Melt It! in Pasadena refers to itself as “A Grilled Cheese Co.” I’m not sure what else would have been expected from a place called Melt It! (except maybe like fondue or a ton of patty melt options, which are basically just grilled cheeses with burgers in them anyway), but I was eager to see what kind of twists this place would make on the old standby.

There were plenty of options, including specials and some non-grilled cheese options, but I went with something called The Lar. The Lar is what happens when you try to turn jalapeno poppers into a grilled cheese and throw bacon in for good measure. Seriously, it’s cheddar, cream cheese, jalapenos and bacon on white bread.

You really can’t screw a sandwich like this up, and Melt It! did not. However, it was surprisingly light on the cream cheese. I know I’m used to bagels loaded up on the stuff with no other toppings, but this went beyond that. Fortunately there was cheddar for backup.

A little bit more shmear would have gone a long way, but it was the slightest complaint. Melt It! did a solid job of changing up grilled cheese and one of my favorite appetizers so I left a happy unvegan.