A pasta by any other name…. is still pasta.  And still tastes good.  Right?

As I was making my way to Illinois, I stopped at Greenbush Brewery for lunch.  I had their Mac & Cheese with one of their on tap root beers (no fancy pairings here, they didn’t serve Coca-Cola, my lifeblood).

There was nothing wrong with this Mac & Cheese.  The cheese was good, the noodles were cooked, the breadcrumbs were welcome, it was a nice size, and was presented quite nicely on a skillet.  But as I sat there eating, my only thought was that it was nothing special.  The pasta was no different than what you’d buy from a box in your local supermarket (or Jewel Osco, if you don’t have Meijer).  The cheese was good, but nothing exotic.  I left feeling underwhelmed and continued on my drive.

Having made my way through a chunk of the work I was doing, I looked for a place to eat dinner the next day.  And sometimes when you’re in a random city, you just don’t find anything nearby that you want to drag your lazy self to.  So I chose to go to Chili’s for their always stellar 3 for $10.  A drink with free refills, an appetizer, and a main course for $10.  I can ring up more than $10 at Burger King or McDonalds and walk away with a lot less.  I’ve had this dish a fair amount of times since we realized that 3 for $10 deal, and every time I get it, I always freaking love it.

Now, let’s take the same look at this dish that I did with the previous one.  Average pasta?  Yep.  Presentation?  Greenbush totally wins on that.  Exotic or fancy cheese?  Nope.

It’s not a Mac & Cheese, I get that.  But it really struck me that two simple pasta and cheese dishes could come across so differently.  Both are good dishes.  Well made, decently priced, but I loved one and felt less about the other.  It makes you think a little then – is one really better?