I like grilled cheese sandwiches. I think anyone who is American likes grilled cheese sandwiches. As a kid I would just make it with white bread, butter and slices of Kraft American in a skillet. I’ve since matured my palate and upgraded my kitchen tools, panini pressed sandwich anyone? So when my friend told me about a place near her, that Yelp says has THE BEST GRILLED CHEESE, I was intrigued.
On one my visits, we stopped in Old Town Leesburg and grabbed a bite (to go!) from Pittsburgh Rick’s. He allegedly has the best grilled cheese.
When you walk in, you walk straight into the counter, and who was there to take our order? None other than RICK himself. Pretty cool. He’s owned a few restaurants, and it was nice to see that he was there taking orders and talking to guests. He actually recognized that we were new there (how long as this place been open?) and made us feel welcomed.
Rick invited us to check out upstairs while we waited. There is a bar, and a tiny balcony overlooking the street below. Looks like it’d be a happening place in the summer. We definitely want to check it out when it gets warmer…wonder what the parking situation would be like then though.
We took the order home, because babies, so keep that in mind when I talk about the food. There were other type of sandwiches on the menu, but we were there with a purpose. I ordered the Loaded Grilled Cheese, which comes with bacon and 3 types of cheeses. All the sandwiches are topped with french fries, apple cider slaw and tomatoes. You also get this orange sauce on the side. Spicy, tangy and a favorite for my husband. I also got wings, because I LOVE WINGS.
When we got to her place the sandwiches were a little bit soggy. Maybe because of the ride home in styrofoam, or maybe because it was loaded with butter. It literally dripped when I picked it up. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, I personally didn’t think it was a bad thing, but then again I love butter, and I clearly don’t care about my weight or health. I started off with the wings, which were good, but they were wings, nothing special to write about. I forgot to ask for ranch, and I believe it comes with bleu cheese. Womp.
OH YEAH he ALSO FORGOT MY SIDE OF FRIES that I paid extra for. BOO.
The main event. Since I ate my wings, I could only down half of my sandwich. It wasn’t what I expected. Maybe because I don’t know what Pittsburgh style grilled cheese sandwiches are. The bread was only lightly charred with grill marks and the sandwich was barely toasted (again, maybe because it took a ride home with us). It was a BIG sandwich. Surprisingly though, I liked it. That’s saying a lot since, 1, I don’t like coleslaw, 2, I don’t like tomatoes in my hot sandwiches and 3 I like my bread super toasted. The flavors were definitely all there, and the crunch and tang of the coleslaw added another element to balance out the sogginess that it turned in to be (the fries were mushy too). It all tied together well with the sauce. You have to eat it with the sauce.
Altogether I’d like to give this place another shot, eat there, enjoy the view and have it come out at the right temperature and texture…as well as have my side of fries that I ordered and never got.