Is Cheesie's Pub & Grub Still Open? Food Paradise Update (Chicago, IL)

Food Paradise, Season 14, Episode 3

On "Bun-Believable," Cheesie's Pub & Grub was featured for its grilled-cheese sandwich menu, with the episode spotlighting the Chicago bar's over-the-top grilled cheese and mac-and-cheese creations. Cheesie's operates as a bar and grill on West Belmont Avenue in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, with a second Wrigleyville location and a food truck under the same brand. Cheesie's own website, checked 2026-09-08, lists an active online-ordering system for both the Lakeview and Wrigleyville locations, and a Google Places listing checked the same day lists the Lakeview location as operational. The site also lists a catering menu and seasonal specials and events for both locations, without a specific update date attached.

Mystery Diners, Season 4, Episode 8 Aired September 4, 2013

Mystery Diners' Sept. 4, 2013 episode "Lactose Intolerant" (Season 4, Episode 8) featured Cheesie's Pub & Grub in Chicago. According to Food Network's episode page and recaps on IMDb and TVmaze, the owner asked Charles Stiles to investigate after several petite female customers easily finished the restaurant's grilled-cheese eating challenge. Undercover Mystery Diners David and Destiney attempted the challenge themselves and found that a waiter and a cashier were bending the contest's rules, giving favored contestants extra help and free drinks so they could win.

In the confrontation, Stiles had the owner fire both employees, and the owner then put new rules in place for the eating challenge to keep staff and customers from gaming it going forward. Wikipedia's article on the series, citing its sources, notes that the show carries a credits disclaimer stating that events may be re-enacted for dramatic purposes, and cites a television critic who described the show's scenarios as implausible and its resolutions as staged. This appearance is tracked here as an additional TV credit for the business already profiled on this site as Cheesie's Pub & Grub; that existing profile carries the current status and address. At the time of filming, the grilled-cheese eating challenge was already a signature promotion at the BYOB, pub-style restaurant, according to the same episode recaps.