MacDaddy’s: A Comfort Food Eatery Opens Close To Home

By Kendra Bobowick

Resident Robert Dunn took an old idea and made it new.

His MacDaddy’s macaroni and cheese bar at 650 Main Street in Monroe has been open since early summer, and Mr Dunn said, “It’s doing well, surprisingly well.”

He feels current business prospects are “a big open road ahead” with the potential to “cross the franchise bridge” and open other location in Milford and Fairfield, to start.

Mr Dunn arrived at his concept in a roundabout way. In 2009 he had been walking through New York City when he “stumbled on a line of people” trailing out the door of a small shop and wondered, “What is that?”

He did not think much of it at the time, but a week later when he returned, he saw the same busy shop and its line of customers. The shop was dedicated to making macaroni and cheese, he learned.

“They were doing one item different ways,” he noted.

With a background in the food business, and as a restaurant owner, he appreciated the small city shop’s philosophy: “Let’s do one thing, and do it well.” And he remembers thinking, “I could do this better.”

Mr Dunn previously owned Oceans 211 in Stamford, which closed in 2008, and later that year he opened Donna Marie’s in Georgetown — a part of Redding — named for his mother. As the end of Donna Marie’s lease approached, he began seriously thinking about changing his approach to the restaurant business.

In the summer of 2009, he closed Donna Marie’s and “took a few weeks to clear my head,” before the lease expired. Not quite ready to give up his spot in Georgetown, he wondered what to do and ended up in New York City standing in line for his own taste of mac and cheese.

“I thought I could take the concept and go somewhere with it,” said Mr Dunn.

So he returned from New York and opened his new restaurant.

Testing The Market

“I opened [the first] MacDaddy’s in Georgetown, knowing I was going to close at the end of the lease,” he said. He had enough time left before his lease expired to gauge customer reactions to the MacDaddy’s concept of macaroni and cheese with meatballs, with mushroom and onion, sliced all-beef franks, chunks of turkey breast, ala vodka, spinach and garlic, dry sherry and Asiago, and more.

“I opened a space I knew I would close, but I caught customer excitement,” he said. “Every mom and kid and adult seemed pleased.” By January of 2010 he “sadly closed the doors” on the Georgetown space, but had a sense then that the concept would work.

In the following months he said he “literally lost everything.” Selling off things that he owned in order to pay the bills, he “took no work or other job,” and devoted his efforts to seeing MacDaddy’s “open again somewhere.”

Once settling on the name MacDaddy’s, Mr Dunn went right to work to trademarking the name, which he assumed would be taken. But he was ultimately successful, and today he owns all the rights to MacDaddy’s as related to the food industry.

In early 2010, he rented offices in Stratford, contacted a graphic designer, and soon had a space, a logo, menu ideas, and something to pitch to investors. He felt MacDaddy’s — an eatery that offers a variety of mac and cheese and comfort food — had “all the ingredients for a successful chain.”

By October 2010, just nine months after closing his temporary MacDaddy’s in Georgetown, Mr Dunn “ran into good fortune.” He found both a restaurant space in Monroe, and a partner in the property’s owner. “He loved the idea [of MacDaddy’s] and wanted to be a part of it; he had other properties.”

Salad Lovers Welcome

The MacDaddy’s menu has items for vegetarians, for gluten-free diets, for customers interested in the traditional cheddar cheese taste, salad lovers who prefer a crisp, chopped Romaine with grape tomatoes or an iceberg wedge with bacon. His portions come in three sizes, snack, mac, and macdaddy (small, medium, and large).

On the walls and on his menu is the motto: “It’s not your mom’s mac and cheese.”

Stepping inside, customers walk through the dining area to a buffet bar, menu board, and drink station. From there they can sit with their orders along counters decorated with macaroni-and-cheese art, or bag their orders to go.

Hoping his business will flourish, Mr Dunn keeps his 6-year-old daughter Jordan in mind, saying “I could leave her a legacy. That would be really cool.”

For the time being, however, he is happy that his customers enjoy his comfort food.

“That’s an awesome feeling,” Mr Dunn said.

His move to Newtown just a year ago, and his daily travel along Route 25 to Stratford revealed the location that eventually became the new MacDaddy’s.

“If I hadn’t moved here I wouldn’t have seen the place or met the owner. I would still be looking for someone to get behind this.” Looking ahead to the coming year, Mr Dunn was enthusiastic. “Onward and upward.”

Visit MacDaddy’s website at MacDaddyRestaurants.com to view the full menu. Store hours are 11 am to 9 pm Sunday through Thursday, and 11 am to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Take out orders are available by calling 203-880-5400.