Melt Shop Brings Grilled Cheese to Citigroup
Move over Korean tacos, the grilled cheese craze has officially begun. Three trucks specializing in the gooey melty sandwich plan to hit the streets this summer (Gorilla Cheese NYC, The Milk Truck, and Morris Grilled Cheese Truck), but before they start their engines, the newly opened Melt Shop hopes to have the first (and perhaps last) word on the lunchtime specialty. The new concept (which may sound familiar to those watching America’s Next Great Restaurant) features a handful of variations on the sandwich (including Buttermilk Fried Chicken with jalapeño jack cheese, Beef ‘n’ Blue with Roast Beef and Blue Cheese, and an Open Faced Artichoke with Feta), along with Stumptown coffee, milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches.
Melt Shop is an outdoor stand in the Citigroup Center (formerly Moshe’s Cafe) and all the recipes come from Chef Spencer Rubin, who is only 25 years old (leave it to the young’uns to make the best grilled cheese?) The shop opened this past Monday and has so far received mostly positive notes on Yelp. Can’t wait to check it out. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.
Melt Shop, 601 Lexington Avenue (btw. 53+54th)
Posted by brianhoffman at 9:30 am, April 20th, 2011 under Melt Shop.
43 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
43 Comments
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Mr. Wizard, these are no “regular” grilled cheese sandwiches :) try one!
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American Cheese on white bread for $5… how special can they really get with those ingredients?
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I’m not defending the costs, however it is under $10 and thus worthy of MidtownLunch.
The white bread is not Wonderbread. I read in one post somewhere that the bread comes from Orwashers and the cheese is sourced from Ideal Cheese….so since they are buying their raw materials from Manhattan storefronts, they are paying Manhattan (wholesale) prices. They also go through a lot of butter.
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I agree that it is a Midtown lunch… I just havea hard time believing that a grilled cheese mad with two pieces of white bread and american cheese can cost that much to warrant a $5 price tag… a regular supermarket white loaf is about $3 and a half pound of american cheese is about $3… $6 for a week or two worth of grilled cheese sandwiches… I just cant believe that even fancy white bread and cheese costs so much more…
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If Yelp says it’s good, that is good enough for me.
;)
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Melt Shop is a fantastic addition to the mundane midtown lunch scene. Their sandwiches are creative and delicious. They choose only the finest ingredients and all of the condiments are homemade. Plus, the sandwiches aren’t huge and overly filling, thus leaving you able to work the rest of the day and not crawling under your desk to take a food-induced nap. Bonus – the homemade snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich is life changing.
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welcome to the site “abc233” if you were actually a real reader and not someone affiliated with Melt Shop you would know that midtown lunches aren’t mundane at all.
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boom roasted
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Shake and bake! Did that blow your mind?
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Oof. No real, non-shill would ever use the phrasing “they choose only the finest ingredients”.
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“The sandwiches aren’t huge and overly filling” = small for the price. How is this a positive? Coffee will keep me awake for the afternoon.
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I’m not one to call out a shill, but this post is so hackneyed, cliched and over the top, it makes me want to avoid this restaurant.
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Good lord, you all epitomize the jaded, unhappy New Yorkers I generally try and avoid during the lunch hour. Luckily Melt Shop delivers.
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You don’t even realize that your comments aren’t helping your friend’s business. It’s actually harming it. If you have even bothered reading any of the other posts on this site, you would realize that this site thrives off of honest opinions without using the verbose commercial-sounding language that you’ve used in your “objective” opinion of this place.
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was he there?
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I tried Melt Shop yesterday and despite the “shill-ing” of abc233, I have to say it was pretty good. I got the fried chicken sandwich with side of tater tots. Both were great and as expected of grilled cheese – very comforting on a drizzly rainy day. Bread was grilled perfectly, fried chicken was nice sized boneless breast (not too thick, not too thin). Tater tots were sprinkled with I think parmesan cheese and some green stuff and served with side of melt dipping sauce. I look forward to going back to trying other items on the menu and also look forward to review from ML “experts”.
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Big thanks for the warm welcome, folks. In the spirit of full-disclosure, owner is a friend of a friend of a friend. Was lucky enough to attend the opening. Only agenda here is to support a great new restaurant. As a full-time marketer, phrases like “only the finest ingredients” come naturally. As a full-time food lover, I stand behind my positive review.
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well I still say “GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR!”
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And to you.
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Your only agenda is to promote a friend’s restaurant, regardless of quality. Its friggin grilled cheese, how hard can it be? But at least based on your shill, i know the sandwiches are small and apparently expensive and they have a LIFE CHANGING snickerdoodle. I’ll pass.
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Don’t know if anyone watches ANGR (America’s Next Great Restaurant) but it sounds exactly like Melt Works. Which I still think is a stupid idea
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Well, I’m an idiot, I guess. ANGR mentioned in the Article
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I tried going here Monday at 1:30 and Tuesday at 2:15…lines were long and not moving, so gave up. The line does wrap around the mini-awning on the side there, but still not the best weather to be hanging outside in a demi-basement.
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On a hot summer day what I really really want is a grilled cheese……wait, no I don’t
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Why buy grilled cheese when I can make a perfectly good one at home?
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Do you eat at home for lunch during the weekdays?
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No, but I could.
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You may be onto something, I recall someone on this board blowing my mind when she said that you can save money by bringing food from home for lunch.
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;)
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hi Mr I Quote for Americas next best Restaurant
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Mkim said it first! Screw Bobby Flay and the Chipotle guy
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The owner, Spencer, was a project manager at BCD – Branded Concept Designs, which is a company that has had their hands in a lot of well known names. It appears that they are an investor in this concept store.
What I thought was interesting and the point of this post is that BCD is the company that holds the exclusive rights to the Five Guys franchises in Manhattan.
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I invented The Piano Key Necktie
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the shilling is way worse on yelp…but hell, i’m still going to try that spot.
that being said, like somebody already mentioned, it’s a grilled friggin cheese…my nutsack can make an excellent grilled cheese
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wiz on her grill?
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Well since I was going to cheat on Passover I figured what better way then a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon. Sadly my sandwich was missing the bacon. The sandwiches are pre-made and just tossed on the grill so how did they miss putting the bacon on my sandwich or the server not notice the absence of bacon on my grilled cheese and bacon sandwich???? I know they are new but my co-worker managed to get bacon on their grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. Epic fail on the basics in my book, and as a bonus I got a hair in my tater tots. back to the diner for my grilled cheesew and bacon sandwiches next time.
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These sandwiches aren’t even made to order? This place just sounds more and more pathetic.
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Hit Melt Shop today (Tuesday) at 12:30 – line was about 30 mins and waited about 7-10 mins for my food after ordering. Be warned: the establishment is just a counter so all waiting is outdoors (good to know on a rainy or cold day).
Got a chicken sandwich and side of tots – both were quite tasty, but my sandwich was a bit overdone on one side. Not the end of the world, but still. The actual filling of the sandwich was pretty good, but I’ll likely opt for the grilled cheese next time. The tots were very crispy and seasoned with what appeared to be garlic and some kind of green herb. They included some kind of chipotle/mayo-type dipping sauce on the side, which I’m sure many people will love, but I ended up eating my tots plain (a few with good ol ketchup). Everything was pretty heavy on the oil so get lots of napkins. Will give this place another shot.
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So basically, their specialty is grilled cheese sandwiches and the likes and they cant even get it right. -_-
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As someone just back from a well-needed vacation, I’ll submit that if you need to stand in the rain for a grilled cheese sandwich in Midtown Manhattan for a life-changing experience you’re in need of a re-assessment of your station in life and perhaps a thorough ‘personal inventory’.
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Went here today. I must say the fried chicken sandwich was very good! Check out my review:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/melt-shop-new-york#hrid:bxro9cvsAuZCcHMmbMRtmw
$5 for a regular grilled cheese? You have got to be kidding me.