The menu is focused on comfort foods. Beyond the best-selling custom macaroni and cheese dishes, other top sellers are the ciabatta-bread grilled cheese, creamy tomato and chicken noodle soups, MACK nuggets (breaded macaroni and cheese bites), and the creative dessert drink they call Carnival Milk (flavored milk topped with whipped cream and syrups). There also are paninis, salads, and the recent addition of breakfast for early-morning mall walkers and employees.

“The majority of our sales are macaroni and cheese,” Cannarella says. “We go through 30 pounds of pasta and 10 gallons of cheese sauce a day.”

Customers create their macaroni and cheese dishes from a choice of toppings (a variety of meats and vegetables) and cheese sauces (Classic Golden, Spicy Jalapeño, White Cheddar, or Blue Cheese Blast), which are mixed with pasta shells, garnished with shredded cheese and bread crumbs, baked, and served in an edible bread or taco shell bowl. Each order begins as a Classic Mac and Cheese, priced at $4.50. Veggie toppings are $0.25, meat toppings are $0.50, and specialty toppings (chicken, shrimp, and sun-dried tomatoes) are $0.99. The J.B. Mack team is experimenting with a cone-like bowl to allow mall shoppers to eat on the go.

The prototype mall store is 1,200 square feet with seating for 30 but was designed to adapt to other locations, from a foodcourt or airport to an endcap unit. The décor is colorful and fun from waist-level down (for the kids) and more sophisticated from the adult’s perspective. The colors match the specialty dish—rich yellow, gold, and orange.

Bellobuono and Cannarella are focused on solidifying business systems this year before opening a second location in early 2007.