To the west of America’s Dairyland lies a state that calls itself the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

I’m not an animal expert, but I do know for a fact cows don’t live in lakes. That doesn’t inspire confidence in Minnesota’s cheese scene, and therefore its grilled cheese scene.

But the state has clearly been taking a lesson (or its cheese) from Wisconsin, because the two grilled cheeses I had over the weekend were on par with most of the sandwiches I’ve had in my homeland.

They even ranged from the “upper-class” to the “on-the-street,” with one coming at a nicer restaurant for a late lunch on a Sunday afternoon, while the other was from a food cart on the street at 12:30 a.m. with thousands of people dressed like zombies around me. But I can guarantee even the undead would’ve enjoyed that sandwich.

O’Cheeze Food Truck

It had been a long night, and I’d already eaten a couple slices of delicious pizza for dinner earlier.

But when my friends and I walked past a food cart called “O’Cheeze” near the downtown bars at 12:30 in the morning, and one of them (shout out to Michael Seeley) said it had really good food, I had to stop and take a look.

And once I took that look, it was all over. I was buying a sandwich.

The menu included many crossed off items that had been old out earlier in the night, from the mac and cheese to the caprese.

But that was alright, because as soon as I read the “Not-So-Classic” description, I knew I had found my sandwich.

With a combination of dubliner Irish cheddar, havarti and more cheddar, the sandwich is still simple. But what that combination does is magical.

The classic flavor is there, no doubt, the the sweetness of the sandwich is like nothing I’d had before, and yet it was so simple. It melted in my mouth and certainly could have made any of the “zombies” on the themed pub crawl that night reconsider whether brains or this would be better.

Republic

I had the aforementioned sandwich overnight, so when my friends and I went to lunch the next day and I saw grilled cheese on the menu, I wasn’t sure if I should have another.

Lucky for me, I disregarded that initial hesitation and went for it. Why? Cheese curds.

This grilled cheese sandwich wasn’t simply cheese melted between bread (and we all know how good that is). It also included cheese deep fried in batter and then placed between bread.

For a Wisconsin kid, it doesn’t get much better.

The sandwich was as good as you’d expect, full of cheese from the first bite, with an extra shot of cheese coming as you bite into each and every curd.

If you’re in Minneapolis, you’ve gotta try this sandwich.