Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
The four-patty Captain burger, arguably the king of the local smashburgers
Get ye Captain burgers in Dogtown while ye still can.
Chris “Mac” McKenzie rocked the local burger world when he announced late last month that he’d be closing Mac's Local Eats, his unconventional walk-up window inside Tamm Avenue Bar, on August 31.
Today, SLM has learned that the closing timetable has been moved ahead to August 25.
Mac's Local Buys, McKenzie's specialty grocery store adjacent to the bar, closed on August 11. Both endeavors will ramp back up next month in a new location, inside Bluewood Brewing, at 1821 Cherokee Street (the former location housing the Corner Gates, Table, and The Stable prior to that).
Bluewood opened its first brick-and-mortar location softly and sporadically earlier this year. The brewery is currently working on a larger brewhouse installation, which is expected to debut later this year. In the meantime, a grand opening for both Mac's Local Eats and Bluewood Brewing is being planned for early September in conjunction with permanent hours and the opening of Bluewood's "covered but open patio that oozes character," according to McKenzie.
The new location will serve a similar but expanded menu as the original Mac's, including smashed burgers (such as the illustrious Captain that SLM chronicled earlier), made with high-quality local beef and the famous Rip Fries, dusted in Red Hot Riplets seasoning. Increased kitchen space and a larger exhaust hood will allow for new items, such as beef kabobs made from dry-aged tenderloin and chicken tenders for the kids.
McKenzie acknowledges that the restrictive "hole-in-the-wall" layout at Tamm made for an "uncomfortable guest experience." Not so at Bluewood, he says, where "there's better flow, more space all around, and great beer. Everybody benefits."
