Roni’s Mac Bar, restaurant known for social media videos, opens Cape Girardeau franchise

After several months of planning, a restaurant well known for its social media following is ready for business in downtown Cape Girardeau. Roni’s Mac Bar opened with a soft launch Feb. 21 at 716 Broadway. Its official grand opening is Saturday, March 1. The restaurant serves custom mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwich orders.

“Even the grilled cheese sandwiches can have mac and cheese on them, can have different toppings on them. They can be completely customized,” co-owner and general manager Grace Keen said.

Keen and her husband, Drew, had been looking to start a business and discovered Roni’s Mac Bar on TikTok. The company has more than 1.9 million followers among TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Social media posts feature workers creating mac and cheese bowls while describing unusual customer scenarios and creative orders. Keen contacted the founders, husband-and-wife Frank and Mary Senese, who visited Cape Girardeau to scout locations in late 2023.

The Seneses opened the first Roni’s Mac Bar location in 2022 near the Baylor University campus in Waco, Texas. Since then, the business has grown to seven locations. In addition to the Cape Girardeau restaurant, other locations include Albuquerque, New Mexico; Provo, Utah; and four in central Texas. Most are close to college campuses.

“That is Roni’s demographic through and through, reaching the college students. We’ve found that, especially during lunchtime, we’re reaching a lot of families, too. Being close to the university is important to us,” Keen said.

Construction and conflict

​A Southeast Missouri State University alumna, Keen is familiar with the downtown area. She owned a clothing store, Peachy Keen Boutique, a few blocks away, but closed it to focus full time on running Roni’s.

“I just love being part of downtown Cape as a consumer and a business owner,” she said.

She and her husband had their hearts set on 716 Broadway, a former tattoo parlor, but it needed plenty of renovation to convert it into a restaurant.

“Lots of construction, lots of reconstruction. The brick was borderline falling on itself. This building probably would have eventually caved in,” Keen said.

At some 2,000 square feet, it is almost three times the size of the original Roni’s Mac Bar in Waco. It will also be the first franchise with a drive-thru.

This has led to some controversy among neighboring property owners. In November, four limited liability companies filed a lawsuit against the City of Cape Girardeau, the Keens’ ownership group and their contractor regarding the city issuing a special-use permit to covert an adjacent alleyway into the Roni’s Mac Bar drive-thru.

Athena Property Group LLC, APG Limited LLC, Shiloh LLC and Remedy Capital LLC said the city violated procedures by granting the permit and restricting access to the alleyway.

The lawsuit moved to federal court in December, though a hearing has not been scheduled. Keen’s group and their contractors sought to dismiss it earlier in February. The city also stated the plaintiffs had not been deprived of due process and that the city’s actions in granting the permit did not deprive them of economically viable or beneficial use.

Keen said the company is working on a solution that works for all parties involved. Her group plans to host a separate grand opening for the drive-thru in April, when it should be fully operational.

All in the family

​Running Roni’s is a family endeavor. Keen’s co-owners are her husband, Drew Keen, her father-in-law, Randy Keen, and his wife, Cindy Keen, and her brother-in-law, Kyle Chipman, and his wife, Brooke Chipman.

“They’re all super willing to jump in, help wherever is needed. It’s super nice having that support,” Keen said.

The Keens and Chipmans employ three assistant managers, plus prep cooks and “mac experts”. Keen praised her team’s urgency and commitment during a frenetic first week.

“I’m running a way larger team than what I’m used to, but I’m really excited about it because all of our team has been thrown into the fire with this soft opening that has been far from soft,” she said.

Keen said the restaurant is designed to be simple and cost-effective. Customers order via touchscreen kiosks to create their meals.

Roni’s Mac Bar is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.