If you were to compile a list of the most popular comfort foods, it’s a good bet that the grilled cheese would take the top spot. The duo of toasted bread and warm cheese always has a way of hitting the spot, even at a place like Starbucks. The coffee chain’s Crispy Grilled Cheese on Sourdough, likely added to the menu as a means of tapping into the lunch market, remains a popular item — so popular that Starbucks employees are asking customers not to order the sandwich double toasted.
What is double toasted? It means leaving the sandwich in the toaster oven for two cycles instead of one. While some customers have said that this is a good way to ensure a thoroughly toasted sandwich, it’s a request that seems to drive Starbucks employees crazy. As one Starbucks barista relates on Reddit, asking for a double-toasted sandwich takes extra time — it already takes several minutes depending on what’s ordered — and can easily and quickly back up a line of customers during a morning rush.
Ordering a double-toasted Starbucks grilled cheese also poses potential safety hazards. As another Redditor relates, Starbucks employees are supposed to cook a grilled cheese with the butter side down. Flipping the sandwich or cooking it with the butter on top can cause it to melt off and potentially create a fire hazard.
Better ways to ask for a Starbucks grilled cheese sandwich
As one TikToker (and Starbucks employee) shows in a video titled “Things that annoy me as a Starbucks barista, part 2,” setting up the toaster oven for the order is done by pushing a few buttons. However, the employee also calls the order “a literal hazard” and is shown pulling the sandwich and its wax paper wrapper out of a smoky haze when it’s done toasting. By sticking to the butter side down rule, another TikToker explains that employees can put the grilled side face up so it looks appetizing coming out of the bag.
So, what’s a Starbucks customer to do if they’re craving a double-toasted grilled cheese sandwich? Baristas on Reddit recommend ordering the sandwich open-faced so both sides can be buttered and grilled and then joined together. Other baristas also recommend ordering the sandwich as it comes, reheating it at home, or adding Starbucks’ Egg Bites to the sandwich to take it to another level.
For fans of grilled cheese, it’s easy to see the appeal of Starbucks’ sandwich; it features two cheeses and a parmesan butter spread on sourdough bread. But for those craving an extra-crispy grilled cheese, it might be best to order it and reheat it at home. The Starbucks employee taking your order and the customers behind you in line will thank you. If all this talk has you craving one, try our ultimate grilled cheese recipe.
