Grilled Cheese Champion: Chowdown Showdown

Editor's Note: Welcome to "Chowdown Showdown," a weekly feature in which we take one type of food, try it at three H-F or Chicago Heights area restaurants and determine a winner. This week, in honor of April being National Grilled Cheese Month, we're comparing... you guessed it! Grilled cheeses!

 (1555 STATE STREET, CHICAGO HEIGHTS)

Java Sip serves up a thin, crispy grilled cheese panini. Despite the modifiedpanini-style cooking process, however, this is essentially a bare-bones, classic grilled cheese. White bread, butter and American cheese. The only difference is Java Sip's is the light, crispiness that their panini grill lends to the sandwich. 

The Good: This is a very nostalgic grilled cheese. Simple, minimal ingredients combine to create a perfect texture and flavor of molten cheese and a thin, crisp and buttery exterior.  

The Bad: For as comforting and familiar as this grilled cheese sandwich is, it is a little on the plain side. I found myself wishing that there was something slightly more substantial on the sandwich.

 (2131 183RD STREET, HOMEWOOD)

I was immediately pleased by the presentation. With skillfully grilled, golden-brown sourdough bread on the outside and American cheese, thick bacon and tomato slices on the inside. While the American cheese tastes a bit mundane on its own, the saltiness of the bacon and the acidity of the tomatoes really brightens up the flavor of the cheese and increases its tanginess, bringing it to life. 

The Good: Lassen's did a fantastic job of pairing the cheese with the thick-cut bacon and tomato to create a very effective and robust flavor profile and showcased it on the artfully grilled, buttery sourdough. All of the sandwich's ingredients worked in harmony.

The Bad: The American cheese was great with the bacon and tomato, but a little rudimentary. 

 (18147 HARWOOD AVE, HOMEWOOD)

Grady's grilled cheese sandwich incorporates the same bonus ingredients as Lassen's: bacon and tomato. Yet, Grady's grilled cheese achieves a much more unique flavor profile, with elements of smoky and sweet accenting every bite of the sandwich.

However, the inner-workings of the sandwich are placed between two slices of Texas toast, a critical mistake of this sandwich. Its sweet flavor overlaps some of the similar flavors of the cheese on the sandwich and both flavors are compromised as a result. Even though it is grilled well, the crispy outside layer still gets overwhelmed by the thick, soft and chewy center. Of greatest concern, though, there was simply too much bread relative to the other ingredients.

The Good: The tomato and bacon make the sandwich more interesting and Grady's break from the traditional American cheese-only constraint by offering four different cheeses was refreshing. The flavors encompassed a greater range and diversity than the other sandwiches.

The Bad: The texture of the bread melded with the cheese's. In addition, the sweet taste of the Texas toast got mixed up with some of the nutty and sweet flavors from at least one of the cheeses. Even though some daring and unique flavors were present, the sandwich's overall flavor was lacking.

THE WINNER: Lassen's Bar & Grill. Lassen's grilled cheese strikes a chord  in both building complimentary flavors and incorporating compatible textures. It provides the comfort of a classic grilled cheese, but it also pushes the boundaries a little bit to achieve something much more mature and interesting. The addition of bacon and tomato is justified by their ability to add complexity to the cheese. In short, this sandwich was a pleasure to eat.

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