Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post last week (or maybe you didn't, I don't judge). This was due to my taking a work trip to Chicago. Fortunately, we all know what a work trip means: field report! This time I was lucky enough to squeeze in two.
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| The view of downtown from the McCormick Convention Center-- my home for the week. |
First up was
The Scout, a sports bar that my friends, Caroline and Coury, found during an impromptu Google search for good grilled cheeses in Chicago. Since I had been remiss in planning my grilled cheese consumption prior to arrival, we opted to give this spot a try. After a quick trip on the El, we arrived at the restaurant. They only offered three grilled cheeses, but seeing as how each was a FOOT LONG I knew we were on to something.
We decided we'd split one since a foot long sandwich would be a lot for anyone to handle solo. We chose the grown up grilled cheese since that seemed to have the greatest diversity in terms of variety of ingredients. While we waited for our entree we ordered the pulled chicken nachos appetizer and oh man...
If this was any indicator of how the grilled cheese would be I was excited already. These nachos were insanely delicious. But my blog isn't about nachos, so on we go to the main event:
I wasn't sure how I felt about the presentation-- why cover the star of the show with a big dish of tomato sauce? Oh well, I got over it. Now, just to give you a feel for how large this sandwich really is, I had my friend Coury put her hand in the photo to provide a size reference point.
So yes, this is pretty massive. After ensuring adequate photo documentation, we split it into three normal sized sandwiches and dove right in.
In case you can't quite read the menu in the photo, the sandwich includes: red onion jam, brie, Swiss, fresh mozzarella and bacon on brioche bread with tomato basil dipping sauce. The first thing we all agreed upon was that the brie was too strong and that, when paired with the brioche bread, it was too sweet. Add to that the sweet red onion jam and this is starting to slide dangerously close to the dessert grilled cheese category. The fresh mozzarella is so neutral you don't really know it's there-- in fact, I'm not sure why they even opted to add it. It was hard to get a bite that included all of the flavors of the sandwich because the ingredients weren't necessarily distributed evenly throughout the sandwich, but even if I had been able to I don't think it would've helped matters.
Coury and Caroline felt the tomato sauce wasn't necessary thanks to the jam, but by the end of my piece I found myself using the dip more and more to try and mute some of the other flavors (namely the jam and brie). The sandwich was just too sweet between the brioche, brie and jam to the point that it was almost too much. I finished my slice, but was glad that I was sharing it with two other people because I wouldn't have wanted to polish off more by myself. And despite what the beautifully charred color above might indicate, the bread was actually kind of floppy and left your hands feeling pretty greasy (two minus points in my book). I was hoping for something a little more savory with a good crunch, so I was kind of disappointed. Luckily, the remaining nachos were there to console me ;-)
Fortunately, a week long trip meant multiple chances to enjoy some grilled cheese deliciousness! For my second outing I opted to re-visit a tried and true spot:
Cheesie's Pub and Grub. You may recall that when I visited Cheesie's
last year around this time they had just opened. Over the course of the last year I've been following them on Facebook and have noted their steady gain in popularity and ultimate expansion of the restaurant. As such, I was excited to check back in and see for myself the progress that they've made (and to take my friend Caroline, a Chicago newbie, to a Chicago hot spot-- or rather, the only place in Chicago I know).
First up, and excuse the poor quality photo, was the newly expanded facade. Hooray! A bright orange beacon to cheese lovers everywhere.
Inside was exciting as well, with a square bar situated in the center of the restaurant with a counter on the left (not pictured) where you can place your order. They've also expanded to serve pizza as well, which means they now serve my two favorite foods. Additional bonus: all drinks are $4. As if your hours at Cheesie's could get any happier :-)
The menu remains pretty straightforward with about a dozen sandwiches (including a new sandwich of the month each month). I already knew I loved The Mac (mac and cheese on the sandwich), but wanted to make sure I tried something new. I had seen their monthly sandwich listed online and it sounded DE-lish. ) It was "The Edgar": Slow cooked BBQ pulled pork, covered in melted mozzarella and Swiss cheese, topped with onion straws and coleslaw on perfectly grilled Texas toast. Sign me up! Both Caroline and I ordered The Edgar and opted to share a side of sweet potato fries. It was a nice night out so we decided to sit by a large open window for some pseudo-al fresco dining.
In a matter of minutes our sandwiches arrived.
Mmm, looks perfect from the outside, but let's take a peek at the good stuff:
Delightful. In terms of taste, the pork was definitely the star of the show, but Caroline pointed out that everything has its own voice-- most notably the crunchy onions and the creamy slaw. I agree, it was a nice variety of textures.
The cheese takes a bit more of a back seat and tends to act as a binding agent for the other ingredients, which is useful because this sandwich has a lot of potential to be pretty sloppy. Once again, I wasn't sure why mozzarella was a cheese of choice, but maybe its cohesive properties had something to do with that decision. I do think with something a little sharper (maybe cheddar?) the cheese would've had its own legs next to the sweet pork (instead of just acting as a filler). That's not to say this was a bad combination by any means-- it was delicious! I just always want the cheese to be the featured player and am not sure that was the case here.
The bread was a major highlight-- it was thick, but didn't feel too overwhelming and bready (sometimes with thick bread I end up pulling some of the crust off so the bread doesn't completely overtake the filling). All in all we were both quite pleased. To quote Caroline, "I anticipated being overwhelmed, but I find the sandwich very accessible."
And with that I conclude another successful trip to Chicago! Cheesie's continues to reign supreme where Chicago grilled cheeses are concerned, and in general I find them a model for everything a good grilled cheese restaurant should be-- a place that doesn't take itself too seriously and offers a good variety of grilled cheeses with fun ingredients. I love the laid back atmosphere and fact that you can get a delicious meal and cheap drink at virtually any hour of the day. I had wanted to try
Grahamwhich, the sandwich restaurant of famed chef Graham Elliot, but it's only open during business hours-- a mistake that I'm not a fan of.
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen is the best restaurant I've been to so far and it falls victim to this same trap. I know that, depending on the location, having evening hours can be a costly venture that doesn't see adequate returns, but I think it's still an option worth exploring. Cheesie's embraces the fact that when people go out they want cheap drinks and good solid food and so far that's seemed to be a recipe for success.
Thanks again to my Chicago co-diners:
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| Coury, Caroline... |
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| and Caroline! |
