The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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The Grilled Cheese Truck offers comfort food with a gourmet twist

Patircia de la Torre, 31, enjoys her Grilled Cheese Truck sandwich during lunch break on Jan 25. Photo Credit: Herber Lovato / Staff Reporter

It’s lunchtime and you feel your stomach screaming for something to eat.  You need something quick and tasty.  As you walk out of your office, you spot a large, yellow vehicle parked in front of your building.

No, it’s not a school bus; it’s The Grilled Cheese Truck.

The Grilled Cheese Truck is one of the many specialty food trucks in Los Angeles. Loyal fans of these popular mobile eateries can follow their favorite food trucks using Twitter or other social media.

Since the location of food trucks varies from day to day, the use of social media is extremely important in order to promote their food to potential customers.

With more than 29,000 followers on Twitter, The Grilled Cheese Truck is a great example of ever increasing popularity of these restaurants on wheels.

Dave Danhi, owner/chef of The Grilled Cheese Truck doesn’t take the success of his business for granted.

“We had 2,500 followers before we even had the keys to our truck,” Danhi said.

A grilled cheese sandwich is an American classic, then add fillings such as macaroni and cheese and barbeque pork and we have some serious comfort food.

My first adventure to The Grilled Cheese Truck began with visiting their website, thegrilledcheesetruck.com, to find out when the truck would be in my area.

I decided on a location in Burbank, ready to enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich with a twist.

A friend and I decided to split two different sandwiches: the Cheesy Mac and Rib ($7.50) and the Brie Melt with smoked turkey ($7.75). We topped off our order with a side of tater tots ($3.75).

The Cheesy Mac and Rib is The Grilled Cheese Truck’s signature sandwich, consisting of macaroni and cheese with sharp cheddar, barbeque pork and caramelized onions, which are all housed within a traditional grilled cheese sandwich on perfectly toasted French bread.

Danhi suggested that everyone try the signature sandwich, especially for your first visit to The Grilled Cheese Truck. After all, it is the sandwich that inspired his booming business.

The macaroni and cheese was delicious. It was definitely my favorite part of this sandwich. Overall, this sandwich was flavorful; the caramelized onions added a nice sweetness to the richness of  a mac and cheese.

The Brie Melt is another popular choice. This sandwich includes double cream brie, sliced pears, honey and smoked turkey on cranberry walnut bread, not your typical grilled cheese sandwich. These ingredients work well together. The pears and honey added just the right amount of sweetness to this sandwich and the cranberry walnut bread was delicious.

Moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, the tater tots were cooked well and were a playful reminder of my elementary school days.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at The Grilled Cheese Truck. Both sandwiches were tasty, but I preferred the Cheesy Mac and Rib.

They also offer a variety of fillings you can add to your sandwich, such as sliced tomatoes, sliced red onion, avocado, bacon and much more. So personalize your grilled cheese and dig in.

With the popularity of The Grilled Cheese Truck, the line of hungry patrons can get pretty long. It is much easier to avoid a long wait time by showing up at the beginning or near the end of a shift.

Danhi’s word of advice to grabbing a quick bite at The Grilled Cheese Truck is, “come early, eat early.”

So grab your friends and your appetite and head on over to the nearest location of The Grilled Cheese Truck for a fun twist on an American classic.

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