15-year-old opens gourmet grilled cheese food stand in Sawyer

SAWYER, Mich. -- She’s a high school student with a knack for grilling up the cheesiest grilled cheese in town.

“I start with a handful of cheese, add another layer of cheese. And another layer of cheese.”

Its 15-year-old Anna Thompson of Flossmoor, Illinois.

Normally, Anna plays soccer and golf to keep herself busy.

This summer, an accidental idea is keeping her schedule packed.

She’s serving up gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches in Sawyer.

This teen vacations to the area with her family every year. A location not too far from the family home became prime real estate to open her stand “Say Cheese.”

“I never though to do a variation on a classic grilled cheese. So, the more and more I explored with it, it became really fun to make,” said Thompson.

You can find her on the corner of Red Arrow Highway and Tower Hill Road, right in front of HCM Vintage Finds.

The idea for a food truck wasn’t exactly intentional.

“We saw an old, antique food truck. I was kind of kidding around with my mom and was like ‘Oh I should open a food truck. And the more and more I thought about it I was like ‘Oh. I actually could,’” she said.

Her father, Tyler, helped her build the mobile stand. But he said she was the driving force.

“She never ceases to amaze me. She gets something in her head. You can’t tell her no and she’ll figure out a way of getting it completed,” said her father.

She learned how to use power tools and make reclaimed materials part of her business.

In the truck, she slices, stacks, then grills the cheesy cuisine. She nearly sold out on her second say of business. Anna said she served around 80 sandwiches.

Anna explained, “We have gone through so much bread, that I’m just going through loaf and loaf and loaf. I’m like, ‘We’re gonna run out!”

You don’t miss out on this young entrepreneur’s hot spot.

She heads back to Prairie State on Friday until summer.

You can stop by for a bite from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.