It’s been exactly a week since Burger King made every cheese lovers’ dreams (or nightmares) come true by shoving glowing, orange-ish mac and cheese inside a hollow, fried giant Cheeto. So, how has the fast food company’s Mac n’ Cheetos concoction been received since it officially hit stores on Monday? Let’s just say the initial feedback is underwhelming.
Burger King debuted the new menu item last week, describing the portable snack mashup as a “dangerously cheesy re-imagination” that combines creamy mac n’ cheese with crispy Cheetos.
But some fast food connoisseurs say the unholy cheese combination — sold as five pieces for $2.49 — falls short of the company’s description, instead calling them “not good,” but “not totally awful.”
That glowing review from For The Win goes on to say that the only redeeming quality of the super sized-stuffed Cheetos is the fact they contain cheese, and “cheese is good.”
“And though there’s some mild crispiness to the fried outer crust of the Mac n’ Cheetos, there’s really nothing about them besides the shape that calls to mind a Cheeto,” the review states. “The primary things we associate with Cheetos, I think, are the crunchiness and the delicious cheese dust they leave on your fingers. Burger King’s Mac n’ Cheetos feature only a hint of crunch and an inexcusable lack of cheese dust.”
The Chicago Tribune eloquently described a recent Mac n’ Cheetos meal as a “gritty, fried nugget of Easy Mac, rolled in the remains of the bottom of a bag of Cheetos.”
The review also notes that the snack was less cheesy and more salty: “Can something be cheesy if there’s no semblance of real cheese?” the reviewer asks.
A Yahoo review of the meal took issue with the fact that Burger King pushed the product as something every Cheetos-lover would like.
“If this product had simply been marketed as ‘fried mac ‘n’ cheese,’ I would have to say the Burger King hit it out of the park, but they didn’t,” the review states. “They marketed it as ‘Mac n’ Cheetos,’ and it is in Cheetos department that I find them wanting.”
While that tester enjoyed the “slightly congealed” but otherwise “Velveeta-y interior,” the Cheetos aspect was described as “Cheetos-Scented friend stuff.”
Food reviewers weren’t alone in their unexceptional response to Mac n’ Cheetos. Actual customers haven’t exactly been thrilled with the fried snack.
Still, some customers enjoyed the semi-cheesy snack, in some cases thanks to an assist from novelty.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist