Since when did grilled cheese sandwiches become the next big food craze? What McDonald’s did for hamburgers, Cheeseboy, Grilled Cheese & Co., The Melt, Melty Way, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, and Cheesie’s Pub and Grub are trying to do for the simplest of American lunches–the grilled cheese sandwich.

According to Time Money online, food courts have been the proving grounds for many of these franchises, as the idea of adding different and sometimes opposing food items to the cheese and bread combo has been taking off. A favorite at Cheeseboy, is the “Cheeseboy Choco-Melt” made with Nutella, cinnamon bread and American cheese.

And with prices under $4, the economics compete with the popular burger chains.

My rule of thumb when going out to eat is simple: I like to order something that I can’t make in my own kitchen, or I don’t want to make in my own kitchen, or if I did make in my own kitchen, wouldn’t taste nearly as good. Not sure that grilled cheese sandwiches fall into any of those categories.