Fast-casual restaurant where cheese plays big role plans spring opening at Point Ruston

The signs for I Heart Mac and Cheese, a fast-casual restaurant chain where just about everything is served with lots of cheese, have been hanging at Point Ruston since last summer. The owners of the Tacoma franchise are hopeful it will finally open sometime this spring.

I Heart Mac and Cheese will replace South Sound Running shop, which closed in 2022.

Jay and Kaysser Lim initially signed an agreement with the Florida-based company that same year to bring three locations to Washington state. Lease negotiations with Point Ruston, amid its ongoing legal imbroglios, took months, said Kaysser Lim. They had just about given up when the Point Ruston agreed to accept a fast-casual concept for the space.

Permitting has also delayed construction, said Lim, but crews recently completed the demolition and were turning toward the build-out of the former retail space.

The couple plans to open two additional outposts in the region. They are focusing their search in Lacey, Federal Way, Gig Harbor and Bremerton.

First, though, they want to introduce the brand at Point Ruston.

“It has to be impactful to the area and the state because it’s the first,” said Lim in an interview this week.

CEO Steve Giordanella started the I Heart Mac and Cheese concept in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2016. By 2021, the brand was on track to open 75 new restaurants in 2022 across the country, but there are currently 19 locations operating in 10 states. The company has been embattled in recent years by franchisees alleging inflated sales figures and issues with product quality and prices, according to the trade magazine Restaurant Business.

Franchisees pay a $35,000 fee for their first store, and $25,000 for additional units, plus a percentage of annual sales, which is common in the franchise model.

The menu hinges, unsurprisingly, on mac and cheese. Beyond the classic cavatappi in cheese sauce, the flagship bowls offer other base options: tater tots, broccoli, cauliflower, gluten-free pasta or quinoa. You can choose a house option such as chicken-parmesan, buffalo bleu and short-rib Philly with muenster, or build-your-own with a base, cheese combo and add-ins.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are also on deck, including the “best of both worlds” with mac and cheese, short rib, two types of cheddar and barbecue sauce all between the bread. There’s also a Cuban-style sandwich and a build-your-own option. Pair with a cup of tomato soup.

There are a few vegan dishes, too.

The new restaurant will be the Lims’ first foray into a franchise but not their first in the industry. They have owned and operated Cham Garden Korean BBQ in Lakewood since 2018 and IC Poke at Lakewood Towne Center since 2022, updating the latter for a cozier, café-like vibe and adding modern fusion dishes like poke nachos and sushi burritos.

They were regulars at both places before buying them, said Lim and her sister Rayza Surigao, who assists with social media and marketing. In considering I Heart Mac and Cheese, they visited several locations in other states and decided it was “something that everybody would eat.”

I HEART MAC & CHEESE - TACOMA

▪ 5109 Grand Loop, Tacoma, iheartmacandcheese.com

▪ Details: fast-casual restaurant at Point Ruston, targeting late spring opening

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM.