Childhood favorites individually, mac 'n' cheese and tater tots combined add up to the perfect hangover combo or blue-day pick-me-up. When the urge for mac and tots strikes, we head to one of these three places:
Q Restaurant and Wine Bar: 225 Clement (at Third Ave.), 752-2298.
This is a place that knows the power of the mac and tot combo. Q's Macaroni and Cheezy with Tater Tots ($9.50) pairs them for you, one on top of the other. The creaminess of the cheese sauce with the crispiness of the tot is a mashup worthy of the cheesiest Valentine's Day date.
Craig R./Yelp
The Pub at Ghirardelli Square: 851 Beach (at Larkin), 351-0500.
The Pub's Buffalo Blue Mac 'n' Cheese ($11).
We've already noted the importance of the mac and tot on blue days, but The Pub makes it even bluer. The Buffalo Blue Mac 'n' Cheese ($11), with blue cheese and Buffalo wing sauce, simultaneously makes you remember why you love wings and forget that you're not actually eating chicken. Speaking of meatless, the Tommy Tots ($7) are extra crisp, tossed with a sweet and spicy sauce that makes you think of Hunan chicken. To make sure you stay in your Picasso-esque blue period, there's blue cheese on top.
Blue: 2337 Market (at 16th St.), 863-2583.
Sticking to the theme is Castro restaurant Blue, which serves standard tater tots ($4.99) that you can jazz up with chili cheese ($1.99). They also offer the Blue Bacon Mac and Cheese (12.99), but considering the neighborhood, we'd rather go flaming than blue. The Flaming Mac and Cheese ($10.29) is the mac daddy you want. Think spicy, served with chile peppers and tomato sauce.
