As the CapMac food truck made its final stop to the GW campus on Thursday, the owners pledged that the famous Cheez-it crusted macaroni and cheese would come back to the District.
CapMac co-owners Brian Arnoff and Vicky Harris have looked into storefronts in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area – and specifically around GW’s neighborhood – but have not yet pinned down a location.
“I’m sure you’ll see mac and cheese from us in the future. I don’t know if it’ll be a full-blown mac and cheese restaurant or just on a menu somewhere,” Arnoff told The Hatchet near the end of the truck’s final trip to H Street.
Students started lining up at 10:30 a.m. to get their last bites of Chicken Parm Meatballs and the Classic. By 1 p.m., the owners had to cut off the line, which stretched to Kogan Plaza and took an hour to get through the last customers.
“I’m glad it was so busy so we didn’t have to reflect and get all sad. If I see one student crying, I’m going to lose it,” Harris said, adding that there was “very aggressive ordering today and I know no one went to class.”
The macaroni truck could also make its way back to campus after the owners sell it, Arnoff said.
Harris said the duo has seen the food truck scene grow right before their eyes, as they’ve gathered a fan base and a following.
“I’ve been talking students off a ledge. They’ve been texting me at 12:00 in the morning, ‘Tell me it’s not true!’ ‘Tell me you’re lying!’ ‘This isn’t fair!’” Harris said. “We’ve had a relationship with GW that no other truck has had with any other university in Washington.”
The truck featured a CapMac Wall of Fame with pictures of dozens of loyal customers who have “religiously” ordered mac n’ cheese on Thursdays. The truck has came to GW every Thursday since its launch in 2010, Arnoff said. It’s also had GW students as social media interns.
Now, the pair is getting out of the food truck world to try to stretch their creativity, Harris said.
“A lot of trucks don’t get to leave on their own terms. They get pushed out or forced out and in the culinary school, they say, ‘ Change your job every three or four years’ because you’ll burn out,’” she said. “We didn’t want to just be stagnant we want to try something different.”
Arnoff, whose brother and mother are alumni, said he “always sort of felt a personal connection. It’s been a good run.”
But how will Arnoff spend his first week off from serving up macaroni in three years?
“To be honest, I’m getting a puppy on Saturday, and so I’m planning on spending a few days with my puppy. And then I’ve got to eventually get back to work though,” Arnoff said.
