Cheese Glorious Cheese!
I am absolutely in love with cheese! It’s one of my favorite foods and I believe that it goes with everything! So, I was very excited to attend Time Out Chicago’s 2017 Grilled Cheese Meltdown event. The competition was held at Thalia Hall located in Chicago’s Pilsen Neighborhood. The venue was beautiful and I was dying to know the history behind the building (I’ll save my discoveries for a future post).
Participating restaurants:
Cheesie’s The Tenderizer
Cheesie’s Pub & Grub; The Tenderizer: Cheddar Cheese, Mozzarella, Chicken Tenders, Bacon, Hot Sauce, BBQ Sauce, and Ranch on Texas Toast
Dusek’s; The Sticky Mènage : 17-year-old Irish cheddar, French Raclette, Taleggio, Black Truffle and Charred Friseè Marmalade on Tuscan Pavè
Gayle’s Best Grilled Cheese Ever; Little Italy: Fresh Baked White Sourdough Bread, Fresh Butter, Butterkäse Cheese, Heirloom Tomato Salsa, Five Cheese Garlic Spread & Fresh Pepperoni
Same Day Café’s Rosemary Grilled Cheese
Jerry’s, Nutball Grilled Cheese: Cashew Butter, Applewood Bacon, Cheddar, Arugula and Mango-Chipotle Chutney
South Water Kitchen’s PB&J Grilled Cheese
Michael Jordan Steakhouse; Braised Shortrib Grilled Cheese: Grilled Raclette and Braised Short Ribs with Carmalized Onion Broth
Same Day Café; Rosemary Grilled Cheese; Cheddar and Smoked Gouda on House-made Rosemary Bread
South Water Kitchen; PB&J Grilled Cheese: Pear, Brie and Blueberry Jam
Wyler Road; Beer Cheese Grilled Cheese: Provolone, Caramelized Onion’s and Tomato
Toasty Cheese; Chef’s Choice Grilled Cheese: Duck Bacon, Provolone, Fresh Spinach and Fresh Baby Arugula with Sicilian Cherry Tomatoes and Aioli on a Panini
As seen from the ingredients, every restaurant’s take on the grilled cheese was quite unique and different from the other. I’m usually more of a traditional grilled cheese person, I don’t want too much going on in the sandwich because I don’t want anything overshadowing my cheese. With that being said, I for the most part was quite impressed with the flavor combinations and I loved the majority of the sandwiches.
I felt that Gayles Best Grilled Cheese Ever delivered the best tasting sandwich. The ingredients were well balanced and the end result was amazing!!!!! I guess you know who I voted for.
Some of my other favorites were Jerry’s ( I’d like to bottle their chipotle-mango chutney), Toastie’s, the duck bacon was soooooo good and I learned that duck bacon also has 30% less fat than pork bacon so that’s a big plus! Cheesie’s was also one of my favorites.
There could only be 1 winner, however, and after 3 heats with the first beginning at 11 and the last ending at 6, the Official 2017 Best Grilled Cheese In Chicago Is……..(drumroll)…………………
The Nutball at JERRY’S PUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my husband’s vote)
Make sure you stop by one of Jerry’s locations to try the Nutball for yourself
Andersonville
5419 N Clark (just north of Foster)
Chicago, IL 60640
Lincoln Square
4739 N Lincoln Ave (just south of Lawrence & Western)
Chicago, IL 60625