The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen: An Official Review (AND Video)

Last week, the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen held a Loaf Love Party with the Tillamook, farmer-owned cheese company. We sent our friend, Ed Uyeshima, who often documents life in San Francisco for sites like Yelp and Examiner.com. I’m glad we did because he wrote a fantastic review about a much-deserving local eatery.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen: A Temple to Fashionably Melty Goodness

by Ed Uyeshima

Grub Street referred to this newly opened South Park café as a “grilled fromagerie”. Oh my. Grilled cheese sandwiches have come a long way since my day when it consisted of two slices of Mrs. Baird’s white bread and a Kraft American single, all slathered with Bluebonnet butter. I was fortunate to be invited to a Tillamook Loaf Love Tour party at the American Grilled Cheese Kitchen and am happy to report that the classic grilled cheese sandwich has come into its own as a culinary sensation among erudite foodies and grab-and-go workers alike.

Inside the Tillamook Loaf Love Event

Combining industrial-chic architecture with 1950s-style kitsch, the place is ideal for its highly mobile customer base with an expansive patio as well as seating indoors. There are eight different specialty sandwiches, three of which were served that evening – a classic with medium cheddar and jack as well as roasted tomato; a heartier sandwich called the “Piglet” with sharp cheddar, smoked ham, apple mustard and rosemary butter; and the most audacious, the “Jalapeno Popper” with jack, chevre, bacon and an apricot-jalapeno relish. They also served bacon-cheddar brioche bites, savory bread pudding with mushrooms, and in an ode to days of yore, smoked tomato soup shooters.

Grilled Cheese Slider Sample

Heidi Gibson, a record-holding Grilled Cheese Invitational winner, is the chief menu architect and owns the place with Nate Pollak. They serve specialty wines and beer, and also homemade sodas such as vanilla ginger mint and pomegranate lemonade. Try the self-proclaimed “killer butterscotch pecan blondies”. They’re not kidding. Nowhere does the menu serve my mom’s grilled cheese sandwich but give it time. The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen is open for weekday lunch right now but will expand to breakfast, evenings and weekends in the coming weeks.

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(A Quick Side Note: The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen will start their weekend service THIS Saturday, June 26th from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.. Sunday service to come in the near future.)

UPDATE:

Shortly after I posted Ed’s review this morning, another friend of LiveSOMA sent us their new video for the American:

If you recall, the Werehaus produced this award winning video for the American prior to their recent opening. Well, now that they’re open, a video crew went back and captured some great moments in their opening weeks. I like the music track too! For more information on this great local Video Production Company, check out the Werehaus’ website here.

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Ed Uyeshima is a lifelong Bay Area resident who has been writing online for the past five years. He explores what makes San Francisco such a wondrously unique place to live and visit. You can check out Ed’s other work (as well as more photos from the Tillamook Loaf Love Tour) with Examiner.com here.