Between the Bread

Though I got an extra special sneak peek of The Melt, it wasn't until yesterday that I paid a visit to the much-hyped outpost of the new fast casual chain in downtown SF. My dining companions, including Julia of PopSugar SF, agreed that the concept of a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant often falls short, but a fast-food grilled cheese restaurant makes a great easy, comfy hot lunch. Click through to see why.

The grilled cheese sandwich-centric restaurant goes big with a new chain of fast casual restaurants called The Melt. Flip camera founder Jonathan Kaplan, moving from capturing video to capturing nostalgia, plans to open the first Melt in San Francisco in August and have 500 national locations by 2015; restaurateur Michael Mina is also an investor. Since Kaplan also happens to be on the board of Sugar Inc., I got a special early taste at my company's five-year anniversary party. Click through to see what's coming.