Great things are happening in Bridgeland.
Or should that be ‘grate?’ Sorry, I’ll show myself out.
Grilled cheese restaurant Grate and Barrel is officially back and slinging toasty, melty sandwiches from its new location on 1st Avenue N.E. just east of Edmonton Trail. (They were originally located in Mission, but were closed last year as they searched for a new spot.)
The vibrantly pink house is hard to miss. And you wouldn’t want to as, inside, owner Mhairi O’Donnell is offering up her menu of all types of grilled cheese sandwiches, from the classic to the creative. Alongside, there are tater tots, homemade soups, tomato soup and Cheetos or Hickory Sticks, and pie milkshakes to wash it all down.
O’Donnell also has a not-so-secret music theme underlying the menu.
Those milkshakes are named for local bars, including the Hifi (vanilla and a shot of Baileys) and The Blues Can (blueberry pie and chocolate ice cream), and some sandwiches are shout-outs to musicians like Michael Bernard Fitzerald, whose namesake MBF grilled cheese features marinara sauce and jalapeno poppers.
(Beer on tap and wines are coming soon.)
Check out Grate’s new location at 627 – 1st Avenue N.E. and follow them on social media at @grateandbarrel.
Gwendolyn Richards is a Calgary-based food writer and the author of Pucker: A Cookbook for Citrus Lovers. She regularly contributes to Avenue magazine, the Calgary Herald and is the restaurant writer for Where Calgary. She likes cheese. A lot.
