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Mac & Walt’s
Burgers and beers. Whiskey and Bourbon. Chicken and Waffles. Shrimp and Grits. That's what you'll find at Mac & Walt's. This is a small but mighty neighborhood restaurant and bar where the 55 seats are filled up with regulars every night, because it's the kind of place the town of Norton, Massachusetts was waiting for, if you can find it.
Tony Canova: "So this spot in Norton is on Route 123, which is a pretty busy road but if you weren't paying attention, you would pass us pretty quickly. And I just felt there was kind of a need for a restaurant in this particular area right between Norton and Attleboro."
Tony Canova is the owner / operator. And he named Mac & Walt's after 2 of his children. So, kids can certainly enjoy a meal here, but just take a look at all the bourbon and whiskey barrels lined up along the walls, and you'll realize this place was really designed for adults to dine and drink.
Tony Canova: "So the vibe I wanted is when you first walked in, I wanted the room to be warm, inviting, but also I wanted the bar to pretty much dominate the space when you walked in. I am a fan of bourbons. I've been a fan of bourbon for years. So we carry over 40 different types of bourbon alone here. And if you include all the different types of whiskeys, we have over 100 types of whiskey. That's what you see behind the bar. You don't see any of the other liquor. It's here, but we're displaying the bourbons and whiskeys that we have."
Aside from all the booze, food is far from an afterthought at Mac & Walt's, offering a mix of comfort food and Southern-inspired favorites, all presented on mini sheet trays overloaded with flavor. There are soft-pretzels baked in small batches and served with a side of cheese-sauce infused with a locally-brewed ale. Sweet and spicy honey sriracha chicken wings. Hand-cut fries that are soaked with apple cider vinegar and twice cooked so they're crispy on the outside but soft in the center. Golden onion rings that are hand-battered and ready to dip into some buttermilk ranch dressing. There's a generous plate of chicken and waffles topped with whipped maple butter. And real Southern style shrimp and grits with taso ham and andoille sausage.
Tony Canova: "Shrimp and grits are an item that you don't really find around here, we use Gulf Shrimp and it's a spicy combination of flavors. The grits are creamy, there's a lot of butter and cheese on them. And we've also had quite a few customers from the South that have been in and they said we do a very good job of making shrimp and grits. It's a Southern comfort food so once you have it, you'll feel, it really fills you up, it's a greeat dish especially if you're really hungry."
It makes sense that a place named Mac & Walt's would offer some good mac & cheese, and they definitely don't disappoint. The Buffalo Chicken mac is made with fusilli pasta, a rich homemade cheese sauce, and chunks of Buffalo chicken along with blue cheese crumbles.
But for a mac & cheese experience unlike anything else you've ever tasted, behold the signature Back Got Mac Burger. Because instead of a traditional bread bun, this baby is sandwiched between 2 grilled macacaroni and cheese patties!
Tony Canova: "We start by making our own mac and cheese bun. And that's fusilli pasta that we mix with our cheese sauce, and Ritz crackers. We mix that together, kind of firm it up a little bit into patties. When one is ordered, we take it, we cook it on our flattop while we're cooking the burger. And that you're going to have your burger patty, the candied bacon, and we actually put the other mac and cheese bun on top of that. And the onion strings and the cheese sauce goes over everything. It's a messy burger. We call it a fork and knife burger. It gets a lot of 'wows.' It gets a lot of 'I can't believe that's a burger' every single person that's had it, loves it."
In fact, everybody loves ALL the burgers here, because they're always ground fresh, hand-pattied, and sourced with grass-fed beef from Maine Family Farms out of Portland, Maine. Although frankly, there is a somewhat mixed reaction to the burger known as the Hunka Burnin Love, topped with applewood smoked bacon, creamy peanut butter, and seared bananas.
Tony Canova: "The Hunk of Burnin' Love Burger, when we first ran that as a special, no other item that we've ever done because we post pretty much every day what we're going to run as a special, and no other item has got a reaction like that. From good to bad. That one, you will get mixed reviews on. Most people like it, but some thinks there's just a little too much going on."
At least the desserts are universally liked, whether it's the chocolate chip cookie sandwiches or the warm fudge brownie sundae. Order one of those babies, and maybe another sip of bourbon, and you'll be macking, Mac & Walt's style.
Tony Canova: "So that neighborhood bar, but something different, something unique that you're not just going to find a bunch of Mac & Walt's. The passion of serving good food, something that I would want to eat every day in my restaurants. It's important to me that my guests get the same experience."
