Celebrate every bite where cheese lovers unite at the 8th Annual Denver Grilled Cheese & Mac Festival this Saturday, November 9. Gather at RiNo Art Park with your foodie friends to try gooey goodness from 25 local chefs serving up specialty macs and grilled cheeses, some of which you can only find at the fest – not to mention the 25 breweries and distilleries that will be making sure you stay hydrated all event long. Join the beloved Denver event and vote for your favorites after indulging in unique culinary creations.
Produced by Drink Denver, the Grilled Cheese & Mac Festival is nothing short of imaginative. From the venue to the savory bites, the festival is full of local art, good vibes and a little bit of friendly competition. “Our favorite part of putting on this event is seeing the creativity of local chefs. Many of them are creating new dishes just for this festival, and it’s so exciting to see how each person brings their unique style to their bite,” says Drink Denver representative Lacey Spruce. Some of her favorite bites that festival goers can look forward to are “The Mac & Cheese pancake from Comal Heritage Food Incubator – topped with elote and chipotle bbq brisket and the mac and cheese balls with a hot cheeto crust by chef Taylor West of Sushi Kuro. I have tried both and they are fantastic! But truly every bite at this festival is so unique and creative. Attendees will have their work cut out for them to choose their favorites.”
25 local chefs and 25 breweries/distilleries will compete to win one or more of these four categories: People’s Choice Best Mac, People’s Choice Best Grilled Cheese, People’s Choice Most Creative Dish and People’s Choice Favorite Brewery. Last year’s winners – I Heart Mac & Cheese (Favorite Grilled Cheese, 2nd), Bandwagon Sandwich Co. (Favorite Grilled Cheese; Favorite Mac & Cheese, 3rd), Sugarfire Smokehouse Westminster (Favorite Mac & Cheese, 1st), Breckenridge Brewery (Favorite Sip, 2nd and Dirty Dill (Favorite Sip, 3rd) – will be making an appearance again this year.
The festival is held in a mostly outdoor space so be sure to dress accordingly. The cool Colorado fall air won’t last for long when you’re dancing to live music, playing games, drinking spirits, eating warm bites and more.
Tickets to the festival come in three experiences: GA, Early Entry and VIP. All experiences include drinks, food sampling, spork, cup, take-home frisbee and commemorative sample glass. GA tickets run for $84.07, Early Entry for $107.74 and gets in 45 minutes earlier than GA and VIP for $131.41 which gets you in an hour and a half earlier than VIP.
Visit the Denver Grilled Cheese & Mac Festival to get your tickets.
Here’s the full list of participating eateries and their cheesy creations:
Bandwagon Sandwich Co.
Chicago style beef grilled cheese with cheddar, provolone, beef, peppers and au jus dipping sauce
Black + Haus Tavern
French onion grilled cheese with gruyere and gouda served with their signature 15-hour house-made au jus
Blue Moon RiNo
Pork belly bahn mi beer mac
Beer
Butter Me Up Biscuit
Green chile and pimento mac and cheese topped with toasted buttermilk biscuit bread crumbs
Comal Heritage Food Incubator
Mac and cheese pancake topped with elote and chipotle BBQ brisket served with spiked aguas frescas
Heavenly Tacos
Birria grilled cheese and chile verde mac n’ cheese
I Heart Mac & Cheese
Chicken parmesan grilled cheese sandwiches
Mimo’s
Habanero peach oxtail grilled cheese, Kalua pork w/guava sauce and mac and cheese, and fried garlic butter mac & cheese pockets with bacon
MouCo Cheese Company
Soft-ripened brie-style cheeses, cheddar cheese curds
Mukja
Korean street cheese dog with a side of kimchi tomato soup
Passanante’s Home Food Services
Bacon mac and cheese
Pickett’s American Craft Catering
Smoke stack grilled cheese: Sourdough rye, smoked gouda, cheddar, smoked candied bacon, peppadew pepper, smoked huckleberry hot sauce, grilled in a tarragon butter/mayo mix
Pork green chili mac n cheese
Gin Mule palate cleanser
Pit Fiend Barbecue
Four-cheese mac with smoked brisket
Radical Sasquatch
Philly mac buns, grilled cheese pierogi with tomato bisque
Sam’s No. 3 Diner & Bar
Mac-n-chz dip (scratch mac n’ cheese layered with chorizo & our famous kickin’ pork green chili) Served with tortilla chips
Smoke In The City
Cajun mac and brisket
Stem Ciders
Bison short rib mac and cheese (GF)
Plus cider and Howdy Beer
Street Side Eats
Carnitas Anaheim grilled cheese
Sugarfire Smokehouse Westminster
Pork belly burnt end beer cheese mac ‘n cheese with a pretzel topping
Sushi Kuro
Short rib mac and cheese balls with hot cheeto crust
The Cake Bar
Cake samples with vegan cream cheese frosting
Uptown & Humboldt
Rosemary gouda mac n cheese & grilled cheese
Urban Delight Catering
Banana grilled cheese
Watercourse Foods
Fontina grilled cheese with shared scallion pesto, mushroom duxelle and parmesan crusted bread
Williams & Graham
Surprise menu item!
Windfall Brewing
Grilled brie, bourbon cranberry jam, havarti cheese, granny smith apple
Buffalo chicken mac/cheese: fried chicken tossed in buffalo sauce, topped with smoked pork belly, crumbled blue cheese & scallions.
Beer samples
The Denver Grilled Cheese & Mac Fest will take place at RiNo Art Park, 1900 35th St., Denver on Saturday, November 9 from 12:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.
All photography courtesy of Silver Light Media
