Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

H Brothers feeds a mac obsession

Comfort food made in earnest in downtown Escondido

Made from scratch macaroni and cheese, with basil, bread crumbs, and cheese curds
Made from scratch macaroni and cheese, with basil, bread crumbs, and cheese curds

Macaroni. I’m not talkin about the feather stuck in Yankee Doodle’s cap, but the cheesy pasta dish. The one that’s somehow both originally Italian and OG American. The one that, when I see it on a menu, takes superhero force of will not to order. And I’m no hero. There it is, on the table in front of me, every time. I hope it’s good, but even if it’s mediocre I will scarf it down.

Place

H Brothers

212 E Grand Ave, Escondido

But this time I’m in luck, because the mac and cheese is fantastic. The place is H Brothers, so-called because the brothers in question figured Hedayati would be tough for people to remember. The gastropub opened a couple years ago in Escondido’s little downtown district along Grand Avenue, which we might call up and coming if it weren’t already called historic. Equipped with a patio, stylish dining room, and an artistically repurposed upright piano, the place serves local libations alongside a menu that checks a lot of comfort food boxes: burgers, smoked brisket, and pulled pork.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comfort foods galore: brisket, dirty rice, country poutine, and mac

And that made-from-scratch mac and cheese, an $8.49 serving boasting cheddar, provolone, basil, and bread crumbs. But the first step of its success is a creamy béchamel base, ensuring every millimeter of elbow pasta wears a cheesy coat. Finding this sort of silky smooth mac experience is exactly the reason I keep ordering it everywhere I go.

Brown gravy and cheese curds make these fries French-Canadian.

There’s a second secret weapon at work here as well, and that’s Wisconsin cheese curds, which mostly melt into the dish, but offer the occasional added glob of gooey goodness. Their presence reflect another specialty of the house: poutine. The H Brothers have a bit of French Canadian heritage, so they serve a pair of poutines. One of them smothers a pile of French fries and cheese curds with a white, flour-based country gravy, plus fried chicken nuggets to round out the Southern-styled poutine.

A piano art piece and tin ceiling tiles add style to this Escondido gastropub.

It's good, but better is the Quebecois faithful original, which simply covers fries and goopey cheese curds with a cornstarch and beef stock brown gravy. Like the mac, it’s a simple dish, all cheese, sauce, and starch. This one happens to be gluten-free, but I assume that’s just a coincidence, because it’s just as rich and comforting.

Not everything on the crowd-pleasing menu is so heavy: there are salads and wraps to go with the sandwiches, smoked meats, and daily specials. Not everything is as great as the mac, but these brothers seem earnest about their from-scratch recipes, and where they get their ingredients (often locally). They even make their own Memphis- and Carolina-style BBQ sauces, and I wound up alternating between both while enjoying the brisket; not because the beef needed it, but because I couldn’t figure out which I liked better.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will Trump’s Baja resort be built after all?

Long-stalled development sparks art exhibit, gets new life
Made from scratch macaroni and cheese, with basil, bread crumbs, and cheese curds
Made from scratch macaroni and cheese, with basil, bread crumbs, and cheese curds

Macaroni. I’m not talkin about the feather stuck in Yankee Doodle’s cap, but the cheesy pasta dish. The one that’s somehow both originally Italian and OG American. The one that, when I see it on a menu, takes superhero force of will not to order. And I’m no hero. There it is, on the table in front of me, every time. I hope it’s good, but even if it’s mediocre I will scarf it down.

Place

H Brothers

212 E Grand Ave, Escondido

But this time I’m in luck, because the mac and cheese is fantastic. The place is H Brothers, so-called because the brothers in question figured Hedayati would be tough for people to remember. The gastropub opened a couple years ago in Escondido’s little downtown district along Grand Avenue, which we might call up and coming if it weren’t already called historic. Equipped with a patio, stylish dining room, and an artistically repurposed upright piano, the place serves local libations alongside a menu that checks a lot of comfort food boxes: burgers, smoked brisket, and pulled pork.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comfort foods galore: brisket, dirty rice, country poutine, and mac

And that made-from-scratch mac and cheese, an $8.49 serving boasting cheddar, provolone, basil, and bread crumbs. But the first step of its success is a creamy béchamel base, ensuring every millimeter of elbow pasta wears a cheesy coat. Finding this sort of silky smooth mac experience is exactly the reason I keep ordering it everywhere I go.

Brown gravy and cheese curds make these fries French-Canadian.

There’s a second secret weapon at work here as well, and that’s Wisconsin cheese curds, which mostly melt into the dish, but offer the occasional added glob of gooey goodness. Their presence reflect another specialty of the house: poutine. The H Brothers have a bit of French Canadian heritage, so they serve a pair of poutines. One of them smothers a pile of French fries and cheese curds with a white, flour-based country gravy, plus fried chicken nuggets to round out the Southern-styled poutine.

A piano art piece and tin ceiling tiles add style to this Escondido gastropub.

It's good, but better is the Quebecois faithful original, which simply covers fries and goopey cheese curds with a cornstarch and beef stock brown gravy. Like the mac, it’s a simple dish, all cheese, sauce, and starch. This one happens to be gluten-free, but I assume that’s just a coincidence, because it’s just as rich and comforting.

Not everything on the crowd-pleasing menu is so heavy: there are salads and wraps to go with the sandwiches, smoked meats, and daily specials. Not everything is as great as the mac, but these brothers seem earnest about their from-scratch recipes, and where they get their ingredients (often locally). They even make their own Memphis- and Carolina-style BBQ sauces, and I wound up alternating between both while enjoying the brisket; not because the beef needed it, but because I couldn’t figure out which I liked better.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Holiday Market At Petco Park, Will Smith’s Dance in the Darkness Tour, Light Shows, Snowfall, Caroling

Events December 12-December 13, 2024
Next Article

The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader