“Comfort food” has been part of our lexicon for half a century, and it’s a cinch whoever coined the term had a particular fare in mind. Ma’s secret-recipe holiday pumpkin pie, a mayo-slathered bologna sandwich and tomato soup on a rainy day, the criminally underrated cottage cheese and ketchup for no good reason: All have a certain value in assuaging anxiety and stoking delight. But if you’re so impudent as to think any of these touch the grilled-cheese sammie, you’re either lying or dead. The grilled-cheese sandwich is to comfort food like France is to the world at large, the globe’s undisputed cultural leader in a roily sea of pretenders. If you don’t believe us, you now have a Village eatery at which to research the claim – Grater Grilled Cheese, which expanded into La Jolla from Mission Valley. True, the place is hardly a clone of your childhood home, where a spot of toasted flour and fromage marked those heady days beyond recall – but what venue is? Grater does its level best to transport you there, proudly presenting a tidy collection of variations on the sammie that used to make your day. Grater’s success revolves around its five-cheese blend (nobody’s saying which cheeses), comprising a basic sandwich on a tortilla or sourdough. From there, you can have an Angus-beef hamburger patty with your blend or a full-fledged vegetarian sandwich with chorizo and refried beans; the Caprese lies a step up, with tomato, pesto aioli and balsamic vinegar glaze. The granddaddies are the Puerto Nuevo – lobster, snow crab and chipotle – and the signature Grater Grilled Cheese, featuring goat cheese, arugula, bacon, onions and jalapeños. Spreads and add-ons are in serious supply here, as if you’ll really need them – but glutton that I am, I topped off my Grater with olive oil and ham. Never has a sandwich come this close to tasting like the most mouth-watering quiche in the history of the universe, a testament to the eatery’s savvy about accessories that make its food what it is. The Grater concept was born of something called the Greengo, the eatery’s food truck, which debuted in SanDiego in 2011. Founding personnel were hard-pressed to imagine anybody who’d refuse this traditional favorite, especially when the “restaurant” was right outside the door. Founder Gaston Corbala took it from there, ordering locally and using organic products – the rest is history, as Corbala reportedly has designs on taking his concepts statewide. The Mission Valley location is at 5618 Mission Center Road; it features an extended menu and serves beer and wine. Both venues offer a kids menu and will customize and deliver your fare – meaning that everybody can drudge up their grilled-cheese-fueled memories from the sanctity of home. But you’ll probably want to pay a visit to this lively and eager-to-please eatery – the word “comfort” works both ways, and your lavish praise will bring as much to the all-deserving staff. WHAT: Grater Grilled Cheese
WHERE: 723 Pearl St.
WHEN: 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. seven days
HOW: (858) 459-0094, gratergrilledcheese.com