Sonoma Cheese Factory

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Lots of choices and lots of samples. Cute little shop right on the main square. Stop here to pick up items for your own picnic lunch. Lots of meats, wine, trinkets, chips, and snacks available.

Have been to this place many times and it’s ok. Pretty touristy. It’s a convenient and reasonably priced place for a casual lunch on the go.

Good burgers and wait can be a burden, and stuff isnt cheap. But hard to beat the location, and they do have a few cheese samples and bathrooms.

This place was more like a «factory outlet» store. They don’t make the cheese on the premises any longer. Lots of cheese not a lot of help. We walked around looking for an open register. Thankfully a nice young lady appeared from the front of the store and sold us the cheese. Was just expecting something else.

While I can’t speak for the café offerings here, my girlfriend and I loved the cheese and meat selection. We picked out a couple of each and basically just made our own charcuterie board to enjoy on the patio seating outside. Great to stock up on some supplies for lunch or a snack right on the square.

Great sandwiches, great wine tasting selections and really friendly service. The cheeses were wonderful and enjoyed the samples of those too!

Me and my mom come here and we enjoy ourselves every time! The cheese tasting is great although they don’t always have a big selection to try. We usually get sandwiches that they make very well & everything is fresh. When the bbq pit is going don’t forget to try their tri tip and pulled pork it’s really good. Area isn’t too diverse either but other than that it’s a nice little community.

You know, it’s really a sad story to tell. I grew up in Santa Rosa, and had a friend who lived in Sonoma. And this was THE place to go for awesome cheese and a super cute video on the family and its history in Sonoma. (This was 15 years ago)
And then I got married to an Italian. Who grew up in Sonoma. And couldn’t figure out what I saw in «that tourist trap on the square where they don’t make the cheese!»
To justify my decisions, I was quite young (21) and obviously, unworldly. And after a few unpleasant scoldings from several Sonoma Nonnies, I left this place in the dust.
Because: it’s mass produced, flavorless, chewy, never creamy, old samples for the masses cheese. That is never complex, balanced, or has me dreaming of more
Learn you lesson and go to Vellas (and see my 5 star review and current recs)

When we saw cheese factory and wine tasting, we were expecting something very different than what we got. We were hoping for a wine and cheese type of experience. It’s more like a deli and you buy cheeses to take home. But they do have a one tasting bar. You can try three wines for just $ 5, and they were fairly generous pours. Ryan helped us and we were pretty impressed by his knowledge. He said they used to do fudge pairings, but I guess that is no more. we tried a couple free samples of the cheese and it was pretty delicious. A fun little stop.

Cheese seemed nothing special but it has free samples. Service seemed great.
I definitely prefer Vella (close by).

This place is a great stop if you’re driving through the area and need some impromptu picnic items (I highly recommend bringing stuff from your home grocer if you’re not accustomed to the price gouging that inevitably happens in Napa or Sonoma County). The prices here won’t make you rethink your entire weekend, at least.
We really enjoy the cheeses they carry — the Garlic Pepper Jack was great, along with the regular Jack and Habanero cheese (I have no idea what wine I would pair with that, but it’s fun to eat!).
There’s wine tasting inside the store, along with a deli and a little gelato corner tucked in the back. It’s a pretty big store, with lots to check out if you’re just browsing. It’s located right in the middle of downtown Sonoma, which you should be visiting, anyway. Check it out!

The sandwiches were tasty.
If you enjoy tri-​tip is yummy, seasoned juicy. Lunchbox is full, chips, choice of water/​soda, and a decent portion sandwich.
You can sample a few cheeses, free.
There is wine tasting, in the back left corner. That’s where you find Ryan.
Ryan is knowledgable in his field.
Ryan is great to chat with too.
You can eat outside if you wish, front seating, or seating in the back, other side of cheeses/​wine/​olive case. Here you can find the gelato.
Service was great! We will return!

Terrible and super salty pulled bbq pork, over done panini, chewy tri tip. Self serv everything and poor seating. Not good for dinning in every way possible.
I rather eat at Seven Eleven.

Nothing fantastic. It’s a tourist trap. Tri-​tip barbeque wasn’t even warm. Wouldn’t come back to try this place again– nothing worth seeing again.

A little slow getting out of the house one weekend morning, it was after noon by the time we made it to downtown Sonoma. So, we were thinking we should put some food in our stomachs before we imbibe any of the wines. We wanted something straightforward, so a sandwich seemed like a good idea.
Once inside, we found a selection of made to order sandwiches with your choice of breads. The selection was good, but the ordering process was a bit of chaos. It was noisy, busy, and a bit disorganized. If you got a regular sandwich, it came out from the counter next to the cashier, but if you got a panini you picked it up from the back by the ice cream. We waited for a quite a bit, and I felt like I had to watch like a hawk just to make sure no one would walk away with my sandwich.
The food itself was ok, but all the other sandwich delis in the Sonoma/​Napa area that I’ve tried have been more memorable. There was a pretty delicious mustard, but otherwise it was similar to a sandwich I might make for myself at home.
Overall, if you are hungry and you can tolerate the chaos inside, then it’s an acceptable option. Maybe it’s better on less busy days, but on a weekend it somewhat overwhelmed my patience.

Great place to get your picnic on the park ready.
They have a big selection salami, prosciutto and cheese to buy. Also have good wines to choose and beers from import and local breweries.
Also you can order some paninis which are really good.
In summary, if you are walking around downtown Sonoma and what to relax in the park, don’t forget to stop by and get your picnic essentials.

I love love love their fresh deli sandwiches. You cannot beat their location right downtown on the Sonoma Plaza. A great place to take out of towners for cheese sampling and sandwiches for lunch.

Conveniently located in the Sonoma Plaza. They have free cheese tasting — as in they keep 3 – 4 types of cheese to sample. But the best part was their buy 2, get 1 free cheese deal. So we bought 3 wedges — pesto jack, Mediterranean jack and chipotle jack. All this for under 14 $.
They also have fudges, coffees and sandwiches, if you are not into cheese!

Fudge samples, anyone?
How about some ready made picnic snacks like cheese, salami and grapes packed nicely in a container for you? grab a mini bottle of Steelhead Chardonnay and maybe a grilled sausage on your way out?
Everyone stops in at Sonoma Cheese Factory, mostly to have a looksie, but then you stay and grab a cheese sample here and there (get the Danish Havarti!) and before you know it, you walk out of here with a basket full of picnic stuff. (For the really hungry, they have a full service sandwich station too!) Which is PERFECT since the square across the street has inviting park benches where you can relax and nosh on healthy snacks while watching the world go by.
A very relaxing Sunday afternoon spent in wine country and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, thanks to Sonoma Cheese Factory.

Sunday. Doing the Square. After a stellar & full day, we had about an hour before our dinner reservation @ The Girl & The Fig. I decided to do a pop in of The Sonoma Cheese Factory, since this is the man’s first ever visit to Sonoma Square. Here’s what went down…
I stop at the fudge. He keeps going. I peruse & I’m struck by the dark chocolate cabernet fudge. Wait. It’s DARK chocolate based instead of milk AND it has cabernet?! 2 things that are loaded w antioxidants?! So this means that it’s good for me, right? Of course! Duh. The very nice fudge lady offers me a sample. I’m trying to figure out how I’ve never seen this before. This isn’t my first rodeo, you know. The man comes back. I fill him in. We buy a square of this heavenly fudge. We bought a square on the square! Ha ha!
This fudge is DIVINE. It BEGS for a glass of red wine or a cup of coffee. Just BEGS for it.
Worth a visit for this alone.