The Grilled Cheese Grill is a restaurant focusing on gourmet
grilled cheese
A grilled cheese (sometimes known as a toasted sandwich or cheese toastie) is a hot sandwich typically prepared by heating one or more slices of cheese between slices of bread, with a cooking fat such as butter, on a frying pan, griddle, or san ...
sandwiches in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, United States. Established in 2009, the restaurant became known for its highly successful
food carts
A food cart is a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell street food to passers-by. Food carts are often found in cities worldwide selling food of every kind.
Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit o ...
. The owners announced they would not reopen in March 2021 after being closed since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in March of the previous year.
In July 2022, the restaurant re-opened in a
brick and mortar location.
History
Matthew "Matt" Breslow is originally from New Jersey and New York. His family went on holiday to Portland as a child since he had uncles, aunts and cousins residing in the city. In 2007, he moved to Portland, and on April 20, 2009, opened the first GCG location on Alberta Street.
Locations
The GCG has used unconventional locations for its restaurants. One location, which was located on
Alberta Street in Portland, was an
airstream
Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer ("caravan" in British English) easily recognized by the distinctive shape of its rounded and polished aluminum coachwork. This body shape dates back to the 1930s and is based on the Bowlus Road C ...
-school bus combination. The kitchen was in the renovated airstream, while the old school bus had been converted to be a stationary place for patrons to eat. The tables were plastered with school photos "taken at the height of dorkdom".
Outside of the bus were picnic tables people could eat on as well.
In
Southeast Portland
Southeast Portland is one of the sextants of Portland, Oregon.
Boundaries and features
Southeast Portland stretches from the warehouses along the Willamette River through historic Ladd's Addition to the Hawthorne and Belmont districts out to Gr ...
the GCG restaurant was inside a
double decker bus
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
, and the
downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
location was a stationary food cart.
The double decker bus was a 1954 former
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
tour bus that Breslow painted on the sides of to resemble a large checkerboard.
In July 2022, the restaurant reopened inside the kitchen of the cocktail bar The Knock Back, which is also reopening, in the Alberta neighborhood of
East Portland.
Impact
While operating out of food carts before the pandemic closure, GCG had become an example of "highly successful" food carts.
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...
considered the GCG to be one of the top food carts of Portland.
In 2009, the GCG won the People's Choice trophy at the Eat Mobile, ''
Willamette Week
''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture.
History
Early history
''Willame ...
s annual food cart contest.
Rachael Ray recommended the GCG in her magazine ''Every Day with Rachael Ray''.
''
Reader's Digest'' also called the GCG "the best grilled cheese in Portland."
The
Zagat guide reviewed the restaurants, with each category out of a possible 30 points: The GCT scored 25 on food, 22 on décor, and 23 on service.
With the success of the three GCG locations, Breslow decided to open another sandwich cart called the Shotgun Sub Shop, located in downtown Portland.
Menu
![Grilled Cheese Grill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Grilled_Cheese_Grill.jpg)
The GCG offers a variety of toppings not usually found on grilled cheese sandwiches. Some of these toppings include bacon, apples, blue cheese, Swiss cheese, jalapeño, artichoke, turkey, hummus, mascarpone, Nutella, banana, cinnamon, avocado, tomato, sauerkraut, ham, salami, chips, fried eggs and many others.
Some original sandwiches included:
* Cheesus: the Cheesus is the signature sandwich of GCG, which has been described as a "grilled cheese cheeseburger". On either side, instead of a traditional
hamburger bun, there are two grilled cheese sandwiches. One sandwich consists of pickles and
American cheese and the other consists of grilled onions and
Colby Jack Cheese. The middle is traditional burger fare: lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard and a 1/3 lb burger.
* BABS: the BABS is an acronym for Bacon, Apple, Blue Cheese and Swiss. This sandwich is served on rye bread. Breslow stated, "This sandwich is on our permanent menu at the carts and is a top-seller, for its unique flavor combination of the tart blue cheese, sweet apples, savory bacon and nice mellow Swiss cheese to tie it all together. We serve it at the cart on marble rye bread."
* Jalapeño Popper: The Jalapeño Popper has roasted jalapeños, Colby jack cheese, cream cheese, and corn tortilla chips atop sourdough bread. ''
1859 magazine'' described the experience as: "The crack of the chips and the spice of the peppers make for a delicious medley of texture and taste... Stick around to eat your sandwich, as a grilled cheese should only be eaten with the cheese nice and melty."
See also
*
COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon on February 28, 2020.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory ...
*
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry in the United States
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grilled Cheese Grill
2009 establishments in Oregon
Food carts in Portland, Oregon
Food trucks
Restaurants established in 2009