Even though there was a point in my life where I thought I was lactose intolerant, that never stopped me from putting cheese on almost everything I eat. As I’ve said before, as much as I love cheese, I really only love the basic cheeses and none of those weird fancy cheeses like munster or gouda. Put a slice of American Cheese (Product) or a helping of Merkts Cheddar on anything and there’s a good chance I’ll at least try it. Mozzarella and Provolone are up there as well, but if I could make a pizza with just Merkts Cheddar instead of mozzarella, I may just die from pure taste bud overload.
Seriously, Merkts Cheddar is the stuff of gods. I imagine that the reason it’s so good because the cows are fed nothing but a combination of bacon and already finished Merkts Cheddar for months ahead of slowly being milked into a golden bucket, which is then hand processed by oompa loompas into the wonderful delicacy that it is. No one knows how the first batch was made, as the cows would not have been able to eat Merkts Cheddar in order to produce Merkts Cheddar, so the only explaination is… aliens.
But enough with the Merkts Cheddar stroke fest, this article is about grilled cheese sandwiches, and specifically Cheesie’s Pub & Grub, a speciality grilled cheese restaurant in Chicago (with a newer location in Evanston). We’ve actually been to both locations, and while the food is pretty much the same, the atmosphere is a bit different between the two… or at least it seemed like it after going to the Evanston location. But that could have just been because it was a Wednesday night, and it was Friday when we went to the Chicago location.
I’ve gotten the same grilled cheese sandwich the two times we’ve gone and it’s been absolutely amazing. “The Mac”, as it’s called, is a combination of american cheese, Merkts Cheddar (of course), and homemade macaroni and cheese, all sandwiched between two giant pieces of texas toast. I believe my wife got “The Frenchie” this time, which is American Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Thick Cut French Fries, Bacon and Chives on Sour Dough bread, which she also enjoyed. The only thing I can see people complaining about is the price. Sandwiches range from $6.50 all the way up to $8… yes, $8 for a grilled cheese sandwich. But it’s not just a grilled cheese sandwich; these aren’t the grilled cheese sandwiches your mom used to make, these are manly grilled cheese sandwiches… these are the Ron Swanson of grilled cheese sandwiches (for all you Parks & Rec fans). These are the grilled cheese sandwiches that Vin Diesel and The Rock would have to split because they couldn’t handle all the cheesy goodness.
And yes, you probably could make the same grilled cheese sandwich at home, using similar ingredients, and have it cost less than $8, but why would you want to do all that work when you can just go to the restaurant and order one… Or hell, just have it delivered to your house!
I know there are other speciality grilled cheese places popping up all over, but I’ll always remember Cheesie’s as my first.
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