2023? Fuck has it been that long?

yeah, me neither. it doesn't change the fact that that's not a grilled cheese. it's a melt.

Grab yourself a roast. Most people use chuck but I hate how fatty it is so I use eye round or top round. Throw it in a crock pot with two cans of cream of mushroom soup and a packet of beefy onion. Optionally I toss a can of beef consomme in there to keep it very watery to avoid the top bits getting dry. Crock pot on low, don't let it boil too much. Flip every few hours. Cook 9 hours. If you want taters or carrots toss em in halfway through. Best served with baked or mashed taters, alternatively you can shred the beef and serve over pasta and it's pretty amazing. Thank me later.

Well, there is a huge HUGE variety in cheese quality in general. American cheese is no different.

US Government cheese is American cheese, although while classic American cheese is made from colby and jack, a wider variety can go into Government cheese. I cannot speak to the quality of it at all, having never had it to my knowledge. But at least it should be better than Kraft singles (which do still have a place, imho, just a small one. lol. Like... fine on a burger or whatever)

Anything single-wrapped in plastic is almost certainly "cheese food" or whatever.

In the deli, it will come in typically five or I think ten pound blocks - blocks, anyway. It can be sliced like any cheese.

To me, cheese is many different things. I enjoy your standard cheese types sold in most grocery stores, although I also enjoy cheese from a dedicated cheese shop on a wholly different level. I have a number of favorites that I will have a couple of ounces of along with some fancy crackers, good sweet gherkins, black olives, various things like that - or a good crusty bread or a nice challah or something.

So deli American cheese doesn't rise to THAT level, altough just tonight I had some great smoked gruyere along with Boar's Head yellow American and sweet gherkins for a snack, and the American held its own in that mix. heh.

I would say that I personally prefer a nice sharp cheddar - anything below medium is boring, so even a good quality mild cheddar is pretty boring to me. It's not a fair analogy, but I'd say the cheese food stuff is like a mild cheddar - fine but boring. Gimme a nice extra sharp and we're talking. Well, gimme a good deli American cheese and it's one I'll eat on its own. Lesser stuff is only okay if it's melty on some sandwich or something.

I hope that helps a bit. lol. I'd imagine your local deli should have some sort of American cheese, though I don't know that for sure. It's just that it's really common for sandwiches, so if they have a decent cheese selection, surely they will. lol. Board's Head makes a good one, Land'O'Lakes is pretty decent. I can't think of any others, but I have forgotten a common brand or two that should exist. heh.