Pittsburgh Today Live visits Mac’s for Diner Week show
BUTLER TWP — A mouthwatering presentation of the new sunrise burger adorned with homemade apricot bacon jam and a side of waffle fries at Mac’s Route 8 Cafe got a close up Friday.
The restaurant and some of its most popular breakfast and lunch dishes are getting a moment in the spotlight during CBS Pittsburgh affiliate KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live’s Diner Week series next week.
Pittsburgh Today Live reporter Daisy Jade and videographer Jeff Roupe went to Mac’s Friday to film a show about the restaurant’s cuisine and history, and talk to loyal customers.
Mac’s owner Ryan McKivigan said the show producers called him last week and said they were doing a story on the Butler AM Rotary Club’s Carved in Ice festival in Butler in the morning and wanted to come to the restaurant afterward for a Diner Week feature.
Pittsburgh Live Today visits restaurants throughout Western Pennsylvania for the annual Diner Week, which airs Feb. 24-28.
“They picked us for the Butler part of it,” McKivigan said.
Jade, one of four Pittsburgh Today Live reporters, said Diner Week is among the show’s most popular programs.
Viewers suggest restaurants for the show and often visit the restaurants after the shows air providing a “boost” to the restaurants, Jade said.
“Diner Week is probably our most popular week of the show,” Jade said.
The feature on Mac’s is airing Wednesday, Feb. 26.
“We just highlight their best dishes, learn a little bit about the history,” said Jade, who samples some of the dishes. “It’s one of my favorite times of the year.”
She said restaurant owners are accommodating and tell her they get customers who tell them they learned about the restaurant from the show.
McKivigan said the restaurant, which as 12 employees, opened in 2012 after his late father David McKivigan built it as a bridal shop for his late wife Anna Marie to run adjacent to his tire shop, Butler Tires for Less.
Restaurant manager Mary Fleeger, who has 40 years of experience in the restaurant industry, told the TV crew about the dishes without revealing the secret ingredients that make the meals tasty.
Some of the dishes are new such as the sunrise burger and bourbon-glazed rodeo burger and some are traditional favorites like the Mac’s melt.
