The Brief

Editor's note: This story first published in February 2020, but much has happened since then, including the closure of some restaurants that were on the original list. This story has been updated and republished.

Sandwiches don't get more basic than cheese and bread, yet a grilled cheese sandwich is much more than the sum of its parts. There's the choice of cheese, of bread, of butter. How much of each item do you use? Do you grill or toast it? For how long? What about condiments? And soups? And sides?

For some of us, grilled cheese is more than a nostalgic childhood staple or a quickie meal — it offers solace. It smoothes out the indignities of a bad workday and soothes the sting of unwelcome news. It's the ultimate comfort food, simple enough to be made by a child and universal enough you can find the ingredients almost anywhere.

It's also a modern Los Angeles classic, made with all kinds of intentions and iterations.

Here are a few of our favorite places to indulge in and around L.A. and the O.C. If we missed your favorite place for a grilled cheese, please let us know and we may include it on our list. (After we go and test it out, of course!)

A build-your-own grilled cheese sandwich at Clementine.

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Shelley Boyle

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Courtesy of Clementine

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Clementine

Long before grilled cheese sammies became a gourmet staple, chef Annie Miler has spent every April celebrating Grilled Cheese Month. Year-round, Clementine has a build-your-own grilled cheese option that allows you to get creative with the types of breads, cheese, proteins and more, starting at $10.25. (Add roasted cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, sundried tomatoes for $2.75. Add "the works" — lettuce, red onions, pickled jalapenos and mayo — for $1.50.)

The no-frills, classic grilled cheese sandwich at the Apple Pan.

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Anna Gragert

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LAist

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The Apple Pan

The $7.75 grilled cheese at the Apple Pan serves as a reminder not to underestimate the power of basic ingredients. Choose between Swiss or Tillamook cheddar and white, wheat or rye bread. If you don't specify, you'll get melted-to-perfection cheddar on white bread with a side of black olives and crinkle-cut, cinnamon-tinged pickle coins. It's fast, no-frills diner food. Save room for one of the housemade pies (we vote for banana cream).

The grilled cheese sandwich at Esters Wine Shop goes well with a glass of wine.

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Abby Mahler

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Courtesy of Esters

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Esters Wine Shop & Bar

Provolone, Reggiano and Reading cheese are blended with béchamel that oozes out from slices of salted pain de mie baked at Milo + Olive, Esters Wine Shop & Bar's sister spot. The sandwich is paired with cornichons and a spicy red pepper jam. And on first bite, you'll understand why the sandwich costs $18.

The grilled mac 'n' cheese sandwich at The Melt.

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Courtesy of The Melt

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The Melt

The Melt's $7.99 best-seller places muenster, fontina and sharp cheddar between slices of French bread. But you could argue that the $10.49 Mac Daddy grilled cheese — creamy mac 'n' cheese with flawlessly cooked noodles (not too soft, not too al dente), sharp and medium cheddar, smoked bacon and crisp onions — is what makes the Melt stand out. (Vegetarians can order it without bacon.) It's a comfort food collision in the best way. The Melt has multiple locations across California, including in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Irvine and San Diego.

The Hat

The Hat is best known for its pastrami sandwiches but it also makes a killer grilled cheese. The bread is so crunchy you'll think it was fried in butter. The cheese is as gooey and as American as it gets. Together, they create a simple, nostalgic sammie that costs only $4.99. Staffers are happy to customize it with add-ons and your choice of bread. In a world that can be overwhelming, the Hat makes a classic sandwich, done right. There are multiple locations across the Southland, including Alhambra, Brea, Glendora, Lake Forest, Monterey Park and Pasadena.

The grilled cheese sandwich at Swingers.

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Anna Gragert

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LAist

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Swingers Diner

The Stuffed Grilled Cheese, $15.95, at Swingers houses jack and cheddar cheese, guacamole, sliced tomatoes and grilled onions. Imagine an In-N-Out grilled cheese but bigger, more aggro and with a California diner twist. The creaminess of the mashed avocado is perfect with the sharpness of the cheese while the tomatoes add acidity and the grilled onions bring sweetness. Swingers stays open late and this is an ideal way to fill your stomach after a night out.

A grilled cheese sandwich at the Carving Board.

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JP Cordero

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Courtesy of the Carving Board

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The Carving Board

The $8 grilled cheese at the Carving Board is made with mozzarella and cheddar on grilled pain de mie. Simple yet finger-licking good. There's also a $13 buffalo grilled cheese with grilled chicken, buffalo sauce and mozzarella on that same toasty pain de mie.

A grilled cheese sandwich at Waffle Love.

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Courtesy of Waffle Love

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Waffle Love

When a waffle meets a grilled cheese, what do you get? A sandwich that delights in texture as much as it does in taste. Stuffed with muenster, provolone and a tart garlic butter, Waffle Love's $8.93 croissant-waffle sandwich brings sweetness to a savory meal. Paired with tomato bisque, $13.85 for the combo, it's a model brunch food for those times when you can't decide whether you want breakfast or lunch.

A grilled cheese sandwich at Cassell's.

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Wonho Frank Lee

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Courtesy of Cassell's

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Cassell's Hamburgers

If you enjoy a diner-style grilled cheese, look no further. Cassell's beautifully buttered $9.50 sandwich is filled with cheddar, Swiss and mozzarella that oozes out from between the bread and turns crisp. Imagine a grilled cheese studded with flecks of Cheez-Its and served with a side of "tomato jam" (i.e. fancy ketchup that may spoil your love for Heinz). Definitely get an order of their Kennebec fries or the sweet potato waffle fries.

Public officials across California are contemplating what to do with dozens of streets, parks and libraries named in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted two girls and a woman decades ago.

The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the New York Times published earlier this week that sent shock waves across the country.

Chávez, who was head of the United Farm Workers union, is widely recognized as one of the most influential labor leaders in U.S. history, known for founding the union and for leading national boycotts of grapes to improve working conditions for farmworkers.

Chávez died in 1993.

Many state and local leaders, including L.A.’s mayor and county supervisors, suggested changing the César Chávez holiday on March 31 to Farm Workers Day. March 31 was Chávez’s birthday.

In Sacramento on Thursday, Democratic leaders of the state Legislature said they would push for such a change.

“The farmworker movement was never ever about one man,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said at a news conference. “It was built by tens of thousands of workers. People who labored in the fields, people who organized, people who sacrificed and who stood up when it was hard.

“We have a responsibility to remember the movement and to move it forward with integrity.”

Also on Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a proclamation renaming the city's César Chávez Day holiday as “Farm Workers Day.” The city recognizes the holiday on the last Monday of March.

“I grew up as a child admiring the farmworker movement,'' Bass said. “I didn't think I was ever going to eat grapes again because my family boycotted grapes.”

The grape strike, organized in part by Chávez, lasted five years from 1965 to 1970.

Multiple allegations of sexual assault

The New York Times investigation uncovered multiple allegations that Chávez had sexually assaulted girls and women in the 1960s and ‘70s, when he was head of United Farm Workers, including union co-founder Dolores Huerta.

Huerta, now 95, told the Times the rape and sexual assault resulted in pregnancies that she kept secret. Huerta said she gave the children up for adoption after birth.

In a statement, Huerta said in part: “... for the last 60 years [I] have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”

Bass said Thursday she met Chávez once and “thought it was an opportunity of a lifetime.” She said her heart “broke” this week when she heard the allegation that Chávez had raped Huerta.

The mayor said renaming the holiday would allow people “to reflect on how the struggle of farmworkers has elevated working people everywhere.”

She added that the city would need to consider changing the names of buildings, streets and other things named in honor of Chávez.

For example, César Chávez Avenue runs through the heart of the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Several murals of Chávez dot the city.

Bass said she had been in contact with Chávez's family, and they supported her action.

The mayor was joined at the proclamation signing by Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who said in a statement that the farmworker movement has always been about the power of the people, “especially the women whose labor built it and too often went unseen."

“As we honor that legacy, we also have a responsibility to tell the truth about harm and stand with survivors,” Hernandez said.

Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado also attended the news conference. She said the movement doesn’t belong to one person.

“Farm Workers Day honors the workers, families and organizers still in the fields and still fighting for fair wages, safe conditions and dignity,” the statement from Jurado read. “And it recognizes that this movement is carried forward every single day by people whose names we may never know but whose impact continues to define the spirit of Los Angeles.”

Other cities and counties 

Many other cities and counties are considering wiping Chávez's name from public spaces.

L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said she would introduce a motion looking at renaming the county’s César Chávez holiday.

Supervisor Janice Hahn suggested the county consider renaming Chávez day “Farm Worker Day.”

“For those of us who grew up admiring the farmworker movement, today's news is heartbreaking,'' Hahn said in a statement Wednesday. "But as in any other civil rights movement, men were only half the story. The abuses of one man will never diminish the extraordinary sacrifices, accomplishments, and legacy of the women of the farmworker movement.

“It's time we put them first.”

The process for renaming streets and other public structures varies from city to city and school district to school district. It could take months before many cities move to erase Chávez's name from public spaces.

You can follow your city council agenda to keep up with what’s going on, or better yet, reach out to your representatives on the council and county Board of Supervisors to make your voice heard on the issue.

California, along with a coalition of 23 other states and a dozen cities and counties, sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for rolling back the scientific finding requiring it to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.

“This isn’t a small technical change,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a press conference in Sacramento. “It’s a sweeping decision that would increase pollution, worsen climate change and put the health of millions of Americans at risk. And it’s not based on any credible science.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to reinstate a 2009 conclusion known as the endangerment finding — that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare.

The climate rule served as the scientific basis for the agency’s ability to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The Trump administration finalized the repeal of the endangerment finding Feb. 12. A post on the EPA’s website stated the change would also dissolve restrictions on vehicle emissions and save Americans $1.3 trillion.

“As a result of these changes, engine and vehicle manufacturers no longer have any future obligations for the measurement, control and reporting of GHG emissions for any highway engine and vehicle, including model years manufactured prior to this final rule.”

Sanchez said California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, signed into law by then-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “remains unchanged.”

Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties also were parties to the suit.

KQED’s Laura Klivans contributed to this report.

California voters are split along party lines on two controversial proposed ballot measures — a billionaire tax and an initiative requiring voters to show government ID when they cast a ballot — according to a new poll.

The survey from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found 52% of voters backing a proposed one-time, 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires. The money would be used to fund health care programs, which are being cut by the Trump administration; 33% of registered voters said they were opposed and 15% said they are still undecided.

Whether voters back the measure, which is being pushed by a health care labor union, is highly correlated to their partisan leanings: 72% of Democrats said they’d support the billionaire tax if it qualifies for the November ballot, while the same percentage of Republican voters are opposed. Voters with no party preference were more split, with 51% backing the wealth tax.

The voter ID ballot measure is more evenly divided, with 44% of voters in support and 45% opposed. Republican voters said they would overwhelmingly vote “Yes.” Democrats are unified in opposition, with only 19% in support.

IGS co-director Eric Schickler said that while neither measure has qualified yet for the ballot, most voters surveyed said they are aware of the proposals.

“The Billionaire Tax Initiative starts out in a relatively strong position, but with it polling just above 50%, that still leaves room for what will be an intense, expensive campaign,” he said. “The Voter ID Initiative looks like it faces an uphill climb: given the strong Democratic opposition, it needs very strong support among nonpartisan voters, and it currently seems to be falling short. But it is still very early.”

If they move forward, the campaigns around both measures are expected to be expensive and bruising. Democrats are split on the billionaires tax: Gov. Gavin Newsom is opposed, Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna said he’s in support, and many other Democrats — including legislative leaders and candidates for governor — have offered support for the concept but expressed concerns with the details of this proposal.

Some billionaires have already left California, and others, like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, are lining up huge campaign war chests to fight the measure.

And Democrats are gearing up to fight the voter ID measure, which several Southern California Republican lawmakers are pushing. The proposed ballot measure comes as the U.S. Senate debates what’s known as the SAVE Act, a far more draconian voter ID measure.

Backed by President Donald Trump, that legislation would require a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, essentially eliminate mail-in ballots and require states to hand over their voter rolls to the federal government. It already passed the House but is facing a steep climb in the Republican-led Senate.

The poll was conducted between March 9 and 15 among more than 5,000 registered California voters. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 2 points.

The Los Angeles Unified board members who represent schools named for César Chávez are calling for their renaming.

A New York Times investigation published Wednesday found the famed labor leader Chávez sexually abused girls and women including United Farmer Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta.

“In light of this information, we believe it is necessary to move away from traditional César Chávez-centered celebrations and lessons tied to the state holiday and instead prioritize student safety, dignity and truth,” read a statement from board member Kelly Gonez and Vice President Rocío Rivas.

The renaming process would likely take months and include meetings with school staff, students and parents. In the meantime, district leaders and educators are grappling with how the allegations of abuse change lessons about a figure who helped galvanize generations of activists.

“ I think we are all deeply, deeply troubled by the allegations that have come forward over the last couple of days,” said Andres Chait, the acting Los Angeles Unified superintendent.

Chait said that March 27 will continue to be a school holiday (the currently named César Chávez Day, on March 31, falls during LAUSD’s spring break).

A district spokesperson provided a statement Wednesday that said a review of curriculum and resources related to Chávez is underway “to ensure the emphasis remains on the important work of the farmworker movement, not on any one individual.”

How are community members and educators reacting?

Last semester, students at STEM Academy of Hollywood learned about Chávez and the movement to unionize farmworkers in Irene Atilano’s ethnic studies class.

Atilano said students walked into her classroom Wednesday with questions after seeing the allegations of Chávez’s abuse on social media.

“ They were just like, ‘What do you think?’” Atilano said. “And I'm like, 'It doesn't matter what I think. What do you guys think? Let's learn together.'”

Their reactions ranged from “this really sucks,” to a sense of loss.

“This is why we don't try to idolize people,” Atilano said. “We want to make sure that we focus on the community, we focus on the movement.”

Atilano said she plans to teach ethnic studies again and is thinking about how misogyny and patriarchy intersect with political and social justice movements.

“It can be found everywhere,” Atilano said. “I’m trying to see how I can make those connections in the future, but it's a work in progress.”

On March 10, the LAUSD board unanimously approved a resolution recognizing Chávez — one of many such resolutions over the years — and pledging to provide curriculum and resources aligned with the foundation that promotes his legacy, education and economic development. The board last year also passed a resolution honoring Huerta.

In response to LAist’s questions about curriculum related to Chávez, an LAUSD spokesperson provided a statement that said the district is providing additional instructional materials “to support classroom learning, ensuring students continue to engage with themes of leadership, service and social justice in age-appropriate and meaningful ways.”

LAUSD board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin issued a statement Wednesday morning with links to resources related to sexual and domestic violence.

“Just my own team, we’re seven women … and our own triggers, our own stories are coming out,” Ortiz Franklin said. “You can imagine that happening everywhere in homes, in classrooms, the adults having to manage this, and then also, helping students process.”

César Chávez Elementary in El Sereno is one of several schools in Southern California named after the labor leader.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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How would renaming work?

Blanca Juarez was at César Chávez Elementary in El Sereno on Wednesday to pick up her daughter. With a father and grandmother who were both farmworkers, she said she was troubled by the news.

“He was like the only hope in those days — the only one speaking for all of the — and now, well, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say,” Juarez said.

She said it was too soon to be talking about renaming the school.

Gonez and Rivas said they would work with the communities surrounding the elementary school and the César Chávez Learning Academies in San Fernando to identify new names.

In recent years, the school renaming process has included meetings with staff, students, parents and community members and a public vote. The LAUSD board must vote to finalize any name changes.

LAist Deputy Managing Editor Fiona Ng contributed to this story.