Little Cheese Shoppe

Love the idea of the shop and I am a cheesaholic… was so excited about this place however the prices are just way to high for what you get. and the wait for a cheese plate too long.
Cynthis is a joy and her staff seem very nice. I would love to spend my $ there but the value seems off.

I certainly like the idea of a cheese shop in San Pedro Square. And when they were first opening up we were excited. One day we were looking over their line up of cheese. An employee noticed us and came over to give us details of each item they had. It was a pleasant conversation so they get a star for that.
We were interested in one particular cheese they had and she offered to let us try samples before we commit to buy. So she took the wedge of cheese to the counter and cut chucks out for us to try. It was good. Another star. There were other potential customers there as well and she offered the samples to them as well.
We decided to buy. So she went back to the original wedge of cheese, wrapped it back up and tried to sell it to us at the original price without re-​weighing it.

I love cheese. All kinds of cheese. That’s why when I saw that there was a place to eat that was called Little Cheese Shoppe, that it might be my personal heaven. They have a variety of options for dining: panini’s, grilled cheese and cheese platters. We opted to get 2 panini’s (the one with ham and the one with brie). Both come with a little side salad. I really enjoyed both of these sandwich’s — they were the perfect balance of crunch, rich, creamy and sweet.
They messed up our order (forgot to take it) and they apologized for their mistake by giving us a free grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, which I thought showed really great customer service. That sandwich was also delicious, but definitely more on the salty, savory side.
Overall, I absolutely would return. I would even say that this is my new favorite grilled cheese joint (sorry Grilled Cheese Bandits). This is definitely more gourmet in my opinion based on the cheese types and flavor profiles, so it really depends what you are looking for. :)

Finally I got to try this place! *My favorite place to buy cheese or try new cheese is in Carmel, not an ideal drive from San Jose.
So people have been telling me about this shop for a few months however I just didn’t go UNTIL now. I really liked it :-)
Ok the lady who was working was helpful (informational) and gave us samples of the cheese we wanted to possibly buy.
I bought a few different cheeses along with some wonderful fig spread (which was superb), the cheese is a little expensive but most «good» cheese usually is pricy. The clerk put on some gloves and cut up our cheese for us so we could eat it as picnic lunch.
I would recommend this place to a friend and I recommend this little cheese shoppe to you!

Superb service! Walked into inquire about a «wine country picnic» and met Courtney, the magic behind Little Cheese Shoppe. She had this great positive attitude and was prepared to do her best at creating what ever is was our heart’s desired.
Emailed all our details on a Monday, pick up was smooth Wednesday morning.
We wanted a cheese platter, vegetarian style with 2 – 3 types of cheeses. Whatever is in stock is not listed on their website, because apparently it is constantly changing ever few days or so. I mentioned, my counterpart loved blue cheese, while I preferred brie, sheep’s or goat. Courtney came back with a list of four cheeses she thought we would love (and we did)!
We ordered more than enough food for two along with our cheese:
Cheese Platter consisted of:
Belton Farmhouse cheddar
Danish blue–
Spanish manchego– Absolute Favorite! Hard surface, firm texture
Aged gouda
Dried Apricots
Marcone Almonds
Gluten-​Free Oat Crackers (usually a crostini, but we requested gf)
Grapes
Mediterranean Platter:
Fire-​roasted Red-​pepper flavored Hummus
Olive Tapenade– SO FRESH!
Chevre (goat cheese)
Veggie Delight (Panini):
Fresh Mozzarella, Sundried Tomatoes, Roasted Red Peppers and Artichokes on garlic rosemary bread.
This Panini was not a great idea for a picnic 24 hours later… the bread was soggy and it wasn’t too tasty. The side salad that came with it was soggy and smothered in moistened bread crumbs as well.
Not only have I had a picnic from Little Cheese Shoppe to go, I have experienced one of their platters thrown together on a slate slab and given to us to enjoy out in the public market square. So fancy!
Like I mentioned above… This place is wonderful in my eyes. They accommodated to our ideal picnic requests and contributed to a wonderful wine country trip. Dealing with ordering was completely smooth and the quality of the food went above and beyond our expectations!

After waking the kids up rather early to walk the trail [Guadalupe River Trail], we ended up at San Pedro Square Market for lunch. The way I spent my birthday was different than last year; I hiked Mission Peak by myself in the morning before picking the kids up for a day in San Francisco for the food and the Giants game.
Two Sundays ago, I started my day w/​a physical activity before indulging at lunch w/​both kids. I came here because I love sandwiches and because this is a place I have yet tried/​reviewed. I need to try Blush to complete this quest.
Seeing Cynthia A., her husband, and kids was a surprise. We ended up sitting w/​them. I also met Sherrie H. whom were also lounging w/​the family. The wait for my sandwich didn’t seem long because we were busy talking but don’t count on this place if you are in a hurry. W/​only one person working, I’d say that my wait was over 10 minutes. For a panini, that’s a long time.
I ordered the Southwestern ($ 9). The generous amount of turkey and the avocado made this sandwich extremely tasty. The Jack cheese was melted perfectly onto the turkey… I love the grill marks on the bread. The salad that came w/​it was OK. I can’t understand how you can serve salad (w/​dressing) in a basket lined w/​parchment paper. That baffled me.
The intention was to eat half but it was my birthday so I ate the entire thing w/​plenty of room for dessert however, I refrained. It was a very simple meal w/​complex flavors… I would so order this again. A little steep for a panini but you pay for the ambiance and location.
Thank you for my first meal as a 31 year old.

If I could break it down, I would give them 4 stars for food and 2 stars for service.
Upon arriving at their stall at San Pedro Square Market, I was pleased to see that they were not busy. However, this didn’t save our service like I had hoped. We began to order our food, and in the middle of taking our order, the cashier was approached by other customers returning their half-​eaten cheese plates. Instead of finishing with us first, the cashier grabs the plates, asks the other customers how they liked their food, and proceeded to throw away $ 20 worth of uneaten cheese plate into the garbage right in front of us. This was just sort of awkward for us to pause our order and watch the action. Then The woman actually cooking our food (or at least one of our sandwiches) started yelling at our cashier for more info on our order. It just was an uncomfortable scene.
Anyway, when we got our sandwiches we were quite happy with the flavor. My BF chickened out and got the classic grilled cheese, which he enjoyed thoroughly. I got their version of a Monte Cristo, which was served with gruyère, fig spread and ham. I thought the Monte Cristo was well-​balanced and quite enjoyable. I’d recommend this if you’re interested in eating something salty and sweet.
I’d like to come back here and try a cheese plate, but hopefully the service will be less awkward.

Had this for the first time on Friday night just had a classic grilled cheese. Nothing to rave about, but the cheese sandwich ended up being a panini which I did not expect. Decent taste and flavor but the service there was pretty decent. Would like to try more of their products, but all in all an ok place.

I ordered the Downtown Melt (Melted Brie, fig conserve, sliced Granny Smith apples on toasted sweet bread — $ 9) and Izzie’s Special (Pork Loin with sliced Granny Smith apples and Gouda on buttered white bread — $ 9).
These sliced apples give such a refreshing flavors in the midst of otherwise ordinary paninis. I guess some people don’t do well with this apple-​inside-​the panini trend. But it worked just fine for me.
The panins also come with salad. I liked it overall, but bit pricey as other reviewers had already mentioned.
Great services though.

I was waiting for the Little Cheese Shoppe to finally open. Their menu is limited but their sandwich and panini combinations seemed really interesting. I ordered their Izzie’s Special (pork with granny smith apples and smoked gouda on buttered sweet white bread). It came with a small salad and dressing – all for a little under $ 10.
The sandwich was good. The ratio of pork to cheese to apples was nicely balanced out. There was nothing special about the salad. I wouldn’t say I was that impressed with the overall sandwich, because I guess I was expecting more. I would go back to try some of the other sandwiches, just to try out the combinations, and if I was craving sandwiches. However, the overall experience was just okay.

We ordered the 2 meat & 2 cheese charcuterie plate here on a Saturday afternoon, looking for something tasty to go with our beer from The Market Beer Co. Although we’ve often looked at LCS, we hadn’t ordered anything from here previously and decided it was time to give them a try. At $ 25 for the small plate, it’s a bit steep, but I’m all about supporting local businesses, so we finally went for it.
Ordering was a little weird. There was a sheet on the counter that listed the different types of cheeses, but nothing about the meats. Then it took the woman a bit to figure out what meats she had. No choices, like we had with the cheeses — at least, not that she told us about. But, whatever, we’ll take what you have. She rang us up, then told us it would be a bit for it to come up.
I will say, they are slow. But, they’re making the plates to order. I respect that — and totally understand they don’t want to end up wasting food if they didn’t make each plate to order. So know that when you order here: expect that it’s going to take a good 20 minutes or so for a plate to be made for you. We weren’t in a rush so it wasn’t a big deal.
When it was ready, the woman (owner?) brought it to our table for us.
I saw previous reviews complaining there wasn’t a lot of food. This is all about expectations, of course — and we had ordered this looking for a «snack» that was going to tied us over til dinner time in a couple hours. That being said, this was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD for 2 people to share as a «snack» — Then again, maybe my husband and I don’t eat as much as the average bear. I felt like we definitely got our $ 25 worth of food. I would have preferred a different vehicle to get the cheese and meat into my face other than a choice between slabs of grilled bread or slices of green apple. Some sort of smaller cracker could have subbed for some of the bread.
All in all it was good. I’d come back here, and feel confident that my $ 25 was well spent. I might like to have more meat choices, though!

Grilled cheese sammies? Sign me up!
This little shoppe is located in the currently less-​popular, more-​vacant building at San Pedro Square market. They offer a variety of cheeses, meats, cheese and meat plates, and sandwiches. There are a variety of grilled cheese options. I chose the veggie delight, which is a cheesy combo of melted mozzarella, red peppers, and artichokes. It was delicious — but can you really go wrong with melted cheese? The sandwiches also come with a little side salad.
Overall, I’d come back. I can’t resist the calling of melted cheese. Some of their sandwiches sound a bit too adventurous for me – they have one that is brie and fig, apparently. Not my cup of tea, but maybe it’s yours?
Additional downside: $ 10 credit card minimum, and the sandwiches are like $ 7.50. I had to buy a drink to get it up to $ 10.
Upside: conveniently located next to Treatbot, so you can get cheese AND ice cream right after for a dairy-​filled day.

I know I’m a bit snobby about my cheeses and I fully expected something a bit more than this.
I’ll be fully honest with you — I expected something better than a cheese plate I could pull together from Costco. Their cheddar tasted like Kerrigold (that’s not a bad thing) and even then there was only a handful of it.
On the meat and cheese plate ($ 25):
— Bread (barely enough for 4, btw. Each of us was able to have about 3 pieces each — really, not enough for the amount of food on the platter)
— Salami/​cured meat
— Cheddar, Brie and Manchego
— 2 spreads: fig and an unremarkable one that we all seemed to forget about
— Green apple, sliced
Admittedly, I should’ve written this review sooner so I could remember what we had on the platter, but I needed to calm down.
This is the much nicer version of what I wanted to write about.
All four of us, upon looking down at the platter, looked at each other as if to say, «Is this it? You paid $ 25 for that? You’ve put together better plates of cheese!»
If I were to do this plate here’s what I would’ve done…
— Brie
— Irish Cheddar
— Danish Blue Cheese
— Manchego/​Havarti/​Gouda
— Salami/​cured meat
— Honeycombs/​honey
— Fig spread
— Green apple
— Grapes
— Pear
— More bread than was given to us
While I’d love to give this place a second shot, $ 25 was not worth it.
Furthermore, when I asked the girl working the counter if the Manchego was cured or not the blank look on her face told me all. She didn’t know anything about the food she was working with. Maybe she was in training, maybe she wasn’t. Maybe I asked her a very hard question.
Yet another write-​off for me at San Pedro Market.

I have not been here in a few days, but I want to share my incredibly positive gastronomic experience of this place.
the last time I was in this building, I noticed the prices were lower. about $ 7.50. Sorry for mentioning prices, I often do not care much for judging based on cost. I payed about $ 9.50 for mine, and hope that this establishment may be able to offer higher end options for an added cost.
That out of the way, Delightful. the bread was perfectly crisp and soft. the cheese was a phenomenal Brie, balanced with a decadent fig conserve, and a savory cured ham (sorry I cannot remember what kind). there where apples involved. they played well.
If you like nice things, support this shop.

It’s a little shop in a (still) low-​profile market complex in downtown San Jose, but it deserves 5 stars for one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve had anywhere.
Seriously. I wasn’t expecting much, but their grilled ham & cheese is just plain deliciousness from start to finish. Maybe it’s the fact that they use superior ingredients, including fancy local Fra’Mani ham. Get it with their onion jam and it’s the perfect combo of flavors.
I hope they can survive. Places like this take the South Bay’s foodie scene (such as it is) to another level.

Little Cheese Shop is a new addition at San Pedro Square Market. I came with my co-​worker on a Friday during lunch time. We were in contemplating on food at the farmers market or trying a new place at San Pedro Square Market. We saw signs for the Little Cheese Shoppe outside and went in to check it out. It’s actually located in the second building and not the main one off of San Pedro.
The selection is small and the food seemed over priced for grilled cheese sandwiches and salads. The staff were friendly though… but then again the service was slow. The food was okay but I was expecting a «wow» factor given the name of their place.

I’m having a really hard time trying to understand the purpose of this business because their name and their business practices surely do not mesh well.
When I think of a Cheese Shop, I think of a place that sells not only a lot of cheeses, but have knowledgable people who are selling the cheeses. It’s great they also have grilled cheese and panini’s, but honestly when you ask the server what kind of cheeses they have or if you can replace one of the cheeses in the sandwiches, they’re so completely clueless it’s ridiculous.
I also feel like there’s a level of common sense missing both from the employees and the owner here. I came here because I saw they had a caprese salad and was excited to try it since it was clearly advertised as an Italian caprese salad. I asked what kind of mozzarella was being used in the salad, as we all know a caprese salad traditionally is a large slice of mozzarella, a slice of tomato, basil and vinaigrette and olive oil. That was clearly on the menu, but apparently after 5 minutes of difficult conversation trying to convey what it is I thought I was getting, in the end the cashier had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
Finally, someone who seemed like the owner came by and I asked her if it was possible to get a regular (traditional) caprese salad. She showed me the tiny tiny balls (quail egg sized) mozzarella they had and I asked if I could get larger slices like the traditional method. After another painful 5 – 6 minutes of trying to express myself the owner agreed that she would make that for me. So basically I specifically ordered a traditional style caprese salad and the owner understood since we had made that agreement. I paid and sat down.
After 15 painful minutes (there’s NOTHING to cook on this dish!) she came out with a box full of spring mix with tiny balls of mozzarella and 3 slices of tomatoes and no vinaigrette. I was really confused, and she said well this is what we had. I tried to explain to her that this isn’t what I ordered because we specifically agreed to, after 10 painful minutes, on what I wanted and she said she could make it happen. And yet … here she was with something that was not at all what I ordered.
It seemed like she kept trying to cover by saying «I understand if this is not what you expected, but to me it’s the same thing as a traditional caprese salad» and I was thinking … no actually we agreed on something that I ordered and if you messed up then you should fess up. She eventually said she didn’t have the ingredients, but failed to tell me (even though I was seated 20 feet away), and didn’t tell me and made the salad anyway.
What?
I think honestly you should just … fess up to what you did wrong, but clearly that was not in her line of thinking. I don’t think I’d come back here to support this business because they clearly don’t know what they’re doing, don’t have any knowledge about cheese, and try to con you and make it not their fault when they clearly messed up.
Oh and how much for that mess of a box she came out with? A whooping $ 9.21.
No thanks.

As a lover of food I’m always happy to see a new artisan food shop. The location in SPSM is an interesting one since it’s a slice of a giant vacuous warehouse. However to be able to get a great plate of charcuterie and harder to find cheeses is a welcome one. Got the large platter of three meats and three cheeses. It comes with honey, a couple of jams, marcona almonds and toast points. Great way to spend a leisurely afternoon just munching and grubbing.

I’d love to say this place has fantastic products, but I wouldn’t know. My wife and I made a special trip downtown to pick up cheeses and pâté. We arrived @ 6:50pm, they were closed, so this is a review for bad service.
We were told they close at 7. Apparently 6:50 is close enough. They didn’t serve us. Gas wasted on our trip.
Be sure you get there 3 hours before closing time, if you are planning to go.

I was pretty stoked when I saw Little Cheese Shoppe’s sign pop up next to Treatbot Factory a few weeks back at San Pedro Square Market’s Lusardi building. On the sign, under «Little Cheese Shoppe» reads «Charcuterie Artisan Cheese Antipasti.»
LCS opened on August 2 and I had the chance to pop in for lunch that Friday. They offered a tantalizing selection of samples, though I only had time try two of the four samples. One of the samples was an amazing combination of freshly sliced apricot paired with chèvre and topped with a bit of fruit preserve. The second sample convinced me to get their grilled ham, cheddar, and provolone sandwich. The sandwich was nicely toasted and the cheese gooey, but at $ 9, the price was a bit steep for just a seemingly simple grilled ham and cheese in comparison to to Oakland’s Sacred Wheel or San Francisco’s The American Grilled Cheese Company.
All that said, I’m excited that there’s a charcuterie-​artisan cheese-​antipasti shoppe in downtown. Check out their online menu for a list of hot/​cold sandwiches, salads, cheese/​charcuterie plates, and desserts. If you’re in the mood for something more customized, hand pick from their selection of packaged specialty cheese, meats, and pates to build-​your-​own snack.
Welcome to the neighborhood, LCS!