Paddy Jacks, Toledo

More than a few local legends swirl around Dublin cheesemonger Pat Hyland, better known as Paddy Jack. One tale has him traveling more than more than 1,000 miles to retrieve a cow that had been carried off by a tornado—no mean feat when one considers the rarity of tornadoes in Ireland and the fact that the island's only 250 miles from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay. Another tells of him hiding the recipes to his finest cheeses in a cave beneath Dublin, possibly just below the Temple Bar market where he sold them for 10 years.

Paddy Jack's strives to match Hyland's passion for quality, exemplified by his phrase: “People can taste the effort you put in.” That effort can be tasted in the establishment's more than 20 stuffed grilled-cheese sandwiches. The Memphis Mac is the chef's favorite, lined as it is with pulled pork and topped with mac and cheese. But the Loco Jack makes it a contest with its splash of special sauce and hidden depths of crushed Doritos. Running throughout all the sandwiches, however, are cheeses that could stand with the best produced by Hyland on Co Laois, his farm in Cuffsboro.