mac and cheese john's city diner — Must try mac and cheese. (John’s City Diner / Facebook)

The Tasting Table, a well-known modern food media site, just announced the best mac & cheese in each state. Local Birmingham restaurant, John’s City Diner, has won it for the state of Alabama and we aren’t surprised. Continue reading to find out how they came up with this all-time mac and cheese recipe.

The history behind John’s City Diner and their mac & cheese

Curious about how this diner perfected this cheesy dish? Owner of John’s City Diner, Shannon Gober, shared the detailed process of creating their beloved mac and cheese recipe.

“The orginal recipe was devloped almost 20 years ago. When we started the process, we made 20 different recipes. By day two, we had ten. On day three, we trimmed it down to five and finally, on day four, we chose our winner. So, for the last 19 years we have used that original recipe—same noodles, sauce, same everything”
Shannon Gober, Owner, John’s City Diner

Try it for yourself

Fast forward 19 years later and you have three delicious and original mac and cheese recipes. Alongside the original “Not Your Mama’s Mac & Cheese”, the most popular is the “Three Pigs,” which is topped with prosciutto, bacon, pulled pork and crispy onion rings. They also serve a vegetarian version called “Tree Hugger” with peppers, spinach, mushrooms and feta.