Owner Marcelo Castro and his staff are remarkable conduits into the hidden world of delicious…read morecheese. The fresh just-made cheeses on offer are creamy and craveable. While the nutty and briny complexity of the aged cheeses with their earth and funk are extraterrestrial. The knowledge of what cheese to use for what situation is the extra elevation to Marcelo's amazing cheese shop.

If you're a foreigner, you would never select anything here. This place is just an atrocity to the…read morepalate. I'd go to Walmart first. At Cava del Queso, the employees know nothing about cheese, and less than that about quality. And unfortunately, this proves way more true about the owners. The owners are laughing all the way to the bank while they take lots of your money for terrible taste and quality. If you can go shopping in California, it's worth it. Even their Mexican cheese is bad. I bought Mexican local butter today. The wrapper was dirty. I should have known to go somewhere else, but I wanted one last try. FAILED TERRIBLY. The butter inside the dirty packaging wasn't good. It was actually turning rancid. I'm feeding it to the squirrels. Don't waste your time here Or in centro. So sad. But maybe they'll improve???? I'm not holding my breath other than in the shop . Sorry, but yuck. These guys have never even left Tijuana I bet. Tragedy. Sorry.

Love this new spot in La Mesa. Everyone who works there is friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and…read moremade sure our experience was top notch. The cheese selections are of a wide variety, taste, and great options for more adventurous cheeses than you'll ever find at the local grocery stores. They have a big back yard where you can sit and enjoy cheese and wine, need I say more?

This place is like something out of a dream! I didn't even know this place existed until we tried…read moreit from the Taste of La Mesa Village. I unfortunately didn't get the name of their best selling cheese that we tried but it was to die for and it had pineapple in it! The lady serving the counter was so sweet. I can't wait to go back and try the other goodies they have

This tiny strip mall has an amazing cheese and fresh bread shop. There are over 20 cheeses. Reminds…read moreme of a top chef experience. Look for the Tecate sign or else you will miss it! We got a kilo of cheese (about a half pound) fresh bread they sliced and a bottle of olive oil for around $16. My favorite cheeses are the hard with black olives and cremoso ramonetti.

Without a doubt this is the best Mexican food in our city. If your scared to eat there then do not…read moreeven come. That way, there will be more for us! Peace out!

I got to try Smallgoods last week, and it was fantastic…read more Parking was scarce, but we parked down the street and walked over. We were greeted by a friendly staff member. It was our first stop on a mystery picnic experience. We had our to go order waiting for us, it was a fantastic Charcuterie board. It had cheeses, meats, fruits, and it was delicious. The ingredients were high quality. It is small and cozy inside, and outside they have a few tables with umbrellas and a rocking bench.

Smallgoods Cheese Shop in La Jolla is like their name says is a small shop that offers mostly…read moreAmerican selections of cheese. There's limited seating inside and outside. I would consider sitting outside, as the vibe inside the shop was a tad negative coming from the older female staffer/owner. Salads, charcuterie plates and sandwiches are their specialty. Their signature sandwich is the smoked turkey and cheese is the most popular and that's what I've tried, along with chips. The sandwich was good but disappointing, because content wise very skimpy as it needed more turkey and cheese therefore not worth it. I had to stack the half sandwiches for pictures to make them appealing. The older female staffer, who appear to perhaps be the owner was rather unpleasant, not nice...I think she may have prepared my sandwich because the sandwich was skimpy and not as splendid I imagined a sandwich would be from this shop not far from my place in La Jolla. There's a wall with all the awards this shop received and with the looks of all those awards, one would think the service would be outstanding from the owners but that was NOT the case, sadly. The youngish female staffer behind the register was very helpful, nice and her positive attitude helped this shop receive a boost in stars. Reluctantly recommend.

We laughed when we read the previous yelper's advice to "follow your instincts" but he ended up…read morebeing totally right! Actually it was my bf's instincts that we should have followed bc he pointed at a small dirt road and said "I think we're supposed to turn there" and I suggested driving around more after looking dubiously at it. Whoops! Turned out he was right! After we drove around for 30+ minutes zig zagging back and forth, we finally asked the right person for directions and it turned out that was exactly the road we should have gone down haha :) So here's how we got here: If you're driving NE on Hwy 3 (from Ensenada), drive past the small town of San Antonio de las Minas, and after a minute or two, take the first U-turn, then make a right at the first paved road after the U-turn. Follow the paved road for 5ish minutes, then cross the street at the intersection where it hits "Carretera el Tigre" and then keep going straight on the dirt road. Follow the dirt road and you'll almost immediately start seeing signs for Rancho Cortes. Stay right on the fork that has no signs, and you'll find it after a few minutes. Hard earned directions! I uploaded a google map snapshot of exactly where the dirt road starts, hope that helps! The cheese cave was way more low key than I had expected, but it was still a fun quick pitstop. The boy manning the desk was shy but showed us around and we generally got the gist of what he was saying between his limited English, our limited Spanish, and a lot of gesturing. He charged us 35 pesos total to take the two of us to the cave and gave us each tastings of five cheeses. The cheeses were good but overwhelmingly strong so I was craving wine or anything to cut the taste of the strong cheese by the last tasting. Good luck finding it!

Hard to find, but tasty cheeses and the most wonderful olive oil I have ever tasted. You can really…read moretaste the terrior and uniqueness. They make the most fruit-driven olive oil I have ever experienced. We are bringing home several liters! There were some severe language barriers, as even my Spanglish is lacking but the young man tending to the tastings was ready and willing with his phone translation app. We even managed to get a tour where they make the cheeses which was attached to the milking area, which was directly adjacent to where the cows live.Talk about farm fresh!!! He served us 6 different cheeses, each very enjoyable. The light Valle was fresh and clean, there was a rather soft gouda, an aromatic chipotle, one with chopped olives, and a parmesan style which was not quite as dry and nutty as one would expect, but very nice too. We dipped the cheeses in the olive oil....ahhhhh bliss. The signage to get there is sorely lacking...you need to look VERY carefully and trust your instincts to actually get there. It is a long way on a very unlikely road. I included a photo of the intersection from which you begin the off-road journey to hopefully help a few cheese-heads find the destination. We wandered up and down the highway quite a bit before actually finding the right road. And once you get there, you still may have questions because the tasting room is a very tiny little building which looks rather unlikely.

I wish I had photos. I used to order a cheese board for pickup in the afternoon and walk over to…read morethe park nearby and enjoy the sunshine and eat delicious cheese. Their charcuterie boxes are phenomenal- so well thought out, and everything was always delicious with lots of little add ins like pickles, nuts, flowers, dried fruits, jams, etc. They were very responsive and attentive to dietary preferences. 11/10 love love love I think about them all the time.

Venissimo is a niche micro shop that offers a nice variety of various cheese globally. It's just…read morestanding room to browse and order. There's usually parking in the lot behind the shop. The staff are friendly and helpful. There's french cheeses with truffles and creamy Italian cheese and lots of other stuff to create your own charcuterie board. If you love cheese, you'll like a visit at Venissimo. Recommend

Custom charcuterie boxes for beach picnics are what keep me coming back…read more If I'm anywhere near Del Mar, I make a point to stop into one of my favorite cheese shops. I always take it straight to the beach because everything tastes better with your feet in the sand and front-row seats to the waves. This small European-style cheese shop is known for its curated selection and cheesemongers who actually listen. They follow my preferences every time: nothing spicy, no olives, no dried apricots, and always something sweet like jam or honey. There's never a hesitation or attitude like I've experienced at other shops. Whether I need a box for just myself or something larger, they customize it perfectly. Beyond their global cheese selection, they carry artisan charcuterie, truffle products, European crackers and breads, local honey and jams, boutique chocolates, and small-batch pantry items. I also love the little surprise chocolate they throw in. Thank you for always listening and creating the most beautiful, delicious boxes for me. I rave about your shop to everyone and will continue to do so.

A cute shop with a wide variety of meats, cheeses, and other tasty treats. We went in for a 6-item…read moresampler. We had no idea what to choose. The associate that helps us was very patient and knowledgeable. We ended up having them chose the items for us. We were pleasantly surprised at the beautiful arrangement. The social picked the perfect tasting plate for us.