Why isn’t macaroni and cheese a bigger thing? Why is it given short shrift as some inconsequential side dish, some afterthought, when it’s often the best thing on the table?

Don’t even get me started on Thanksgiving dinner. If there’s not a big dish of mac and cheese as part of your holiday feast, you need to reevaluate your hosting skills.

Well, thank God some people get it. And some of those people have organized a mac and cheese festival in Chilltown.

For the first time in Jersey City, there’s going to be a mac and cheese festival, which amounts to a macaroni crawl at participating restaurants. It’s been done before in Hoboken, and very successfully, I should add.

Now, The Lokel Group has organized one for Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

”We know that Jersey City has an incredible food scene with a variety of great restaurants and great small business owners that we want to showcase,” NJ.com was told by Adam Smith of the Lokel Group. “We saw massive success in Hoboken, so we wanted to spread the love and engage with the people of Jersey City.”

Tickets are $35, and the stops include The Ashford, Better Days Eatery & Bar, Boots & Bones, Canopy, Hamilton Pork, Healy’s, Hudson Hall, Hudson Hound, O’Haras, South House, and Tony Boloney’s.

Each place will have its unique offering. For instance, you're thinking, doesn't Tony Baloney serve pizza? Right, and the mac 'n cheese will be a topping.

Hit all of those, and you’ll be loaded up enough on comfort food to get through the anxiety of Election Day, three days later.

Not only will your ticket get you samples of mac and cheese from all over Jersey City, but you’ll also get a 10% discount at the marijuana dispensary downtown, FLWR.

Just imagine the mac n cheese damage you could do if you used that discount before hitting the restaurants.

Get your tickets online here for the Jersey City Mac & Cheese Festival and show up hungry.

New and classic favorites: The best dive bars in New Jersey

The term "dive bar" used to be something derogatory. Nowadays it's more of a badge of honor to say to own one, go to one, or work at one.

We started in South Jersey, stopped A LOT in Central Jersey and ended in North Jersey. We left out the Jersey Shore bar because there are just too many to choose from. If your favorite isn't on the list, don't be offended, just tell us about it. Here we go...

Gallery Credit: Dennis Malloy

LOOK: Grilling Mistakes That Send Millions To The Hospital

From gas explosions to internal bodily damage, these are common mistakes many make with their grills that may send you to the hospital.

Gallery Credit: Mike Brant

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

Report a correction 👈

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM