Ft. Collins 1
1120 South College Avenue,
Fort Collins, CO
As I broadcast constantly and loudly to my aquaintances, i love McAlisters. In particular, a certain order that i buy every single time i go there ( which is quite often): two sides of macaroni and cheese in the same bowl, a large sweet tea with no ice or lemon, and a pickle spear. Pretty simple? Yes. However, my obsession with this simple order, which, by my calculations, i have eaten at least over fifty times since a McAlistsers opened in my hometown, is to be taken to the next level in my new project, The McAlisters Journeys, which i begin now.
The concept of this project is simple. I shall slowly traverse to each McAlisters franchise in turn. By no exact figure, there are at least 40 of them. I have now been to two. I have plans for two more located in my immediate area that i shall travel to in the coming year. This shall be quite a gradual series of blog entries, as i must travel to, as i have said, many locations, but each blog entry will tell the tale of yet another location to which i have journeyed. Please keep in mind that you may find this an incredibly boring topic, since i will be ordering the same thing each time i go somewhere new, and comparing their food/drink to the "original" McAlisters, the one which i call home, that one in my hometown.
Below, you will find the details of my first trip.
May 8 , 2011
(not) my mother's idea of a perfect mother's day lunch.
When i first arrived at the McAlisters of Ft. Collins (one of them) , the first thing i noticed was the size. Theirs was much smaller than ours. However, upon closer analysis, it was decided that they probably possessed an equal amount of property. Their bathroom, main dining area, and kitchen area were slightly smaller, but a large part of that impression was the fact that their layout was rather cramped. One aspect that i enjoyed was that they had alcoves in which to eat. In ours, we have only booths or tables. We do, however, have outdoor dining. Theirs did not. In substitution for outdoor seating, they provided a charming sunlit area, much like an enclosed patio, in which to enjoy your meal.
As i entered, the sweet smell of lemon in the air enthralled my senses. I approached the counter nervously, not sure what to expect. There was only one cashier working, but there was no line. I ordered, and they gave us a number placrd, number 45. They were still using the plastic ones. Our McAlisters is using a different system by now, but is a much newer one.
Their decorating theme was identical to ours, right down to the fruit in jars ( i am yet to decide whether these are real). The mac and cheese was scalding, perfect. The tea was a rather red color, and slightly stronger than what i was used to, but delightful all the same. The taste of the mac and cheese was identical, but the sauce seemed smoother and creamier than the average dish at our location.
As far as i could tell, they were tuned in to the same radio station, which, as i believe, is Coffee House. I am not a fan of this station, but i could never be unhappy or even spiteful while within such an adored restaurant of mine.
I noticed that the straws that are located at the ordering counter in our McAlisters were located at a separate counter in theirs. Our restaurant has these counters, but they are additional.
In general, as was to be foreseen, the two McAlisterses vary only in miniscule ways that probably sound ridiculous to an outsider, but which, to me, make all the difference. For i have taken the oath of deep analysis of various locations, the oath of nosy peering, the oath, in short, of...
The McAlisters Journeys
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