Taste-Tested: Our Guide To D.C.’s Gotta-Have-‘Em Grilled Cheeses

UPDATE: Just because Grilled Cheese Month is over, doesn't mean that our love for the melty snack isn't. This story was originally published on April 23.

As die-hard grilled-cheese fanatics surely know, April 12 was National Grilled Cheese Day — and April is National Grilled Cheese Month. But just because the month is nearly over doesn't mean we're going to stop celebrating this absurdly decadent childhood classic. There's plenty of comfort food we won't turn down — pizza, ice cream, mac 'n' cheese, the list goes on…but none of those compare to a perfect, tummy-warming, ooey-gooey grilled cheese.

When you're a kid, you think white bread and American cheese are the only way to play the game. But then, you grow up and learn there's a whole world of gourmet ways to switch things up—fig jam and goat cheese on thin and crispy bread? Manchego with pickles on challah? Prosciutto with mozzarella on Texas toast? Go ahead, let your imagination run wild. And since taste testing all the options can be overwhelming — and, uh, fattening — we did the work for you (it's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it) and discovered the eight most jaw-droppingly delicious grilled cheeses in town. Click through to see the winners — and don't even bother trying to exercise that self-restraint.