Upon strolling through the doors of Marie Catrib’s on Lake Drive, my ears were assaulted by a menagerie of sounds, as the voice of a waitress yelling an order strained over the chaos. Despite all the raucous commotion, I immediately took a liking to the lively atmosphere of the restaurant. Based on this instantaneous response to the restaurant’s environment, and the superior, made-with-love food Marie Catrib’s constantly boasts of, I anticipated a great meal, but I found myself disappointed with my order.

The order that so swiftly crushed my expectations was Marie’s Grilled Cheese. Grilled cheeses are certainly a weakness of mine, and after waiting about 30 minutes to even be seated, my grumbling stomach insisted I order something I would be sure to like. On the contrary, my simple order proved to be not at all as safe as I assumed. When the sandwich arrived at my table, its enticing appearance fooled me into believing for a moment that I had been right to order something so boring. However, the explosion of nothing-but-cream cheese that shocked my mouth as I bit into the sandwich proved me otherwise. The feta and goat cheese advertised in the menu was all blended into the cream cheese that overwhelmed the entire sandwich.

Though I requested no peppers, there were some tomatoes and basil thrown into the sandwich, but both ingredients were drowned out by the overload of cream cheese. Perhaps my palate is not sophisticated enough to appreciate any grilled cheese made with anything other than sliced cheese. A little boy one table over taunted me with his kid’s grilled cheese, as he waved his sandwich around, with strings of cheddar and swiss flying. I tried in vain to scrape off the abundance of cream cheese in order to salvage the bread, but alas, the delicious bread had succumbed to the cheese.

On a brighter note, I would highly recommend ordering a side of potatoes; they were slightly spicy, fluffy, and all around pleasing.

Regardless of my quarrel with the grilled cheese, I would love to go back to Marie Catrib’s. I think the restaurant has great potential, and I’m sure I would be easily able to find something else to satisfy me. With that in mind, I’d definitely recommend checking Marie Catrib’s out, but if you have the palate similar to that of a five-year-old, steer clear of the grilled cheese.