At Speakcheesy, We Create Amazing Grilled Cheeses

Speakcheesy was founded in 2014 as a spark of an idea between three friends Caroline Atkins, Hillery Sawyer, and Lillian Shaw. Rome did not offer a latenight food option for those enjoying the downtown night life and they wanted to fill that need! It all started with a birthday lunch. 

Hillery, lover of grilled cheese was turning 27 and her good friends Caroline and Lillian wanted to get her something magical, but they were, well, they were very broke. Caroline, just having graduated from GNTC’s food sciences program wanted to make Hillery the best birthday dinner she could offer. What did Hillery request? Why, her favorite, a gourmet grilled cheese, and not just any grilled cheese, but the best that was humanly possible.

It was at this birthday dinner that the three friends began discussing this need in the downtown night life.

And what could better than cheese and bread to get you through a late night in our downtown hub?

Hot latenight food wasn’t the only dream. The friends wanted to create a concept that was versatile, appealed to the masses, provided comfort and took you down memory lane with the nostalgia of childhood.

Together the friends incubated the idea, the name, the initial menu, and the branding in just a few short weeks. The friends got started by hosting a latenight pop-up grilled cheesery on Broad Street that allowed customers to vote for their favorite original grilled cheese recipes with their dollars.

The friends learned a lot about cheese, each other, and business over the six months they spent popping up on Broad Street.

At the end of 2014 the friends chose different careers, but this was still a dream Hillery wanted to make happen! She partnered with local non-profits like the Chieftains Museum and growing local festivals like Going Caching to get the word out about her unique concept.

By winter 2015, now sole owner, Hillery Sawyer had raised the $8,000 she needed to bootstrap this business from the help of friends and a quick repay loan from the Makervillage. She successfully paid the loan off in four months by March of 2016 while booking the truck around Rome.

From the parking lot of Redmond Regional Hospital to River Dog Outpost Speakcheesy headed off down the road to Atlanta, Athens, and even South Carolina to spread the cheese! Continuing to build their catering and events here in Rome.

A year later Hillery, equipped with a new Teammate in her soon to be husband, Benjamin Mitchell who dreams of cheese right along side her, they set off in Spring 2018 as they kicked off Speakcheesy’s music and craft festival US road tour taking the truck across state lines to over 15 music and art festivals across the south in order to fuel their expansion into a commercial prep kitchen and gastropub.

In summer of 2019 Speakcheesy had the opportunity to partner with local brewery Rome City Brewing to make their gastropub dream a reality right here on Broad Street across from the space where they hosted their very first pop-ups six years ago.

Hillery’s heart is as big as it is cheesy.

You can support Speakcheesy’s growth and journey by trying one of our many gourmet grilled cheeses or full menu at RCBC, ordering curbside or delivery, or simply grabbing a t-shirt or gift certificate for your friends and family!

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