Cheese is just as important as the brew selection at this Upper East Side spot, so unsurprisingly, the mac and cheese is impressive. Instead of a familiar-for-the-genre choice like cheddar or jack, Earl’s opts for goat cheese with rosemary. The effect is herbaceous and quite creamy.

The mac and cheese at this popular Upper West Side brunch spot is a standout. Choose from a generous, shareable side portion or an entree version, both stuffed with four varieties of cheese — aged NY State cheddar, Pecorino-Romano, American, and mozzarella. The meal-sized version gets brûléed, making for a crunchy-on-top, molten-below finish, and is topped with creamy mushroom sauce as a final flourish.

Popular Astoria brunch joint Queens Comfort has all kinds of rich — and effectively hangover-soothing — dishes on offer, considering the focus is comfort fare. Its mac and cheese comes either with bacon and scallions, blended with bechamel, cheddar, and fontina cheeses (pictured here), while the truffle mushroom version contains bechamel, fontina, and cheddar. Or, opt for deep-fried orbs of the stuff, called “atomic fire balls” and served alongside ranch and sriracha.

This Seattle import’s deft touch with aged dairy is on display in its mac and cheese, with a sharp yet creamy mix of a cheddar-Gruyere mix, Jack, and some cream for good measure. Most unusual is its choice of noodle: penne, which makes for a toothsome experience. While it doesn’t need any accessorizing, optional add-ons include pork belly; crab, Old Bay aioli, and bread crumbs; or balsamic mushrooms and fennel. It’s offered downstairs in the Cellar restaurant portion, as well as for takeaway by the cup upstairs in the Cafe.

At this spacious West Village restaurant, the mac and cheese contains a whopping five cheeses: Knockanore smoked Irish cheddar, gruyere, cheddar, gouda, and parmesan. The result is a take on the dish that’s equal parts creamy and smoky.

West Village cheese institution opened this offshoot dedicated to mac and cheese in February 2019. Executive chef David Elkins, an alum of Per Se and the NoMad Hotel, made several varieties beyond the traditional variety including one with buffalo chicken and a bacon-studded take on French onion soup, with gruyere and raclette cheeses. But the plain original version is exemplary, too, constructed with a four-cheese blend and topped with seasoned bread crumbs. Custom orders are also an option.

This popular, low-key purveyor of Southern fare serves up long, ringlet-like macaroni, pleasantly congealed with cheese and adorned with crispy, browned crust. Bobwhite’s version is also available at both Urbanspace food halls in Midtown East.

Takeout is the move at this pint-sized Soho spot opened in 2009 by the team behind Delicatessen next door and Cafeteria in Chelsea. It’s devoted completely to mac and cheese, and the dozen options include the carbonara, with pancetta, peas, and parmigiano or the mac ’shroom, with roasted mushrooms, fontina, mascarpone, and truffle oil. Order the large size to nab one of the reusable elbow noodle-shaped yellow plastic dishes.

To experience the classic dish in a creative format, head to Shopsin’s, the eccentric luncheonette-type spot with a dizzyingly massive menu of quirky creations. Originally in the West Village for years before it relocated to a tinier space in Essex Street Market on the Lowe East Side, the menu’s beloved oddities remain, like mac and cheese pancakes. Fans of a particularly crispy, crunchy crust to balance out gooey elbow noodles will dig the large expanse of these pancakes’s griddled, crunchy bottoms.

The Williamsburg burger-centric spot (unaffiliated with DuMont proper since 2014) does more than patties. Its mac and cheese, dubbed “DuMac and cheese,” is a traditional version, made with Gruyere, sharp white cheddar, and cream, topped with breadcrumbs for a pleasant crunch.

The gloriously gloppy dish is the star of the show at this Clinton Hill spot. The extra-cheesy pans of mac and cheese are served straight from the oven in the tins they’re baked in and come in both traditional and tricked-out versions, packed with things like lobster or pesto chicken. Mac Shack takes its commitment to the comfort food a step further with unusual formats stuffed with the wriggly, long noodles, like its macwich, pictured here. There’s an outpost in Jamaica, too.