Cheesed Off

The melt, a high-tech restaurant chain specializing in grilled cheese sandwiches, is getting ready to make its debut in San Francisco. Customers will order ahead via a smart-phone app and pick up a sandwich cooked in less than one minute by a new gadget that sears the bread and melts the cheese at the same time. My immediate response on hearing about this latest attempt to cash in on America's grilled-cheese mania was sadness. The grilled cheese sandwich is a childhood classic, and restaurants are harvesting our nostalgia as part of their business plans. Jonathan Kaplan, creator of the Melt (and inventor of the now extinct Flip camera), says grilled cheese has an emotional context: it "just makes people happy."

He's right, but that's where the disconnect comes in. Most Americans who enjoyed grilled cheese at home had a sandwich so simple that no remotely hip restaurant would dare serve it: two slices of skimpy bread, two slices of American cheese and some margarine. Although that may sound crude and unappetizing, we all know it was anything but. The airy, diaphanous white bread crisps up, absorbing the flavors (and the luscious mouthfeel) of the fat, and the result is just crunch and melted cheese. But places like Gooeyz in Ohio and the Grilled Cheese Truck in Los Angeles corrupt the sandwich with thicker, fancier ingredients. And of course, any effort to wrap grilled cheese for takeout invariably steams it, depriving it of its signature crispiness. These places kill the sandwich in order to serve it. Maybe, just maybe, they should consider leaving this one to the amateurs.

Grilled-Cheese Nation

1 | THE GRILLED CHEESE GRILL

PORTLAND, ORE.

According to the menu, this is just "a couple of bearded dudes in a food cart." Actually, they're in two buses-- a double-decker and a converted school bus. Among their otherwise appetizing ingredients: vegan cheese and wheat-free bread

2 | THE AMERICAN GRILLED CHEESE KITCHEN

SAN FRANCISCO

What could be less American than Tillamook cheddar on artisanal sourdough? In this progressive city, however, the two-year-old venture has drawn raves

3 | THE GRILLED CHEESE TRUCK

LOS ANGELES

They'll throw you an American-cheese sandwich if you really want it, but this high-concept truck specializes in the likes of double-cream Brie, habanero jack and other affordable ($5.50), rococo options

4 | FEELGOOD

AUSTIN

The charitable movement that started here is now on 24 college campuses selling "gourmet grilled cheese" to end world hunger. The utopian strategy of allowing customers to pay whatever "feels good" has raised more than $1 million since 2004

5 | GOOEYZ

COLUMBUS, OHIO

It may sound like a strip club, but Gooeyz offers a large range of cheese sandwiches, including one "like Mama's" that uses cheddar. Not my mama! She always used American, which is not on the menu

6 | MELT

CLEVELAND

With three locations in Cleveland, Melt calls itself a grilled-cheese restaurant, but nearly every sandwich has meat in it. Not that there's anything wrong with that

7 | GORILLA CHEESE NYC

NEW YORK CITY