Life

The New Cheetos Restaurant Menu Just Made Your Childhood Fave Gourmet AF

by Eliza Castile

Ladies and gentlemen of New York, ready your wet wipes. A pop-up Cheetos restaurant will open in the Big Apple this August, so for three short days, you can snack on the kind of culinary mashups stoned teenagers have dreamed about for generations. Cheetos-dusted fried pickles? Check. Sweetos-crusted cheesecake? Check. Spicy Cheetos nachos? Check and mate. Mark my words: August 2017 will go down in history as the month that New York City experienced a napkin shortage on a scale never seen before.

The Spotted Cheetah, named after the snack brand's smooth mascot, is a collaboration between Cheetos and celebrity chef Anne Burrell, and it will be open on Aug. 15 to 17 at 211 W. Broadway. The menu is divided into three sections, which can be viewed on the restaurant's website. The "dangerously cheesy starters" include items like fried green tomatoes breaded with a White Cheddar Cheetos crust. The "big cheese" offers macaroni and cheese made with two types of Cheetos and chicken tacos topped with Flamin' Hot Cheetos, among other dishes. Finally, provided you haven't overdosed on cheese puffs yet, you can choose from three "sweet spot" desserts. Gaze upon the magnificent Sweetos Sweet and Salty Cookies below.

Or maybe you're more of a fried pickle person.

While you can usually snag a bag of Cheetos for a couple bucks, these ever-so-refined dishes come with a heftier price tag. According to a press release, the menu ranges from $8 to $22.

Apparently, the restaurant owes its existence to all the Cheetos-inspired recipes floating around online. "We've seen [fans'] love for Cheetos exhibited through innovative dishes, desserts and beverages, which motivated us to create a restaurant that would bring a full Cheetos culinary experience to life," said Frito-Lay's senior director of marketing in a press release.

In other words, we brought this on ourselves with bizarre concoctions like Cheetos-encrusted marshmallow treats and sushi. Thank you, Pinterest era, for bringing about cheese puff grilled cheese.

You already know whether tacos topped with cheese puffs are something on which you're willing to spend hard-earned cash, so celebrate or roll your eyes accordingly.

If you're interested, you can make a reservation via Open Table on the Spotted Cheetah's website.