Cheesy Street Grill is a restaurant located in the Westborough Service Plaza off of the Massachusetts Turnpike, just a ten-minute drive from the center of Westborough. With additional locations at rest stops in Natick and Wellesley, Cheesy Street Grill takes pride in serving high-quality comfort foods to its customers.
Founder, Lisa Dowd, spent 32 years working a corporate job while spending her time cooking for her family and friends. Eventually, Dowd left her job to pursue her passion for cooking full-time at the age of 50. She says “I love to cook and feed people! I went into the restaurant business after a long career with Corporate America and I wanted to share my recipes with the public! My greatest pride is serving our yummy comfort foods to our wonderful customers.”
The three of us stopped by the Westborough location to give this food a try.
Sahana:
When we walked into the building, Cheesy Street Grill looked like a small, hole-in-the-wall spot that you would only come across from having stopped by the rest station. I ordered The All Star grilled cheese sandwich on white bread which included the toppings of goat cheese, fig jam, and red wine caramelized onions. The flavors from all of the toppings mixed incredibly well, making it super obvious why this is called the all-star sandwich. The sweetness from the jam and the caramelized onions balanced out the saltier and more savory-tasting goat cheese. The bread was a little burnt, but overall, it didn’t end up affecting the taste of the sandwich.
This sandwich was much better than other restaurant grilled cheeses that I’ve had, such as Panera, with this one being significantly more flavorful and customizable. Alongside these savory items, they also had a couple of sweet treats and bottled drinks for anyone interested.
In total, this grilled cheese, as well as a bottle of Minute Maid lemonade came out to be fourteen dollars. Although this was expensive, it was an incredibly good quick bite to eat. The taste of the sandwich was comparable to that of a larger restaurant, so I would give this sandwich an 8/10. The location of Cheesy Street Grill is a little inconvenient, so I wouldn’t make my way out to the highway just for this, but for anyone who is on the road, this is a wonderful place for a pitstop.
Hannah:
After having tried Cheesy Street Grill, it is safe to say that it exceeded my expectations. I ordered the chipotle mac and cheese, which consisted of a twelve-ounce serving of spiral macaroni in a traditional cheese sauce, topped with chipotle bread crumbs. As somebody who is not a fan of spicy foods, the bread crumbs were a perfect addition to the meal. Although they were not spicy, they added a nice texture to the mac and cheese.
I thought that the mac and cheese alone was tasty, however, for those interested in a more hearty meal, there were a variety of toppings available to add. These toppings included but were not limited to, diced tomatoes, pesto, balsamic reduction, jalapenos, pickles, caramelized onions, bacon, beef short rib, and chicken. My twelve-ounce serving of mac and cheese, as well as a bottle of water, cost just over twelve dollars. Personally, I think this price was a bit high given the simplicity of the meal. Don’t get me wrong, the mac and cheese was good; however, it was nothing extraordinary.
Overall, I would give the mac and cheese a 6/10. Although I do not think I would go out of my way to eat at the Cheesy Street Grill again, I would definitely recommend it to anyone in need of a good meal who is driving along the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Grace:
The Classic American grilled cheese from Cheesy Street Grill holds true to its name. Taking a bite of this sandwich reminded me of eating my mom’s grilled cheese after a long morning of playing outside. With two pieces of crispy white bread filled with melted American cheese, this perfectly grilled sandwich, while nothing out of this world, was pretty tasty.
In addition to the grilled cheese, I ordered an 8-ounce cup of tomato bisque, which can be best described as a thickened tomato soup. The flavor of the bisque, however, was underwhelming; it felt like there was just a hint of true tomato flavor. Not to mention, the bisque was very orange, so much so, that it was a little bit concerning.
With that being said, I did appreciate that it was served with oyster crackers. Overall, I would give my meal a 6/10. The food was decent and the employee who made our food was very kind. For the price of $14.44, it was a little bit underwhelming.
Overall, the three of us were pleasantly surprised with the service and quality of food at Cheesy Street Grill. Although from the exterior, this might seem like another fast food place with not the best food, Cheesy Street Grill is far from that. For anyone who finds themselves in the area, we recommend checking this place out. To find out more about the other Cheesy Street Grill locations around Massachusetts, check out their website: https://www.cheesystreetgrill.com/.
