Great grilled cheese in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill?

[corkys]

This first chilly day in North Carolina is making me crave toasy buttered bread and warm, melty cheese. What are your favorite places to grab a grilled cheese here in the Triangle and extended Triangle area?

[rajeevofcarrboro]

Ooh ooh! Buns in Chapel Hill. I had only ordered their burgers for the longest time, but their grilled cheese (adding bacon and tomato is a must) is tough to beat at the price.

[Remsleep]

I've never made it to any of the places mentioned, unfortunately, but I can recommend a grilled cheese to avoid: 5 Guys. Their burgers are very good (although not up to Only Burger standards), so when I popped into a branch up in Massachusetts for a late lunch while on the road, I had pretty high expectations for the grilled cheese. It was, AFAICT, one of their burger buns with two slices of American cheese cooked on the griddle. Entirely forgettable, no crunch at all, and neither the bread nor the cheese had any character. I had better grilled cheese sandwiches from my junior high cafeteria.

[sisterbeer]

The UberWisconsin from The Borough in Raleigh is my favorite. Absolutely perfect.

[sisterbeer]

Aaaaand, I had the soppressata, fontina, arugula & mustard panino from Toast tonight. Also delicious. The only thing that would have made it better would be their tomato based onion soup, but it wasn't an option tonight.

[corkys]

Oooh, mmmm. Will have to try both the UberWisconsin when I'm in Raleigh as well as work through rest of the Toast menu.

[durhamois]

Reliable Cheese, in Downtown Durham, next to Rue Cler. They have a number of cheese sandwiches that you can pick up to to as is, or that they will grill to order on a panini press. They'll also make a custom sandwich sometimes, if they have extra bread on hand. They often get their bread from Loaf, but the focus of course is on the cheese. Check it out.

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Rue Cler Restaurant
401 E Chapel Hill St, Durham, NC 27701

[corkys]

Love Reliable cheese! Thank you for the advice. While waiting for my panini (thinly sliced prosciutto, membranillo and roncal on some of the most amazing bread - toasted to perfection), the cheesemonger and I had a great conversation and he highlighted many of the domestic and imported cheeses - some of which came home with me. I have now signed up for one of their "cheese classes." Great find!

[corkys]

oops. Meant membrillo . . . .

[brsmith2]

I haven't tried either of these, but there are two triangle-area food trucks that focus on grilled cheese sandwiches: Will & Pop's and The Grilled Cheese Bus. I've heard good things about them.

While not exactly a straight-up grilled cheese place, Toast in Durham serves excellent panini.

[LulusMom]

And the truffled cheese panini at Toast is completely wonderful and decadent.

[corkys]

Thank you for the recommendation! I agree that the truffed 3 cheese panini is incredibly decadent and exactly what I was looking for. The smooth, mild, sweet, meltiness of the Asiago fresco combined well with the stronger flavors of the grana padano and pecorino. The addition of the truffle oil was sublime. Near religious experience as I sat outside on a nice fall day.

[LulusMom]

So glad you loved it. I think near religious experience is pretty much the perfect way to describe it.