American Grilled Cheese Restaurant

On a recent trip into the city I was having a hankering for cheese, especially after seeing all the giant cheese wedges inside the ferry building, so we took a walk to a place I had wanting to visit for the last 6 months: American Grilled Cheese Restaurant. Our previous trip to an all Mac and Cheese place was slightly disappointing, so how did this place fare?


As we walked up we saw this place was hustling and bustling, and they have limited seating, so if you see a seat, grab it. They're close to AT&T park, so they did pick a fairly great location for foot traffic. Walking inside, it's a small cafe, with awesome art on the wall, that is secretly hiding a bunch of storage refrigerators. 

They have a small, select menu of grilled cheese options, and a few salads.  Simplistic is a good way to go. As long as the sandwich itself is well done you don't need a huge variety of fancy cheeses. We ordered the Piglet, which was Tillamook sharp cheddar, artisan cured ham, apple mustard, rosemary butter and the Mousetrap, which is Tillamook sharp cheddar, creamy havarti, and monterey jack. They make gluten free bread in house, and only charge a $0.50 up charge for making it gluten free. The bread was sliced a little on the thick side, but it toasted well, and had a nice taste and texture.

All the sandwiches are served with a handful of grapes, which I thought was a nice touch, and of course you can add a side salad or a small bowl of tomato soup (not sure if that's gluten free).  You can see from the picture that the sandwiches had a good amount of cheese, but I just was hoping for more.  If I owed a grilled cheese place my signature would be more cheese then bread, but I suppose on both a cost and caloric analysis The American has found the right balance.

Overall I was satisfied with my meal, and would eat there again.  Just remember they are a lunch place, and close at 3 or 4pm, even on the weekends.  The only thing I would do different next time is order it with extra cheese :-).