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When Slashfood first announced the new value meal lineup at Denny's several weeks ago, we had already started planning a field trip to taste test the most extraordinary addition to their menu -- the Fried Cheese Melt, what Denny's refers to as "a grilled cheese with a twist." Here's what it is: Take the classic grilled cheese with sourdough bread and American cheese, then stuff it with four fried mozzarella sticks and serve it with a side of marinara sauce. The $4 value meal is rounded out with a choice of soup or salad and served with a side of French fries.
This sandwich is just the latest addition to the extreme sandwich craze, which has been hitting all kinds of fast-food and restaurant chain outlets. First there was the Double Down from KFC, then the Grilled Cheese Burger Melt from Friendly's, then the foot-long cheeseburger from Carl's Jr. and now this. Due to the extreme nature of this sandwich, we invited Erik Trinidad, Slashfood contributor and creator of Fancy Fast Food, as well as Jake Goodrich, from Asylum.com, along to weigh in and we caught it all on tape.
CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
Since we drove 30 miles from Manhattan to Avenel, N.J. to try this, we were slightly panicked when we noticed the new value meal options were not on their menu. We asked the waitress about it, and she assured us, "Yes, we're serving them -- we just don't have the new menus yet." She didn't seem to know much about them, however. Not only did we not get fries with our orders, we had to ask for the side of marinara. After all, if we're going to eat this thing, we wanted to make sure we factored in all the elements.
Fried Cheese Melt
Grade: A
Nutritional Information: See below*
Quality of American cheese (1-5): 2
Quality of mozzarella sticks (1-5): 5
Crispy-ness of bread (1-5): 5
Here's my two cents: I thought the mozzarella sticks were amazing. I was concerned that the breading around the sticks would either get lost or soggy because of the other cheese surrounding it, but it held up well. While the American cheese tasted fine, we decided on the "2" rating above because there just wasn't enough -- there was maybe one full slice on each side and they did resemble Kraft singles. However, the sourdough bread was fresh, crispy and had just the right amount of butter on it to make this grilled cheese sandwich one of the best I've ever had.
Erik said, "If you're a lover of salt, you'll love this sandwich. I also believe that if Denny's made a pizza, it would taste just like this, which isn't a bad thing. The breading on the mozzarella sticks was also well seasoned."
Jake added, "This sandwich did not lack in sodium or grease and that really came through in the flavor, yet when combined with the marinara sauce, it helped balance out all that salt."
We all agreed that the marinara sauce was delicious. It had just the right seasoning with an incredible amount of basil in it. When asked whether the sandwich was better on its own or dipped into the sauce, we all agreed that we'd be happy to have it either way. In fact, the optimal solution would be to eat one half plain and the other half dipped in the sauce. While it was salty, compared to the Double Down, I didn't feel the need to drink several gallons of water afterward.
Read all of Slashfood's fast-food reviews.
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Dennys New Fried Cheese Melt
*Nutritional Information:
Fried Cheese Melt - 790 calories, 38 grams fat, 2670 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Marinara Sauce - 830 calories, 40 grams fat, 2920 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Fries - 1220 calories, 61 grams fat, 2770 mg sodium
Fried Cheese Melt with Fries and Marinara Sauce - 1260 calories, 63 grams fat, 3010 mg sodium
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8-26-2010 @12:48AM LISA60P said... Okay, Dennys has always been a place to buy unhealthy greasy food but guess what? Its one of the few businsses in America that hasnt shut down, I think maybe Dennys should market some healthier food choices along with the unhealthy ones and leave it up to the public as to what they want to eat. I myself cant stomach the thought of eating mozerella sticks on grilled cheese no more than i can at those places that sell the onion rings on a burger. Its just not what I like. I can stand to lose a few pounds but am tempted to eat stuff like chicken wings and pizza and hoagies! Its all about self control not the restaurants!! I blame myself for any weight gain.
Dennys has good pancakes lol
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8-26-2010 @12:48AM Phil said... How could anything this nutritionally dangerous be given a grade of "A" for ANY reason?
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8-26-2010 @12:50AM Polly said... Can you say LIVE AND LET LIVE? Can you say EAT AND LET EAT? Oh good grief, people. Get a life. This is ridiculous. FOOD FIGHT!!!! Have a diet Coke with it and you'll all be fine. Ridiculous.
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8-26-2010 @1:27AM Pamela said... When I was 17-19, I used to work for Denny's, as a hostess, during the early '80s. As a teen who was learning everything and was pretty naive (as I was, big time) it was easy for me to be influenced by various people and to be taken advantage of by the slick, horror-show restaurant manager. About their food, yeah it was good and although the waitresses and staff can see the cooks through the food window, no one was alowed in the actual kitchen where the chefs were. We never got discounts for food there, although they didn't mind if we helped ourselves to fries, salad, soup and fries. When it was time for the staff to get their annual review, I would get A's on everything except my appearance, which was always an A. Also, quite interestingly, most of the employee got their review in a public type place, with a few people around. The manager opened up a buffet room, just for the two of us and cloed the doors behind us. Mr. Ford, the manager, also called "bubble butt" b/c he was a skinny guy w/ a big butt! lol. One time I had ripped nylons and he told me to go home to change. I didn't have a car back then, but I used my parent's car, if they weren't going to use it, but that night, they were out. He actually drove me to my house to get changed. Problem was: I had no nylons at home. So, he drove me to a 7-Eleven to buy nylons, with his money. Drove me back to my parent' house, where I got changed, then he brought us back to work. I just think that whole thing wasn't cool..
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8-26-2010 @2:35AM pat kelly said... What in the world does that rambling, crazy story..have to do with the TOPIC- the new melted Cheese sandwich-pro or Con??? Holy Tamolley! LOL..(and how many trees were on your street?..etc.)-SHEESH! Give me a BREAK lady!
9-01-2010 @8:06PM JUDY said... Huh? What the??????
8-26-2010 @1:06AM Kat said... What does this have to do with a cheese sandwich??
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8-26-2010 @1:13AM djackson said... What does the "a" stand for ....heart attack!!!!! What's next deep fried butter....oh wait someone is already doing that. I don't know who is the worst offender Denny's for offering this item or the author of this review for giving it an "a". Shame on them both.
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8-26-2010 @6:36AM darkness86 said... the damn dennys near me doesn't sell it i went there to try it just so i could eat it once and they say they discoed it them M/F 'ers
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8-26-2010 @1:22AM Vic said... Denny's???? They make a greasy spoon restaurant look like a NASA dust free room. The rags they wipe the counters an tables with are recycled garage rags. Your company paid tolls, gas, and time to got to Avenel, NJ from NYC, for a coronary sandwich delight. Why didn't you just eat a pound of butter at your desk and save all that time and-oops-Bread?
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8-26-2010 @1:33AM Pamela said... omg. I screwed up BIG time in my previous post about when the Denny's manager gave reviews to the employees. I said I got A's on everything except my appearance.. I meant to say I got F's on everything, and the only thing I got an A on was my apperance. Everything else, I should have never gone into the food industry! lol
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8-26-2010 @2:23AM pat kelly said... Well, it is America, right. Free choice, etc. Right now, "the chosen one", Obama, is trying to legislate what we Can or Cannot eat! WRONG! I think a 'minor rebellion"-eating a big, cheesy, calorie-laden meal, (w/marinara sauce..YUMMY!)- once in a while-is OK. That also depends on your metabolism, weight, and current health status. If you are 150 lbs overweight-forget it! If you have diabetes, other issues-forget it! Bottom line here is: Use digression, and good judgment. An occasional fling of food "porn" or junk food won't give most of us a cardiac arrest. And...give Denny's a break, OK? I like their coffee! LOL!
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8-26-2010 @2:45PM ObeseAmerica! said... There is a direct correlation between socioeconomic status and obesity. Denny's and many other fast food entities are continuously capitalizing on low income households by providing fat -laden, overly processed, cheap and addictive entrees. Education is key and companies need to be more responsible in providing inexpensive, nutritious, low-fat and protein rich foods for the the masses. Companies such as Denny's are responsible for the Obesity epidemic in the U.S.!
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8-26-2010 @2:49AM Barry said... First racist policies. Now "food" to die from. What's next Denny's?
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8-26-2010 @2:07AM p said... Looks pretty bad and GOOD at the same time. It is not anything I would want to eat but maybe once. And is an Item you should stay away from. BUT, If you want it, go for it. I used to be a Body Builder, VERY FIT and active and Healthy. I am not so much any more, Okay I have put it on. But am much happier. And if you want ot eat this, Go for it, it is your life, not the LIBS trying to force everyone to live "THEIR" way. (food Nazi's) Sorry look at the statistics, the shortened life span of someone that is not Health stupid, yes stupid , I have been there, You health nuts are just that. Does not change that much. People are living longer now than ever, and the people that are old now grew up going to the greasy spoon. And the blue plate special. As a whole they are just fine. I do not want to live to be 100 anyway. Enjoy the time you have, make the most of it sensibly. I would rather live Round and Jolly for 75-80 years than boring and super health for 75-85.
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8-26-2010 @2:10AM jd said... HOLY COW!!! These taste testers should start a tv show. Like a Russian roulette type of show. Crazy....
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8-26-2010 @2:20AM laontour said... I don't think this will be on the menu for very long.... Once Obamas wife hears about it she will have it banned... Remember they are removing salt from our diet even if we don't want them to however I doubt they will quit stopping at the ice cream store for those tripple dips!
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8-26-2010 @2:49AM Kirk said... What, did Denny's pay you for this article? What is so special about this sandwich? I'm not even complaining about it being unhealthy. I eat unhealthy stuff quite a bit. But, come on. This article tries to pass off a grilled cheese sandwich with mozzarella sticks on it as something exotic. As long as you buy pre-breaded mozzarella sicks, anyone could make this sandwich at home in 5 minutes. There's nothing special about it... Why go out for it? This is Denny's we're talking about here... they probably (probably? ha, yeah right. they definitely do) ship the mozzarella sticks pre-made and frozen anyway! The people reviewing even complained about the cheese. How can you F up a grilled cheese sandwich with a premade item thrown on it? A rating. Psssssh. I can dig through my freezer, throw a pile of crap together, and create something more creative and TASTIER than this. Restaurants around the country, who actually use fresher ingredients, have been making sandwiches like this for years. To give Denny's this much credit for this piece of crap is an insult to them.
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8-26-2010 @4:38AM Pamela said... I wouldn't trust anything at Denny's, no matter how new, how good, how healthy, etc.. This new sandwich doesn't sound great... The only thing I ever can trust at Denny's are their eggs.. How can you screw up eggs? Well, I guess that's possible, but they make great OE eggs!
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8-30-2010 @9:29AM Buffy871 said... This is amazing! I go to Denny's once a week for a special treat, and I had one. I don't what what someone was smoking to come up with this, but wow.
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