Local Competition Names 2025's Best Mac & Cheese in Cedar Rapids

We have a winner! This weekend's Mac 'n Mingle at North Point in Cedar Rapids featured nine competitors vying for the title of 'Master of the Mac,' but the REAL winners were all of us that got to spend our Saturday eating delicious mac & cheese!

Courtlin

What Local Restaurants Competed?

There were eight Cedar Rapids area restaurants that took part in the 2nd annual Mac 'n Mingle event. The list includes:

The 9th contestant wasn't a local restaurant, it was actually a local CHEF! Current Hell's Kitchen contestant Anthony Leonard threw his hat into the ring for the title of 'Master of the Mac.'

Who is Chef Anthony Leonard?

Not only is 25-year-old Anthony Leonard a contestant on Season 24 of the show Hell's Kitchen, but he's also a Cedar Rapids native! According to Hell's Kitchen Wiki, he's actually the first ever Iowan to compete on the show, which is still underway. Season 24 officially kicked off on September 25th, with new episodes airing on Thursday nights.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Anthony is currently a chef de partie at Cobble Hill in Downtown Cedar Rapids, but he's also worked at other local restaurants, like Pickle Palace, the Cedar Rapids Country Club, and Betas Restaurant (which closed in 2017).

Our Favorites

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While ALL the mac & cheeses in the competition were good, there were a few that stood out to our group. We really enjoyed the classic mac from Sacred Cow Tavern, the truffle mac from Midtown Reserve, and Chef Anthony Leonard's mac & cheese. There were also a couple of unique mac & cheese flavors we enjoyed, including the pulled pork mac from Tic Toc and the Philly cheesesteak mac from Czech Town Station.

Courtlin

The Winner

It was no surprise to my friends and me that the winner of the 2025 Mac 'n Mingle was Chef Anthony Leonard. He was the number one choice for our group of four, as well as Brain's daughter Carly. He also got extra love from a couple of my friends for being one of only three contestants with mac & cheese that was vegetarian! It really was delicious.

To follow Chef Anthony Leonard's journey on Hell's Kitchen, you can check out his Instagram HERE!

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New Eastern Iowa Restaurants & Bars That Have Opened in 2025 (UPDATED 11/7/25)

Lots of new bars and restaurants have opened in the Corridor this year! Here are some of the new places to check out in 2025:

Gallery Credit: Courtlin

Iowa Restaurants With Delicious Mac & Cheese

We went on a mission to find the best mac & cheese in Iowa! Courtesy of reviews and recommendations on Google, here are some of the highly-rated Iowa restaurants with great mac & cheese (all included restaurants have a 4.4-star rating or higher and a minimum of 100 reviews):

Gallery Credit: Courtlin