Just to Be There: Macado’s

While chains have steadily been creeping in, Blacksburg has lots of local shops and restaurants. Macado’s quickly became the clear choice for dinner. I knew this restaurant would have something for everyone and would be reasonably priced.

I’ve been to several restaurants in the Macado’s chain before. They’re a semi-local group of restaurants that is a few decades old. Most of the restaurants are in my home state of Virginia, but West Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee also have them. This one was in Blacksburg, Virginia.

About Macado’s

Macado’s is known for their extremely extensive menu of sandwiches. Seriously, it is extensive. There about 60 sandwiches, including 5 grilled cheeses, 3 Reubens, and 6 wraps. There are several vegetarian options, including a grilled portabella sandwich (the Dirty Harry).

Macado’s does have a kids’ menu that features the standard fare of chicken fingers, pasta, and hot dogs. The only surprise there is the BLT! My kids wanted something from “the big menu,” though.

It was easy to find what I wanted, but honestly, my kids really were overwhelmed by the choices. We discovered that going in with an idea of what you’d like gives you a good head start. After determining what meat each child wanted, we went from there.

There are also burgers, soups, salads, and a handful of entrees (mostly pasta) on the menu.

You can find the whole Macado’s menu here. (There’s a PDF menu at the very bottom of the page.)

Our Order

We shared an order of the Black Bean Con Queso appetizer and ordered one Mona Lisa, one Speakeasy, and two grilled cheese sandwiches. We also ordered 2 jumbo cinnamon rolls for the next morning’s breakfast. They were as big as our hands, so we figured splitting them would be reasonable.

The Mona Lisa is essentially an Italian sub: salami, ham, provolone, pepperoni, balsamic vinaigrette, lettuce, tomato, onion, and banana peppers on French bread. The Speakeasy is a large croissant with American cheese, bacon, and tomato. Both are served hot.

We were able to choose the cheese for our grilled cheese, but even with a list of possibilities, both chose plain ol’ American cheese on white bread.

We made a couple modifications to the Mona Lisa and those mods came through correctly, as did the rest of our order.

The Verdict

The food was delicious! Everyone liked the Black Bean Con Queso appetizer. Even though it didn’t look spectacular when we opened it, it was the overall favorite. Never judge a food by its to-go packaging!

The sandwiches were all tasty, too. The Mona Lisa was too large to finish in one sitting, so we saved half for the next day and it was also good chilled. The Speakeasy and grilled cheese sandwiches were appropriately sized, so they were all gobbled up for dinner!

All of the sandwiches came with chips and a dill pickle that was packed in its own little sleeve. I love pickles, but understand the “contamination” risk. We were able to substitute fruit salad for the chips at no additional cost and were pleased to find it was freshly chopped pineapple, cantaloupe, and honeydew.

For the appetizer, four sandwiches, and two cinnamon rolls, our bill barely topped $40.00! This was definitely an affordable family meal.

Those cinnamon rolls did not make it until the next morning, though…

Plan Your Visit

Macado’s
922 University City Boulevard
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
website