Steve’s Cheese

Excellent in its time, but now closed. Steve moved over to the East Side to open the Cheese Bar (starting mid-​March 2010) where he will have all his same favorite cheeses, along with single plate munchies, beer, and more!

Can’t say much more than has already been said. Perfect experience. Went in and said «I’ve got an empty stomach and not much knowledge. Set me up with something awesome.». Then Tim spent the next half hour letting me taste dozens of cheeses. It was great. Left with 4 different selections. I will be a frequent customer.

Hubby and I wanted to give nice stocking gifts this year (not the same ol’ dollar tree shampoo and small toys). Our family being foodies, we thought, what about cheese. After a quick search on Unilocal we found Steve’s Cheese.
I have to say… they are great! We walked in, 15 minutes till close, not knowing a thing about cheese. The two gentlemen behind the counter were not only helpful, but worked with us on what cheeses to get and made sure we stayed in budget. I highly recommend this place, they have a huge verity and good prices.

With the Wedge
coming up this Saturday I think this is the perfect time to give a shout out to Steve. When it comes to cheese he’s the man. Sure I love Costco’s Coastal Cheddar, some aged Tillamook action, or a trip to the nearest New Season’s, but when I want something new, different, hard to find, or just plain awesome it’s gotta be Steve’s Cheese.
It’s a small operation (as many of the best are) just Steve (and sometimes a fellow expert assistant), a case of carefully selected cheesy goodness, and yeah that’s about it. Located within the Square Deal winery (NW23rd & Thurman), a visit to this shop will open either open you up to world of cheese you didn’t know existed or delight you with selections you’d be trying desperately to find. Like tasting an expertly crafted glass of aged Red Bordeaux, to visit Steve’s is to understand just how good a truly good cheese can be.
There are three things that keep me coming back here. One, Steve and staff are as friendly, knowledgeable, patient, and unpretentious as you could hope for. Two, the selection of cheese, is deep, wide, intellectually stimulating, and ultimately delicious. The cheeses come from mostly small producers (some who have only five cows, who’s names Steve knows) ranging from the Northwest to Europe. Three, you get to taste before you buy! Seriously. After expertly describing the cheese he actually lets you try them. Some of my favorites so far Essex St. Comte, Estrella Brewleggio, Ros Ombra, & Sampietrino.
Go. Tell him what you like. Enjoy. Leave happy. Why guess, when here you can take home only what you love.

Moving to Portland from the San Francisco Bay Area has been a huge revelation for me. I am still inclined to believe that the Bay Area IS the Center of the Universe and, let’s face it, the food scene is unbeatable. Portland is an excellent choice for food lovers as well. One of the things I miss most about my hometown is Cowgirl Creamery Cottage Cheese — it is the best cottage cheese anywhere and was a staple of my diet. I beg The Big Man to bring me some but alas! he is not willing to check his bags each week just to accommodate my more-​than-​3-​ounces special request. Damn! So, in searching for this once easy-​to-​acquire treat, I have found it to be so elusive here in Rose City. Someone whispered that it might be available at Steve’s Cheese. I made a bee-​line up to the other side of town.
This is where the story gets sad… they were out of my beloved dairy food of choice. Not only that, but I discovered that the cute little tubs I have come to cherish are never available here. They buy in bulk and ration it out… I wince at the thought… How can I sustain my night shift work nightmare without my clabbered cottage cheese?! I am throwing myself on the mercy of Steve and begging him to PLEASE buy Cowgirl Creamery Cottage Cheese in the regular sized containers! I know Oregonians are not fond of all of us former Californians invading their territory, but we bring good things! Please make this one of them!
My ranting, begging, and humiliating pleading aside, this is a terrific cheese shop with loads of variety. Well worth the trip up to NW Thurman… I am now off to beg the creamery to ship some cottage cheese my way…

Oh man this place has got some great cheese. the cheese monger took us on a trip around the world with cheese and ended up buying a crap load. Everyone here was extremely friendly and nice – the reason why I bought so much. We also tasted the wines, nothing to spectacular here but the lady that helped us was very knowledgeable and nice.

Thank GOD Steve has not openned a place in SE!
I can barely stop myself from driving over the bridge and through the traffic across town to not worship at the house of Steve.
Other people carry «gourmet cheese» but Steve lives cheese. Everytime I go everyone there is very friendly, knowledge and helpful.
Too bad about the location. ;-)

Euphoric: exaggerated feeling of well-​being or elation… You get what I’m sayin. The care and precision that has been taken to assemble the selection of cheese and cured meats here is evident. Steve’s motto: Buy a little and buy often. Yes Master…
My favorite thing is to let his staff call the shots… surprise me! I’ve never been let down. Curious… just ask. If it hasn’t already been offered, a taste is always available.
Educated, unpretentious & passionate about cheese. What are you waiting for?

Good selection of artisan cheese! Staff very helpful

What’s a nice boy from Iowa doing in Portland, selling FANTASTIC CHEESE that’s what. Get in there and get some cheese… oh yeah then some wine, then pop next door for wine. don’t pass up on the prosciutto from Iowa cured in Berkeley. As good as any I had in Italy! Cheese cheese cheese cheese…

It’s about time I got around to reviewing Steve’s Cheese — I reviewed Square Deal Wine Company (which envelops Steve’s) months ago and suggested that Steve’s would be a separate review.
Everything said by the two previous reviewers is true. What can I add? Well, Steve is a gem, but he is not always there. The very good news is that he has assistants who are knowledgeable and friendly. With Steve or his assistants you can walk in and describe your plans — what you plan to eat or sip with the cheese you are looking for — and get all the unpretensious assistance you need to walk out with the right cheeses. This might involve trying several samples — they don’t begrudge you samples, they encourage you to try them.
I love that Steve’s is so close to my home — I can buy small quantities of his fine cheeses more often, and less goes to waste.
You’ll find lots of exotic-​sounding cheese offerings here, along with more «ordinary» offerings. I saw a tub of cottage cheese (Cowgirl Creamery) in Steve’s case and asked him about it. His eyes literally glassed over with his pleasure in thinking about that cheese and he told me that, if the shop ever catches fire, we’ll see him running out the door with a tub of CC cottage cheese!

Food is my life, and my last few years have been spent learning about cheeses for my job. Steve’s got a selection of cheeses that are fantastic to say the least. His local farmstead and artisan cheese selection, considering that many are direct delivery or Farmers Market, makes an eat-​local-​food supporter a little weepy with joy. If you are also a wine fanatic, this is the place to go as you can scratch both your cheese and wine itch at the same place. As Angela B. pointed out, he’s tucked away as the best kept, well no longer secret, but ‘secret’ in Portland sharing space with Square Deal. His case is petite, but his selection and breadth of options is not. You don’t need a big cheese case to have big cheese, you just need to know what to get.
If you don’t find it here, and Steve can’t find it for you, you haven’t asked him enough questions. They are not pretentious at all, so don’t be afraid if you aren’t a food expert or even don’t know Velveeta from a Brie. Steve and the crew will help you out.

Steve’s Cheese is a small artisan cheese and cured meat shop tucked inside Square Deal Wine Company on Thurman Street. My cheese knowledge is pretty limited to cottage, cheddar and swiss, so Steve’s Cheese was just what this girl needed to take things up a notch.
There’s this guy behind the counter (let’s just call him… Steve) who actually took time to educate me without any of that pompous cheese-​speak (you know how those cheese snobs can be!)
If you’re craving a more elaborate lesson about the finer points of cheese, Steve’s offers wine and cheese classes for 15-​bucks which gives you the opportunity to sample 5 – 6 cheeses and 5 – 6 wine varietals. That’s one heck of a price to pay for a little culture if you ask me.