oven, and they bake everything in there for a couple minutes, then it comes out and gets garnished," Hansen said. "Everything is done right in front of the guests. We grate all our cheese in front of the guests. The magic that they see is right in front of them.”
Grate also offers select salads, as well as a children’s menu and dessert menu.
Hansen recommends her favorite dish of the moment: the bacon cheeseburger mac and cheese.
"We use grass-fed beef; it starts with high-quality cheese and dairy that goes into the mac, then we put arugula and thousand island dressing, top it with a pretzel bun and pickles, and you get bacon cheeseburger in every bite with mac, which are my two favorite things combined. It just makes me very happy," Hansen said.
Customers can order carryout as soon as the doors open to the public; catering and the option to order online will launch in September.
"Mac and cheese is so nostalgic; it's connectable," Hansen said. "Being from Wisconsin, it makes complete sense, and it’s something that everyone can relate to. People typically have a memory of a mac and cheese dish that they’ve had. Whether Mom made it or Grandma made it, you say 'mac and cheese,' and people have a story.”