Gourmet grilled cheese sandwich shop moves from Mundelein to Grayslake
GRIL, a little place specializing in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, has moved from Mundelein to Grayslake.
The owners closed the original store and now operate at 15 Commerce Drive in Center Street Square.
"We have been in Grayslake for about two weeks now and we have been very busy," said co-owner Susan Patricelli, who operates the eatery with her husband, Paul. "We are proud to be in Grayslake, where we have been residents for 20 years," she said.
The couple launched GRIL a couple years ago as a home-based catering company. The name is an acronym for Gratitude, Respect, Integrity and Local.
A former real estate broker, Patricelli said the menu features gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches in part because they're simple to make.
In May, GRIL opened at 403 Washington Blvd., Suite 11, in a Mundelein industrial park where dine-in restaurants generally aren't allowed. Customers clamored for a place to eat inside and Paul, 51, gained approval for a zoning change for limited seating.
The eatery, open for lunch and dinner, was looking for a more visible location with more seating, prompting the move to Grayslake.
The owners say they do a lot of orders through UberEats and takeout. "We make about 100 sandwiches a day," Susan said. The sandwiches range in price from $8.95 to $10.95, Paul said.
Sandwiches include: the Nana, which features Brie, butterkase cheese and apricot preserves on French bread; the Grayslaker, which puts Colby and Muenster cheeses between two pieces of pretzel bread; and the Antny, which features mozzarella and fontina cheeses, tomato chutney and fresh basil on Italian bread.
The Patricellis say they believe in shopping "local," which means purchasing many ingredients from suburban businesses or from family-run operations out of the area.
For example, GRIL uses a jam from a Mundelein business called Holcomb Hollow and its potato chips come from the Great Lakes Potato Chip Co., a father-and-son-owned operation in Michigan.
The couple's two sons assist in the family business. Son Andrew, 21, is at the establishment full time and Michael, a senior at Grayslake Central High School, works part time.
The company hopes to add additional stores in the future. "We're not doing this to have one cute little store," Paul said.