'Murica!

Living in the SF Bay Area, I've come to discover that we live in a foodie mecca.  Some of the best restaurants in the country are here or so I'm told (being a picky ass I tend not to be too adventurous with my food).  There are also lots of specialty places that have made niches out of excelling at one kind of food.  A few years back I read about a place in San Francisco that serves nothing but different kinds of grilled cheese.  As a person who loves cheese, I told myself I needed to get there.  Sadly I hadn't ever made that trip.  While SF is not far away, I tend to only go into town when there is something planned, like a Giants game or concert and just a grilled cheese sandwich hasn't carried enough weight for a trip.

During the 2012 baseball season, a coworker decided that it would be fun if we could get a group of us together for a game when his boss came in from out of town.  Since this coworkers boss lives out of state, we had to hope that the timing would be perfect.  One trip it just so happened that the Rockies were in town (and this bosses favorite team) and a group was formed for the game.  While walking to the park, the boss and I ended up going down 2nd street to get to AT&T (rather than my normal MUNI trip) and we walked right by a place called The American.  The grilled cheese place that I had read about!  I made a mental note at how close it was to the park and said that before or after some game that I would attend separately on a weekend, that a trip would be made.

A few months later after attending a different Giants game, I told the wife lets forget taking MUNI back to BART just walk up 2nd to the station.  Lo and behold, that walk took us right on by The American and we couldn't help but stop in.  To my complete surprise (I swear on my 16 year block of cheddar) they had a grilled cheese with mac n' cheese inside.  Oh how the gods have smiled upon me!

The Review:

Brand:
The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen's Mac Sandwich

Ten hut! Present arms!

Price:
$8 for the sandwich, $6 for a bowl of mac n' cheese

Cute named sandwich, cute named sandwich, cute nam... Mac and grilled cheese?!?  GIMMIE!

They were out of the stand alone orders of mac this day.  However it's the same stuff that goes into the sandwich according to the nice lady who was ringing me up kindly answering my never ending list of questions surrounding their mac n' cheese.

Packaging Description:
(Taken from the menu)
mac 'n cheese stuffed into a grilled cheese

Preparation:
*Find yourself at 1 South Park Ave and Second St. sometime after 11 AM (they are open 7 days a week, so no excuses).  Hopefully after (or before) a Giants game.  Just remember, a few blocks down the street is one of the best parks (the best IMO) in baseball and you owe it to yourself to see a game there.

*Enter the shop and walk straight in towards the beverage cooler.  There you'll find the menu and where you place your order.

Snapped just as I left.  No clue who the guys are, but yeah, that's the line. Order there.

*After you've ordered your food you have a choice (besides to go).  You can eat inside or outside.  There is a bar to sit at inside along with a few tables, but if the weather is nice I recommend outside.  They will be bringing your food to you and will give you a big number to place on your table.

The restaurant itself isn't large. As with the shot of the line above they were both taken from the same place. 

*Make some idle chit chat with those in your party, surf the internet on your phone or other occupy your time while you wait for your food.  I'd say that it took about 15 minutes for our sandwich to be served after we ordered.

Just sitting at the table with none other than the Giants own #38 Brian Wilson!  Fear the beard, especially when eating a grilled cheese, that cheese can get everywhere.

*An employee will bring out your sandwich(es) and take away your number. Make sure you've got some napkins.  There will be oily fingers.

As it was served.  I'm guessing that the fresh fruit changes with the seasons.

A close-up shot of the mac sitting between the two slices of melted cheese and grilled bread.

That's right, crispy melty cheese.

A close up of your clogged artery... I mean of the cheesy gooey insides.

*Commence with the nomming!


Taste:
The sandwich was made with a locally made sourdough.  The mac itself is made with the remnants of the blocks of cheese that are used for their grilled cheese sandwiches. So depending on what they've got laying around, the mac will be different each and every day.  This sandwich had a sharp cheddar for the grilled cheese portion of the sandwich, a nice and cheesy mac.  I couldn't taste anything specific other than the sharp cheddar (cheese wise), but the whole blend worked very well together.  The noodles were cooked and though they may have been almost over cooked, this is one time that it didn't bother me.  The crunch of the bread made up for it. It also had a slight hint of some garlic or garlic salt in the mac.

Final Score:
Do you like grilled cheese?  Good, because if not, I'm not sure we can still be friends. That may be a bit over the top, but this really is an interesting combination of foods.  The grilled cheese worked.  The mac worked.  Them both together were excellent.  I had really hoped to get to try just the mac, but how could I turn down such an alluring combination of cheese and starch?!?  So if you find yourself in SF, or just down the street at a Giants game, take that leisurely stroll up Second.  It's worth it!

Nutritional Information:
It's a grilled cheese sandwich.  A grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with a home style mac n' cheese.  It's all kinds of tasty and I'm sure all kinds of bad, if you eat more than one.