Grilled Cheese Is A Delicious Art Form At Meltdown On 30A Airstream in Seaside

If your idea of comfort food has anything to do with a good ol’ grilled cheese sandwich, you can’t go wrong with the Meltdown On 30A.

When Chef Jim Shirley and partner Kelli Castille opened their shiny Airstream food truck, they felt that folks would be attracted to their grilled cheese offerings, but had no idea that a decade later, their simple idea would catch fire as it has.

Located centrally along Seaside’s Airstream Row, Meltdown On 30A draws customers of all ages wanting good ol’ comfort food. Food that everyone can connect to and just makes them feel good.

According to general manager Jason Schiess, grilled cheese sandwiches tug at the nostalgia of early childhood. “Most everyone grew up on grilled cheese sandwiches and Meltdown brings back those memories,” he explains.

But the grilled cheese offerings at Meltdown take it up a notch with gourmet ingredients. For example, try the Bacon and Brie consisting of fresh brie sliced with applewood-smoked bacon on cranberry-walnut bread. Or go for the Smokin’ Turkey, fresh sour dough, shaved turkey, avocados, applewood-smoked bacon, pepper jack cheese and Albuquerque sauce.

Chef Jim’s favorite, the B-A-C (bacon, avocado and cheese with bacon jam) is another example of grilled cheese sandwich bumped up to mouth-watering heavenliness. Of course, the standard Classic American Grilled Cheese sandwich on Texas toast is available and the Little Meltdowns for kids can be ordered with the bread crust cut off (want it with the bread crust intact? No problem, just ask for it).

Feeling patriotic? Come July 4th, try the Red, White and Blue, a delicious combo of blue cheese-infused brie, bacon, caramelized onion, balsamic reduction, and tomato. Nothing goes better with ANY grilled cheese than tomato soup and the Meltdown, again, bumps it up a notch with their Roasted Tomato Soup (fire-roasted tomatoes combined with extra virgin olive oil) or their Soup of the Day.

Beverages include bottled water, sweet or unsweet tea, green tea, sodas, pink lemonade, Honest Kids juice boxes, or for the adults, a good variety of beers and wines.

Keep an eye out for the chalkboard weekly specials, a Chef’s Grilled Cheese Feature.

No restaurant is complete without atmosphere and just hanging out near the Meltdown will boost your spirits. Located right smack in the middle of Seaside’s Airstream Row, the Meltdown elicits its own sweet aromas and music alongside the other food trucks (vintage airstreams), all of which radiate their own flavors and sounds.

They all make perfect sense and do not compete with one another for air space. At times, when silence intervenes, the gentle cooing of mourning doves resting in the scrub oak canopy are reminders of the sometimes hidden tranquility of Scenic 30A.

The recent moving of the Seaside Post Office (formerly located next to the Meltdown on 30A and now located adjacent to Sundog Books/Central Square Records, opened up a space now filled with tables and chairs for Seaside Airstream Row food customers to sit and enjoy their meals.

According to Jason, who also manages 45 Central at Seaside, a bride and groom recently held their wedding reception in the new space with their guests chowing down on grilled cheese sandwiches, beer, and wine. “Everyone really enjoyed it and again, comfort food to the rescue!” explains Jason.

For more information, call 850-231-0952, visit www.meltdownon30a.com - open Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat. and Sunday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.