Heywood Grilled Cheese Shoppe

Heywood

3337 W Sunset Blvd  Los Angeles, CA 90026 (323) 667-1522

Who doesn’t remember those days when you were a mini Fat Kid and ate Grilled Cheese sandwiches with Tomato soup? There was a time when you were sitting on the couch with the sniffles, watching your favorite Saturday cartoon in your jammies... Don’t B.S a B.S’er!

Truth be told, the crew at Heywood have reinvented the wheel! The Grilled Cheese wheel...

Named after English playwright John Heywood, this “diamond in the ruff” is nestled on Sunset Blvd at Micheltorena St. in the historic Silverlake area of LA. It’s a warm ambience when you walk in thanks to dark wood tables, chairs and the great décor on the walls. It’s the way a place should feel when you are coming to plow down the best Grilled Cheese Sandwich around!

So many delicious options written down on the chalk board that hangs above the counter. Have you ever had a Grilled Cheese Sandwich that uses Cinnamon Raisin Toast, Brie Cheese and a Fig Jam? No! Let me say that one again especially if you like the ingredients listed. Cinnamon Raisin Toast, Brie and a Fig Jam! 

Have you ever had a sandwich that has Fontina Cheese, Spicy Pepper Jack melted on top of sliced jalapenos, fresh cream cheese with crunchy tortilla strips on sourdough? Whew... I think not governor!

Let’s not forget, you can create your own Grilled Cheese Sandwich by using any of the fresh baked breads they have. You can choose from Cinnamon Raisin, Sourdough, Whole Wheat, White or Gluten Free! Then add gourmet toppings like Sliced Apples, Sundried Tomatoes, Hickory Smoked Bacon, Avocado or even Roasted Red Peppers followed up by yes, an Artisan Spread of your choice. This is where it goes from a 9.9 to a 10.0 on the Fat Kid Scale of ridiculous. Go bonkers with a Pesto, Habanero, Brown Mustard or Fig Jam, but my favorite, Maple Onion Confit.

“Confit” is simply something that is cooked in oil or sugar water (syrup) that can be preserved for several months.

Oy mashugana! I didn’t mention that you can also request to have cheese melted onto the outside of your sandwich creating that “burnt” crispy cheese we ALL love!  Plus, every sandwich comes with a beautiful Spring Mix salad and a half cup of the best homemade Tomato Bisque Soup! The soup has an amazing smoky flavor, creamy with fresh veggies, and a hint of roasted pepper which creates the perfect love bath for your sandwich. I mean this place has it on lock down!

“Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name,” I knew I frequented this place often when I would hear, “Norm” every time I walked in the door!

Through a tough trial and error process I finally came up with what I call, “The Most Amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwich EVER!” Naturally said in a Charlton Heston voice…

First I request Sourdough Bread; I love Sourdough because it has that slight “sour” taste to it, a crunchy outside and always that fluffy inside. They spread a thin layer of butter on the outside preparing it for the sandwich press. Next the Maple Onion Confit is applied to what would be the anchor slice of bread. Just like sandwiches for centuries using condiments like Mayo, Mustard, etc... the Maple Onion Confit with its sweet taste will be the perfect complement to the Smokey Applewood Bacon! We aren’t there yet, next addition is the Cotswold Cheese.

I’d like to pause for a moment to observe the dairy genius who came up with this stuff… Cotswold Cheese is made by blending chives and spring onions into Double Gloucester. Gloucester is a traditional, unpasteurized, semi hard cheese which has been made in Gloucestershire, England.

We all “infuse” things nowadays like Alcohol, Oils, and Dogs. But Cheese and Onion? OMG!

At Heywood, everything is made to order, they take out a “block” of the Cotswold, shred it right there and aren’t bashful with how much they use! After your mountain of Cotswold Cheese is on top of the Maple Onion Confit which is on top of that buttered Sourdough Bread, 2 thick cuts of Applewood Smoked Bacon are laid down over it all in a “cross” pattern. I don’t know if it’s to insinuate a “godly” like feeling but you can say a prayer once it comes out of the sandwich press. Buttered Bread combines with the Maple Onion Confit, Cotswold Cheese, Applewood Smoked Bacon and the end result…. Perfection!

It’s kinda funny to think but the sandwich looks so innocent going in and so mean coming out! It’s like that girl from Junior High who at the end of the year nobody paid attention to but come September she is using makeup and has a big chest!

I for one always eat my salad first, I don’t know why, I just do. After my roughage, I pick up the first half of sandwich, always looking at it like it’s a new born baby. Gazing at the melted cheese strumming from the edges and that one inch piece of crispy bacon peeking out from the crust. With the sandwich in one hand, napkin in the other I go for a dunk! The corner plummets into the Tomato Bisque and comes out holding securely to the bread making its path to my awaiting mouth. As I sink my teeth into this thing I am greeted by all the fabulous flavors I have described above. The Tomato soup with the crunch of the grilled buttered bread, sweet onion confit, to the amazing cheese/onion marriage and the meaty, salty smoky bacon. I just don’t know if words can express the enjoyment you will have when you take that first bite. You know what, take one, take two, and finish that first half. Then, you can stop for a moment and basque in the glory of what Fat Kids Corner has just presented to you. By far, no if and but’s about it. This is the KING of ALL Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

I would write more but I have to clean up the drool on my work desk and head over to Heywood Grilled Cheese Shoppe for one of the top 5 sandwiches I have ever eaten!

From a Fat Kid’s scale of 1-10, the sandwiches that are being made at Heywood are ALL a 10! We all have that childish spirit inside of us; go unleash your Fat Kid here today! See you there…