comment: >
  
  Ok so if a “grilled cheese sandwich” can only have cheese, what should I call a grilled chicken sandwich if I put lettuce, tomato and mayo on it? Clearly you wouldn’t call that a “grilled chicken sandwich” or even just a “chicken sandwich” because it has more than just chicken…
context: I guess butter isn't allowed >
  
  Imo, butter or mayo on the bread in order to toast it is more of the cooking method vs an additional ingredient in the sandwich. >
  
  MAYO?!
  Not judging, but genuinely curious because I’ve never heard of this! 😃 Before or after it’s cooked? What does it do? >
  
  Mayo is sometimes used instead of butter for outside the bread to fry. I haven't yet tried it, but I've seen it done. It gives the bread a good crisp. >
  
  Right.  Just cheese.  Straight cheese.  If you put it between two slices of bread it's no longer a grilled cheese, it's a grilled bread and cheese.
  Calling things by the primary ingredient is not exactly all that weird. >
  
  
  it's no longer a grilled cheese, it's a grilled bread and cheese.
  
  If we're gonna be technically correct about this, it's a fried-bread-and-grilled-cheese.
  'Grilled cheese [sandwich]'' is not parsed as 'Cheese sandwich which is grilled' but rather 'sandwich primarily containing cheese which is grilled'. The bread is fried and the dry heat it transfers grills the cheese. >
  
  And if you put anything other than a hamburger patty on a bun, it's no longer a burger. >
  
  Not at all the same thing. >
  
  Where’s the line? How can adding ingredients in 1 sandwich change the name, but the same ingredients to the other not? >
  
  I’d argue the hamburger is named for the patty, not the toppings. I can have a naked hamburger, just the burger between bread. 
  Nothing is stopping the cheese from becoming grilled; the name is still accurate. >
  
  The meat is stopping the cheese from being grilled. The fat from the meat is what cooks the cheese. >
  
  Wouldn't that be called a melt? >
  
  Regionally, yes. >
  
  True >
  
  I love a slice of ham in my grilled cheese >
  
  Delicious. >
  
  This is a fact. Anything else is an “and cheese” sandwich. Frequently it’s a melt. >
  
  I don’t call it a grilled cheese with ham. It’s a grilled ham and cheese. That’s just a different sandwich from a grilled cheese. >
  
  If you use the same method to cook it as grilled cheese, I see nothing wrong with saying like 'grilled cheese with bacon' because you made a grilled cheese and added bacon. It's not a bacon melt, it's not a bacon cheese sandwich...you made grilled cheese With bacon.
  *wanted to add that a local sports bar does a "Grilled cheese burger" that has two grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns for the burger. That's like a compromise between both sides of this discussion lol >
  
  
  It's not a bacon melt
  
  It is a bacon melt. A melt is a sandwich with melted cheese. This does not preclude it being a grilled cheese though. All grilled cheeses are melts, but not all melts are grilled cheeses.
  And specifically in bacon's case, you probably haven't used the same method. Bacon is quite fatty so potentially, you've fried the cheese in bacon fat. Not a grilled cheese. >
  
  But if the bulk of the sandwich is still cheese, it's more grilled cheese than bacon melt. There's a fine line between what defines the sandwich and what accents the sandwich. >
  
  Grilled cheese is two pieces of bread with cheese in the middle, anything else is a toast. >
  
  
  anything else is a toast.
  
  *sips toast from my toast toast while seated in my toast and browsing toasts on popular toast toast Toast*
  Ah, delightful. >
  
  People like this are fucking wankers. >
  
  People like what? >
  
  i fully agree >
  
  This bugs me too. >
  
  OP, is this you?
  ​
  Jokes aside, counterpoint: If the sandwich filling is primarily grilled cheese, it is still a grilled cheese. If cheese is out-proportioned by other ingredients, or if the other ingredients are a significant element (see: croque monsieur, reuben, hot-ham-and-cheese) it is no longer a grilled cheese.
  ​
  Grilled cheese with ketchup? Grilled cheese.Bit of lettuce? Grilled cheese.Few bacon strips? Grilled cheese.Condiments or spices? Grilled cheese.
  Ham, tomato, lingonberry jam, stone-ground mustard, grilled cheese? That's a melt...And a bit of an odd one at that. Also I have all of those things and I am going to try that.
  It's only a melt if it's a sandwich with melted cheese on, obviously. Cool cheese? Sandwich. A hot-ham-and-cheese may be either a sandwich [hot ham, cool cheese] or a melt [cool ham, hot cheese] depending on the details. All melts are sandwiches but not all sandwiches are melts.
  And of course, it's not a grilled cheese if the cheese is not grilled. Have you buttered or oiled the inner of the bread slices? That's fried cheese now. >
  
  Lol not me, but I agree with the sentiment on that post! For the most part I agree with your assessment. Bacon is a gray area for me, I'd lean toward a melt in that case. I'd never pair just cheese and lettuce, but to each their own. You're right that the cheese is still the main component in that combo. Same with tomato, but still a melt in my eyes. Never tried ketchup with it, but I see it on par with dipping into a tomato soup. >
  
  Ok, so two questions:
  
  
  If I only can put cheese on bread, then how are you complaining that there's only one type of grilled cheese on the menu. What are the other menu item you wanted?
  
  
  If I say "braised short rib grilled cheese". Isn't it pretty obvious what I mean? >
  
  
  
  Not a complaint. Just given my definition of cheese, a restaurant called the Grilled Cheese Bistro serving a bunch of toasted sandwiches and calling them grilled cheese is silly. They could've at least made a variety of grilled cheeses. There are so many cheeses!!
  
  
  You mean a braised short rib melt. Not a grilled cheese. >
  
  Why have 2 word when just need 1? >
  
  False equivalence. 2 words. >
  
  That's not even what false equivalence means... >
  
  Is this not comparing apples and oranges? >
  
  I'm not comparing anything....
  If I can use one word (grilled cheese) for both without confusion, why do I need two words (grilled cheese and melt)? >
  
  I don't make the words man 😂
  Grilled cheese is a type of sandwich with bread and cheese.
  Melt is a regional term referring to a toasted/grilled/fried sandwich containing any number of ingredients, not just cheese. I suppose technically a grilled cheese can be a melt, but a melt can't be a grilled cheese. >
  
  We can make words though.
  In fact, your whole post was about trying to impose how words are used, and convince someone else that you had the right usage and it should be done a certain way, despite examples of the opposite usage.
  If you truly "don't make words man", be consistent, and take the words used at their face value. >
  
  I'm arguing the definition of the widely recognized term "grilled cheese". Not "grilled" and "cheese". I agree it's a stupid name but I guess "pan fried cheese sandwich" doesn't have the same ring to it. >
  
  Makes sense. >
  
  It's a sandwich with grilled cheese.   So yea.. still a grilled cheese.  
  Just like a burger with lettuce is still a burger. >
  
  Adding lettuce to a burger doesn’t change it much but adding a burger to a lettuce sandwich changes it entirely.  
  I think the starting ingredient varies in importance so your example doesn’t really hold up >
  
  Where does the line get drawn?  Could I add lettuce to a grilled cheese and still call it grilled cheese? >
  
  In my opinion adding anything outside of butter or mayo onto the bread changes it into a melt. >
  
  So would a cheeseburger become a melt? I tend to drop a slice of cheese right on top my burgers when they’re on the grill. >
  
  I suppose it technically would be a melt but the cheese to other ingredients wouldn’t be what you’d expect from a melt unless you put an ungodly amount on the burger lol >
  
  What about a sauce; like barbecue? Could I put a little slather of that inside and it still be a grilled cheese, or is that venturing into melt territory?  It doesn’t change the consistency of the sandwich, just the flavor profile. >
  
  I dont know that’s kinda on the edge for me.  I may allow it to pass since it’s just a sauce but at the same time the flavour will change immensely from it. >
  
  Flavor can change depending on the cheese/s you use though; American is the classic, but I’ve tossed on combinations of pepper jack, shredded Mexican blend, Gouda, provolone, and some others I’ve forgotten. >
  
  Those are all still cheese flavoured though.  That’s how you get different kinds of grilled cheese >
  
  Do people really not have bigger problems? >
  
  It's not a problem. It's an unpopular opinion. >
  
  So when you order a hamburger you just expect bun and meat or a cheeseburger bun meat cheese. What do you call such things when people add lettuce and pickles and whatnot >
  
  Burgers are their own separate entity within the sandwich genre, imo. You don't call it a burger sandwich do you? They're universally accepted as an add-your-chosen-topping dish, so it wouldn't make it not a burger to add something to a burger. For the most simple sandwich on Earth, the grilled cheese, the parameters are much more narrow. The name implies what it's supposed to be, and until recently with craft menus trying to make toasted sandwiches/melts into "grilled cheese", that's what it was. Bread/cheese. >
  
  
  For the most simple sandwich on Earth, the grilled cheese
  
  Sir, it is my deep sorrow to inform you that there is a simpler sandwich on Earth. >
  
  I didn't have to scroll down to know this came from the UK 😂 >
  
  if you add toppings to a ham sandwich, is it no longer a "ham sandwich"? >
  
  No. Other comments have discussed this more eloquently than I could explain. Basically in the case of a grilled cheese, the main component is the cheese, and that's the big difference. >
  
  Add bacon jam.  Trust me, it’s still grilled cheese… just yummier.