As is the case with most beloved pasta dishes, the origin of macaroni and cheese can be traced to Italy. A recipe called de lasanis in the 13th century Italian cookbook “Liber de Coquina” combined sheet pasta — cut into 2-inch squares and cooked in water — with grated cheese, such as Parmesan. The cheesy pasta dish became popular across Europe, but didn’t arrive in the United States until the early 19th century. 

In 1784, James Hemings, who was enslaved by president Thomas Jefferson, traveled to France with Jefferson for the purpose of training in French cooking techniques, becoming the first American to be trained as a French chef. It was on this trip where Jefferson first encountered and enjoyed macaroni and cheese, which Hemings recreated with his own twist. Jefferson preferred Hemings’ version, which ended up being served at a state dinner hosted by Jefferson at the White House in the early 1800s. 

After being introduced to America’s elite, macaroni and cheese became more widely enjoyed across the nation, especially once Kraft Foods created its easy and affordable Macaroni and Cheese Dinner in 1937. Ever since, this comforting, cheesy dish has been tantalizing the taste buds of people from all walks of life. 

Whichever way you like your mac and cheese — whether it’s in a baked casserole form or loaded with meats and veggies — here are 20 Sonoma County restaurants that will accommodate your favorite comfort food fix.

Check here for our dining editor’s top cheesy picks.

Santa Rosa

Belly Left Coast Kitchen

Three Hog Mac & Cheese, $19: With smoked applewood bacon, Mexican chorizo and Spanish chorizo, this mac is a meat lover’s paradise. 523 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-526-5787, bellyleftcoastkitchenandtaproom.com

Bird & the Bottle

Craft Mac & Cheese, $16: Smoked cheddar with crispy kale and a secret ingredient adds a touch of sophistication to this gooey, nostalgic craft mac and cheese. 1055 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-568-4000, birdandthebottle.com

Jackson’s Bar and Oven

Mac & Cheese, $18: A rich Gruyere mac topped with toasted bacon breadcrumbs. 135 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 707-545-6900, jacksonsbarandoven.com

Stark’s Steak and Seafood

Four Cheese Mac with Dijon, $16: Dijon-infused mac with four cheeses for an exceptionally rich, velvety dish. Black Truffle & Goat Cheese Mac, $20: The truffles and goat cheese add a savory, tangy bite to this mac, topped with chives for a touch of freshness. 521 Adams St., Santa Rosa, 707-546-5100, starkssteakhouse.com

Willie’s Wine Bar

Spring Mac & Cheese, $18: A vibrant mac with sweet peas, green garlic and goat cheese fondue. 1415 Town and Country Drive, Santa Rosa, 707-526-3096, williswinebar.net

Kenwood

Salt & Stone

Truffle Mac & Cheese, $16: A rich, creamy mac in a four cheese sauce (Grana Padano, Gouda, Queso Ibérico, white cheddar) and topped with toasted breadcrumbs. 9900 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, 707-833-6326, saltstonekenwood.com

Rohnert Park

Amy’s Drive Thru

Broccoli Cheddar Mac, $7.29: This fast food mac with cheddar, tender broccoli and breadcrumb topping can be made vegan for an additional 50 cents. 58 Golf Course Drive W., Rohnert Park, 707-755-3629, amysdrivethru.com

Graton

Underwood Bar & Bistro

Macaroni & Cheese, $12.50: Bubbling, rich mac topped with toasted breadcrumbs. Add pancetta for $3. 9113 Graton Road, Graton, 707-823-7023, underwoodgraton.com

Petaluma

Seared

Dungeness Crab Mac & Cheese, $22: Mac with local Dungeness crab, Nueske’s bacon, Delta asparagus, Valley Ford Highway 1 fondue, Parmesan and chives. 170 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, 707-762-5997, petalumaseared.com

Speakeasy

Lobster Mac & Cheese, $18: Sweet, meaty lobster mingling with cheddar and fontina cheeses, topped with crumbled bacon and herbed breadcrumbs — a fan-favorite at Speakeasy. ​139 Petaluma Blvd. N., Suite B, Petaluma, 707-776-4631, speakeasypetaluma.com

Brewsters Beer Garden

Mac & Cheese, $12: A super-gooey elbow macaroni and cheese baked in a cast iron skillet and topped with thyme breadcrumbs. 229 Water St. N., Petaluma, 707-981-8330, brewstersbeergarden.com

TAPS On The River

Mac ‘N’ Cheese, $11.95: Cavatappi pasta in a housemade cheese sauce topped with pecorino and breadcrumbs. 54 East Washington St., Petaluma, 707-763-6700

Windsor

KIN Windsor

Mac-Daddy Pizza, $18 for 10-inch, $27 for 14-inch: A thick crust pizza with red sauce, shredded mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon and KIN’s white cheddar mac and cheese (also great as its own entree for $19). Welcome to carb heaven. 740 McClelland Drive, Windsor, 707-837-7546, kinwindsor.com

Sweet T’s Restaurant

Loaded Mac & Cheese, $24: This perfectly cheesy mac side dish exemplifies the classic southern comfort food Sweet T’s is known for. A two-cheddar mac is topped with toasted breadcrumbs, bacon, jalapenos, barbecue sauce and a choice of smoked brisket, pulled pork or pulled chicken. 9098 Brooks Road, S., Windsor, 707-687-5185, sweettssouthern.com

Healdsburg

Kinsmoke

Mac & Cheese, $6 side: Shell pasta full of cheesy goodness is the ultimate side to barbecue favorites such as pulled pork or beef brisket. 304 Center St., Healdsburg, 707-473-8440, kinsmoke.com

West County and Coast 

boon eat + drink

boon Mac-N-Cheese, $16: Mycopia mushrooms and truffle breadcrumbs make for an outstanding umami-rich mac. 16248 Main St., Guerneville, 707-869-0780, eatatboon.com

Saucy Mama’s Jook Joint

Mac & Cheese, $7: A creamy, gooey mac made with four types of cheeses. 16632 Highway 116, Guerneville, 707-604-7184, saucymamasjookjoint.com

Negri’s

Mac + Cheese, $13.50: This mac and cheese, served as a side dish at the historic Italian restaurant in Occidental, includes smoked Gouda and Monterey Jack, topped with breadcrumbs. Add pancetta for $4. 3700 Bohemian Highway, Occidental, 707-874-0301, negrisrestaurant.com

Valley Ford Cheese & Creamery

Mac & Cheese, price varies: This coastal cheese company regularly rotates its menu specials, including the mac. But you can expect any number of Valley Ford cheeses, such as the popular Highway 1 and Estero Gold, and add-on combos like sausage and peppers or flank steak and bok choy. 14390 Valley Ford Road, Valley Ford, 707-875-7073, valleyfordcheese.com

Sonoma

Tasca Tasca

Mac & Cheese, price varies on number of tasting plates: Portuguese-style mac and cheese with smoky, mildly spicy linguica. ​​122 West Napa St., Sonoma, 707-996-8272, tascatasca.com

The post Where To Get the Best Mac and Cheese in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

The holidays are past, and spring is months away, so why not snuggle in with the most comforting food on earth? As kids, we may start with the blue box and bright orange powdered cheese, but the real thing — made with creamy cheese sauce, hearty pasta and all the add-ins you can imagine — is a dish for the kid in all of us.

Cozy Comfort

Underwood Bar and Bistro

Head to this Graton hideaway for bubbling elbow mac topped with toasted bread crumbs. Simple as that. Add pancetta to signal to everyone that you’re a gourmand to be reckoned with. 9113 Graton Road, Graton. 707-823-7023, underwoodgraton.com

Fancy Pants

Stark’s Steak & Seafood

Who knew mac and cheese needed black truffles? But once you know, you know it works perfectly with this elevated version of the classic. It’s like wearing sweats with a bow tie—comfy and classy. 521 Adams St., Santa Rosa. 707-546-5100, starkrestaurants.com

Loaded

Sweet T’s

House-smoked BBQ brisket, jalapeños, bacon, breadcrumbs, and cheesy mac drizzled with sweet barbecue sauce is a yeehaw for your face. More patriotic than a bald eagle. 9098 Brooks Road S., Windsor. 707-687-5185, sweettssouthern.com

Something Completely Different

Kin

The Mac Daddy pizza is as ridiculous as it sounds: a pizza topped with an absurd amount of gooey mac and cheese. Unforgettable — but whether that’s in a good way or a bad way is up to you. 740 McClelland Drive, Windsor. 707-837-7546, kinwindsor.com

The Spicy One

Tasca Tasca

Hidden among the many tapas choices — fried piri-piri potatoes, steak tartare, empanadas — you’ll find Portuguese-style mac and cheese. Linguiça, a spicy pork sausage, is the secret ingredient that gives this small plate a smoky bump. 122 West Napa St., Sonoma. 707-996-8272, tascatasca.com

Nuggets of Lobster

Speakeasy

Cheese and crustaceans are usually a no-go in my book, this version blends sweet lobster with cheddar, fontina, herby breadcrumbs, and crumbled bacon clinging to every surface of the bowl-like orecchiette pasta. 139 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma. 707-776-4631, speakeasypetaluma.com

In the need for more cheese? Here are more favorite places for mac and cheese in Sonoma County.

The post Where to Find the Best Mac and Cheese (No Matter How You Like It) in Sonoma County appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

UPDATE May 2017:  After two return visits, the food has really suffered in quality and service is spotty at best. We hope future visits to this restaurant will see improvement. 
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I don’t usually like sports bars. In general, they are unnecessarily raucous places where people stare at television sets and erupt into screams between attempts to dip their fried mozzarella sticks into a thimble of canned marina sauce.

Suffice it to say, food is not usually the focus at places where sticky peanut shells take the place of carpet.

But what if that changed and you could get a solid steak, an order of fried Brussels sprouts or a mushroom and Brie flatbread with your Warriors game? Victory House at Santa Rosa’s new Epicenter is that place.

Part of a massive new athletic complex that includes a gym, indoor soccer fields, trampoline park, arcade, bowling lanes and a Starbucks, Victory House is a 7,000-square-foot sports bar and “scratch kitchen” that was exactly what it should be — comforting, approachable with family-friendly dishes. This isn’t fine dining, but it’s also not cardboard pizza and frozen cheese sticks.

Instead, Executive Chef Charles Roseneau’s “scratch kitchen” features great burgers, grown-up entrées and kid-friendly sandwiches and starters that make Victory House a destination rather than just a convenience for hungry sports fans. Roseaneu, a former casino chef, and GM Colin Knight came up with the menu together, focusing on pub grub dishes that go out of their way to be delicious. Despite the massive industrial kitchen that serves the entire complex, Victory House’s food feels more like restaurant food than a bank of microwaves churning out snacks. Even at 1 a.m.

The winning formula involves making many menu items in-house, from salad dressings and an impressive demi-glace to comforting desserts, pizzas and other sauces. That was the plan all along, an ambitious menu that could be executed for large crowds without tasting industrial.

Not every dish is a home run, and there will likely be some rejiggering of dishes that prove more or less popular, but at least for now it’s impressive.

Fair warning, however. It’s important to know before you go that the restaurant can be deafeningly loud and crowded with families, partiers and game-watchers on game nights and weekends. Service also can be harried, because, well, It’s a sports bar with 200 people eating while they watch TV. For a quieter experience, drop in for weekday lunches and early evening dinners.

That said, I think I like this sports bar. Even on a game night.

Best Bets at Victory House Santa Rosa SportsBar and Restaurant

Chicken chicharrones ($8) were the first positive sign. You will scoff at buffalo wings after nibbling on fried bits of chicken skin with honey mustard sauce for dipping. To keep things healthy, try beer-battered Brussels sprouts ($8) made husband-friendly when submerged in bacon ranch dip.

Elote ($5): I’m a sucker for the sweet summer corn on the cob with mayo, cojita and lime usually found at taco trucks. This version isn’t perfect, but it’s darn flavorful, even in winter.

Mac & Cheese ($5 side or $12 full order): American cheese is the base of this comforting, old school mac, which is purposefully unfussy. No truffle oil, no crab, no bread crumbs. Just noodles and cheese. The grilled cheese sandwich also is made with white and yellow American cheese, though bacon, spinach and chives class it up.

Burger: Angus chuck and short rib make for a beefy half-pound burger ($14), straight up or with sauteed mushrooms and Brie.

BBQ Pulled Chicken Flatbread ($13): A hefty slab that’s somewhere between pizza and open-faced sandwich. Housemade BBQ bourbon sauce, crispy onions, cheese.

Roasted Duck ($30): Hard to do right, this moist little bird gets an impressive pool of solid demi-glace with seasonal veggies. The bed of fries was a little weird, but hey, fries.

Deep Fried Ice Cream ($5): Everyone’s a kid when it comes to this magically delicious dish. Order one for the children, and another for yourself.

Also Solid:

Salads are pretty straightforward, but the Shrimp Cobb ($16) is the giant bowl of vegetables, avocado, roasted corn and other goodies you just crave some days.

Marrow & Crostini ($14): This one’s a deep dive into gastropub grub and a favorite of chefs and gastronauts. Slow-roasted bones are split, and the rich, buttery, beefy marrow is spread on garlic crostini. You love it or you don’t.

Special Diets: (Veg/Vegan) Garden burger, sautéed veggies, tempura artichoke hearts, classic nachos, beet salad with goat cheese and walnuts; (GF) roasted duck, steak, potato bake, veggie pasta (GF available), pork chop, ribeye steak. Plenty of paleo options.

Victory House at Epicenter, 3215 Coffey Lane, Santa Rosa, 707-708-3742, 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; open until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday, visitepicenter.com.

The post Pub Grub a Cut Above at Santa Rosa Sportsbar appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.