Get All Access for $5/mo

For National Grilled Cheese Day, Here Are 8 Facts About the Classic Sandwich April 12 is dedicated to everyone's favorite bread and cheese combo.

By Rose Leadem

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

UberEats

Every year, April 12 is dedicated to celebrating one of America's most popular and classic sandwiches -- the grilled cheese.

To recognize this national holiday, we've rounded up some out-there facts about the tasty food item. From the world's most expensive grilled cheese to the grilled cheese's place in World War II history, these eight facts might surprise you.

Related: 7 Fast Food Restaurants That Feature Secret Menus

1. The most "grilled cheese loving" cities are Baltimore, San Diego and Cincinnati, according to UberEATS.

2. UberEATS has also found that the most popular day of the week to order a grilled cheese is Saturday. The least popular day is Tuesday.

3. The most expensive grilled cheese in the world is the $214 "Quintessential Grilled Cheese" from Serendipity 3 in New York City. The sandwich features white truffle butter and rare Caciocavallo Podolico cheese between two pieces of French Pullman bread made with Dom Perignon champagne and 24-karat edible gold flakes.

4. In 1994, a woman named Diana Duyser saw an image of the Virgin Mary on her grilled cheese sandwich after taking a bite, then placed it in a plastic bag. Ten years later, she put it up for sale on eBay. Online casino GoldenPalace.com won the bid and paid $28,000 for the sandwich depicting the mother of God.

Related: 21 Surprising, Bizarre and Delicious Fast Food Items From Across the Globe

5. Grilled cheese sandwiches were very popular during World War II, and Navy cooks were instructed to prepare "American cheese filling sandwiches" by government-issued cookbooks.

6. The Grilled Cheese Invitational was an annual grilled cheese cook-off that took place in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2014.

7. The actual term "grilled cheese" did not make an appearance until the 1960s. Before then, it was referred to as a "melted cheese" or a "toasted cheese."

8. According to Food & Wine, one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches in the country is from The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco, made by Heidi Gibson, an engineer with degrees from MIT. She was also a winner in the 2011 Grilled Cheese Invitational.

Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.