A few years back, in a bar in their hometown of Cincinnati, longtime friends Eric Powell and Trevor Snowden sat sipping beers, discussing their futures. Both were working reasonably good, albeit unsatisfying corporate jobs. Having long discussed opening a restaurant - a shared passion - they started brainstorming ideas. A few beers later, they landed on grilled cheese. Not just any grilled cheese of course, but a "grown up" version. They talked about using gourmet cheeses and other high quality ingredients. They would create unique sandwiches and one-of-a-kind combinations.

It seemed like a great idea, but aren't restaurants supposed to be risky? That's what everyone had been telling them. The doubters got the best of them and they started exploring a more "sensible" path - buy a franchise. They set out the next day to look at a few available franchise restaurant businesses.

Nothing excited them. Even if the business made money, they realized they would be peddling an inferior and often horribly unhealthy product. They drove away disillusioned.

On the drive back, the grilled cheese topic came up again. They both loved it and knew they could pour effort into it passionately. The decision was made. Risk be damned! From that point forward, they worked tirelessly to develop the Meltworks concept.

But it wasn’t an easy road. Because they could not fund the business entirely with their own resources, they needed investors - investors which had become increasingly hard to come by as the economic climate deteriorated.

In 2010, as the search for funding continued, Eric was invited to pitch a group of very special investors on the NBC reality competition series, America’s Next Great Restaurant.

The series aired this spring on NBC and Eric made it to the Top 10 out of thousands of entrants! He won the first challenge by winning-over nearly one-thousand diners at Universal City Walk with the one-of-a-kind grilled cheese sandwiches from Meltworks. Unfortunately, Eric was eliminated later in the series, but not before introducing the world to Meltworks. Now that the series has completed, Eric and Trevor are back to work looking for the perfect location for the first Meltworks. Check back often for updates!