date: 11/3/07
research on this was harder than fryquest, as the one article that seemed to be about this topic was done a few years ago and is not readily available in newspaper archives. this one was gathered from what papers said about places, blogs, and asking around, plus once more... personal opinion, i put together a list of place that seemed likely candidates to have the best grilled cheese.
some things originally compiled were left off this list, though only once from previous disappointment. i did try some candidates beforehand and was not impressed (example- chatterbox pub, with the misnamed 'perfect grilled cheese'), so those didn't make it on the list. some places stopped serving them (example- harvey's), some closed between the beginning of the search and when we ended up going (example- a rebours). one we went to and had them refused to make them for us (more on that later). i had a good idea of what may pull ahead, but didn't have a clear winner choice. this one was more open, and more room for failure. (you'll see in the notes.)
the grades are for the grilled cheese alone (unless otherwise mentioned)- not the service, fries, or anything else. the cost listed is for the sandwich and whatever came with it, not beverages and such.
what will be next? maybe cheese plates. maybe nothing. next time, let's pick a day with no sporting events, no major road closings, and such. at least we had nice weather.
- blondie's cafe
- highland grill
- french meadow bakery and cafe
- annie's parlour
- convention grill
- wazayta eatery and wine bar
- vincent a restaurant (surprise!)
restaurant: blondie's cafe
location: st. paul
composition: two slices of multigrain bread (traditional square kind) with cheddar, slices of granny smith apple (green), and carmelized onions
notes:
- the add-ins make the sandwich, we all like the addition of apples and onions.
- pretty good overall flavor, a nice combination.
- a bit of a sandwich integrity problem (falls apart easily).
- didn't have the melt factor- the cheese was a bit too cold.
cost (this time with tax, as it comes in the cost): $7.25
accompaniments: chips, we chose parmesan garlic (very nice), not that many of them
comments: counter service, cute little place
grade: b
restaurant: highland grill
location: st. paul
composition: two slices of sourdough (about an average slice of bread) with cheddar and cotswold cheeses, plus homemade chutney.
notes:
- the chutney made the sandwich taste good.
- cheddar cheese not evenly distributed 3in sandwich some quarters of sandwich got none of it, nor was there quite enough cheese for the whole sandwich, seemed kind of skimpy in the cheese area.
- a very solid effort with a good melt factor.
cost (pre tax and tip): $7.95
accompaniments: fries or slaw on the side. when we chose fries (naturally), server recommended we get the fries crispy as they taste better. they're ok fries.
comments: very good service here. and i'm not just saying that as the server may read this. and we love the towels they use for napkins.
grade: b
restaurant:french meadow bakery and cafe
location: minneapolis
composition: two slices of large piece of organic sourdough (about 1.5 or more sizes of average slice of square bread), with cheddar and swiss with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and dijon mustard
notes:
- best bread of anyplace. really, really, good bread.
- bottom piece of bread a bit smushy, so the integrity was compromised a bit.
- very melty.
- could've used a touch more cheese and maybe a hint more dijon (hard to taste it).
- counter service.
- just right on the grease level- not too much, not too little.
cost (pre tax and tip): $6.99
accompaniments: can get tortilla chips with a house-made salsa or organixc mixed greens. the salsa was 'amazing,' from more than one opinion.
comments: the very excellent bread totally made this sandwich. it catapulted this place into a tie for the highest grade. considering what we had to say about it, it seems surprising, no? but we all agreed on the grade. it was the flavor of the sandwich, the best of the lot. they meshed well, yet stayed distinct and added up to way more than the sum of the parts. i'd say if you like your grilled cheese sandwich on the adventurous side of things, go here. but if tomatoes are not in season, get it without sad tomatoes, and get it at lunch (it costs more at dinner, when they do table service). this is my 'go to' grilled cheese, they are pretty consistent with the quality of it. (unlike the more traditional winner.). i'd say if you'd either up the cheddar or add american (they wouldn't do that here, the american) and remove the other stuff, this is the sandwich of your childhood.
grade: a-
restaurant: annie's parlour
location: minneapolis
composition: three slices of whole wheat with musenster, smoky sharp cheddar, and american cheeses
notes:
- this comes closest to the platonic ideal of 'grilled cheese,' despite the extra layer. nothing fancy, that is, like what you had in childhood. very textbook.
- the american cheese holds the thing together in the right way, very cheese and melty and gooey.
- cooked/toasted perfectly, including middle slice.
- just greasy enough.
- we got the regular version, the deluxe has bacon and tomato on it, i think.
- it comes with nothing. we ordered a choclate banana malt (makes a change from fries/chips, no?)- it was very tasty and used real bananas. the fries here are usually good, by the way.
cost (pre tax and tip): $6.95
accompaniments: comes with none.
comments: we really should've checked to see if it was homecoming weekend, as getting here was madhouse and it was pretty packed mid-afternoon. the water tasted of detergent from the glasses. not happy with that. we discussed what kept it from an a, and couldn't come up with an answer at the time, but the more i thought about it the more i'd wager that it's not the two layers that keeps it from duplicating your childhood grilled cheese memory, it's the bread. the fact that it's not white. i think if you got it on white, and they do it the same, it would have won. and i will say it's the choice for the non-adventurous grilled cheese person, but i will caution you that the quality here is uneven (i'd guess there's students working the kitchen a lot, and they come and go). i've had great ones like this, i've also been disappointed here (non-melted cheese, not toasted bread). so don't say i didn't warn you if that happens to you.
grade: a-
restaurant: convention grill
location: edina
composition: three slices of whole wheat (tradtional square) with musenster, smoky sharp cheddar, and american cheeses (the same as annie's parlour, actually)
notes:
- close to annie's, but not quite. annie's had more cheese, so that upped the melt factor a lot and topped this one.
- the slice of bread in the middle was also toasted on one side, that may have also been a factor. it made it seemed a bit... soggy, though it was not very greasy.
- cheese distribution was not even.
- fries are extra ($2.25), they're decent.
cost (pre tax and tip): $5.95
accompaniments: none
comments: more detergent water glasses. sigh. anyway, this places has been here since 1934, and it's a neighborhood tradition, and the servers here still dress very old-school in nurse-like uniforms with pantyhose and such. very classic diner. it was here we decided we really quite liked the three layers of bread/two cheese, but it turns out all three slices have to be toasted on all sides and the cheese must be all melted.
grade: b+
restaurant: wayzata eatery and bar.
location: wayzata
composition: parmesan-encrusted vienna bread with machego, cheddar, and jarlsberg
notes:
- none- see comments
cost (pre tax and tip): $9 (per their web site)
accompaniments: fries. slaw, or specialty salad
comments: this is the place that would not serve us a grilled cheese sandwich, as it was past the lunch hour. fine, ok, but (a) it's not that hard to make even if it isn't and (b) they were mega-snotty about it. and clueless in general. seriously, i really hate going into a place that's mostly empty and being told there's no tables. any smart place will hold a few for walk-ins. they didn't even offer to put us on a waiting list. the 'tude level is, well, what you'd expect from wayzata (and apparently this is not an isolated incident, so soon the 'tude level may eventually be so high as to not allow you in without, say, flashing your american express black card or some such). and if you have someone handling orders at a bar, should they not know something as simple if there's champagne on your wine list? they didn't. we didn't stay, and i would so not return here. i have enough brk going to someplace that i don't need to start with pure snottiness. (my brief notes include the words snottyass and whiny.)
grade: f
restaurant: vincent a restaurant
location: minneapolis
composition: not quite a grilled cheese, but a croque-monsieur. two slices of white bread (square) with swiss and ham (not on my half) with mornay sauce.
notes:
- an interesting french twist on the proceedings.
- decent melt factor.
- much better with the ham on it.
- does this count because it's baked and not grilled?
- best accompanyment of them all.
cost (pre tax and tip): $10.50
accompaniments: fries or salad... and guess what we got?
comments: we ended up here after trying a few places as at the end, we wanted a celebratory kir royale (a la fryquest) and this was one of two places that i could be sure had it, as this is where we had it here before (and i've had it here since, and before that, etc.). a nice way to cap things off, as here the service kicks ass- this was the only place that served it on multiple plates (well, by this stop there were only two of us so that's probably a factor), and gave us each huge piles of tasty fries. and they also brought out their very good bread and butter (bread is not served in a flowerpot anymore, by the way, but a wire basket). and yes, the kir royales. a bit spendy, you may want to get it at lunch on the two course prix-fixe.
grade: b (for the sandwich, a for everything else)
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