Award-winning chef Lorraine Platman, founder of Sweet Lorraine’s Café & Bar and Sweet Lorraine’s Fabulous Mac n’ Cheez!, is expanding her macaroni and cheese empire with the opening of her third brand, Sweet Lorraine’s Fabulous Mac n’ Brewz.
The new restaurant, located at 4870 Cass Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, is set to open at the end of February. In addition to serving 15 of Platman’s signature macaroni and cheese dishes, the restaurant will also offer more than 30 Michigan-brewed craft beers, spirited infusions, and wines by the glass.
“Throughout my entire time as a chef, I’ve always been very animate about using locally made products,” Platman says. “Michigan is a hot bed for locally brewed craft beers, so when the opportunity presented itself to serve local beers with our signature mac and cheese, we instantly jumped at the opportunity.”
New additions to the menu also include Sweet Lorraine’s fair-trade organic "world beat" coffees and teas, breakfast wraps, and sweets and pastries. The restaurant will feature 88-seats that accommodate both lounge and bar patrons. Customers will have the option to dine in or carry out in the space that features a bright color palette, exposed ductwork, and walk-up counters.
Sweet Lorraine’s plans to expand even further with the opening of its second Mac n’ Brewz location scheduled to open this March in Waterford. The mac and cheese concept currently has six locations currently open and operating throughout Michigan, and plans to open locations in Vernon Hills, Illinois, and Toledo, Ohio, this year.
Founded in 2010 and franchising since 2013, the Detroit-based restaurant chain offers vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free soups, salads, sandwich wraps, grilled cheese, and 14 different kinds of meat-topped and vegetarian macaroni and cheese dishes—all made fresh to order.
“I’ve spent 30-plus years perfecting my recipes, so it should come as no surprise that our goal is to continue to offer our customers a high level of customization with the new flavors for their macaroni and cheese,” Platman says. “By offering local craft beers, breakfast, and delicious sweets, we want to give our customers an experience in quality and options that is far from the standard quick-service restaurant.”