Following on the successful heels of the Weekly Volcano's Tournament of Burgers, our editorial staff will present a new NCAA Basketball tournament-like contest next spring. Once again we'll host a number of daily games that pit one restaurant against another, leaving it to the readers to decide the final outcomes all the way down to a final four and then a grand championship. (For newbie readers, Olympia's Westside Tavern edged out Tacoma's Maxwell's Restaurant in the final seconds of this year's Tournament of Burgers.)
The competition for March 2015 will pit 64 South Sound restaurants that offer the ultimate comfort food - macaroni and cheese.
My goal is to report on a South Sound mac and cheese dish every week up to the tournament - to spread the cheesy word, ease into tournament research and, obviously, build hype. Today marks my 18th mac and cheese dish. Eighteen is also the number of pounds I have gained.
Following on the heels of Pacific Grill's Mexi Mac + Cheese, I present another South of the Border version — Masa's Mexi Mac Chimichanga Style ($11.99).
Masa's Mexi Mac Chimichanga Style registers a combination of nuclear engineering and stoner imagination. Spiced creamy cheese sauce, pico de gallo and seasoned beef or chicken arrives bubbling in a hot skillet. Oh, and macaroni. Which is to say there was macaroni, before Masa's fryer set to work breaking down molecular structures of each ingredient like a cheesy Chernobyl, melting them into a hot tub of awesomeness. At first crispy, then creamy with an explosion of spice, their semblance to a chimichanga may tempt you to bust out a Mexican Hat Dance. No one here will judge.
MASA, 11 a.m. to midnight Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, 2811 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.254.0560