★ 3

Mars Cheese Castle is definitely an interesting stop, but it feels more like a tourist attraction than a real local experience. The café food was disappointing — the corn dog tasted like something from a kids’ meal gone wrong, they forgot to include the chips in my order, and one drink cup was missing. Everything had that stale oil flavor that made it hard to enjoy.

On the positive side, the store staff were excellent — attentive, friendly, and genuinely helpful. There are plenty of tasting stations and the overall atmosphere is fun. However, prices are much higher than what you’d pay in suburban Chicago stores.

Worth visiting once out of curiosity, but not really for the food.

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★ 2

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★ 5

So many varieties of cheese curds!
There’s something here for everyone.
Very helpful and hospitable employees.
Worth the time to stop at Mars Cheese Castle

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★ 5

What a cool stop. It has a restaurant, a bar and basically a grocery store all in one place. It’s like a mini mall. And of course tons of cheese.

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★ 5

Its a tourist stop.

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★ 5

We absolutely loved our visit to Mars Cheese Castle on Saturday, October 4, 2025! It’s such a fun and unique Wisconsin landmark - part gourmet shop, part deli, part gift store, and all around amazing experience. Their cheese selection is incredible, with everything from fresh squeaky curds to aged cheddar and local specialties.

I also loved their unique soda selection and popcorn; both were delicious and added to the charm. The store has so many local products, sausages, wines, and snacks to explore, and the staff were super friendly and helpful without being pushy.

The whole place has a welcoming, festive feel - you can tell it’s a Wisconsin icon for a reason. Definitely worth the stop for anyone driving through or visiting the area. I’ll be back for more cheese and sodas!

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★ 5

Cool tourist place.

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★ 5

This place is great! 20 year aged cheddar!

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★ 4

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★ 5

Great selection of cheeses, especially the very aged cheddar up to 20 years old. Nice to see sheep milk gouda here. And gjetost! A fine array of accompaniments and charcuterie items too. Mario's legacy lives on!!

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★ 5

The best place in Wisconsin for cheese. It also has a bar! Bought cheese, pens, and a tshirt.

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★ 5

Amazing selection of cheeses and related items (sausages, crackers, etc)

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★ 5

Nice stop to shop and eat. Be aware that they close early, 7pm.

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★ 4

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★ 1

Horrible experience. Kitchen staff was rude and took over 25 minutes to receive a Braut and burger. Stocking staff was running into people almost and rude. Will never return. The meat and cheese department staff were the only friendly workers. Register staff were not friendly.

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★ 5

A great place for all things cheese and dried meats. So many choices. Some of the staff are happy about what their jobs and offered suggestions and tasters and other staff acted like they just wanted you to leave quickly. Lol

I'm super excited to try the patè, the cheese spreads, and the scallion and onion cheeses.

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★ 5

A must stop place for tourists and locals. Give them a try!

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★ 5

Fun place to visit

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★ 5

A lot of fun. The cheese curds are excellent and the staff is friendly and helpful. The food is excellent. Had the Reuben sandwich and potato salad on the spice. Very tasty.

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★ 5

Strange but great. It's a cheese Castle. Lots of foods and drinks

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★ 4

Cheese and beer. What more could you want?

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★ 5

The cheese. It was a very busy atmosphere. The noise level is high. If you're a person who has a walking disability and you not able to walk around, don't go here. I really wanted to explore more but my hips weren't on the same page ☺️
I bought five different kinds of cheese and a bottle of whiskey cream. Everything was great. I would so recommend this place.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Love this place huge selection of cheese curds. Fresh!!!

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★ 5

If you want fresh, true Wisconsin cheese this is your place! They have any flavor you can think of...and more. This place is so much more than just cheese. They have chocolate, snacks, meats, salads anything you can imagine!

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★ 5

We came, we saw, we left with more cheese than one should consume in a year...and my new official Cheesehead!! Take your time and enjoy. They were really busy and the wait to eat was really long so we didn't do that today, but they have everything you can imagine and more, so much more!! Chocolate, wines, snacks, gifts, clothes...and of course CHEESE!! They have free tasting stations and we ended up finding some new favorites to take home. This will be a stop we make each time we pass from Kentucky.

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★ 5

Lots of selection and the staff was very friendly!

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★ 5

It's been more than 3 decades since I last visited Mars Cheese Castle. It has really expanded with the newish building from 2011. There are so many quirky gift ideas in the huge gift shop area. Cheese prices are much more reasonable than what I had remembered. Oh, do you like samples? There are plenty of those to go around. And to top it all off, there is a cafe area with throwback prices on sandwiches and snacks...cheese being a major ingredient. If you find yourself on I-94 between Chicago and Milwaukee, don't miss this leg stretching, road trip stop.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Kathleen is such a great manager. She's quick to solve any issue you may have and treats you very kind. The best customer service I have ever seen ⭐️

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★ 5

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★ 5

So much fun to see all the cheese! Staff is friendly. I would not say anything is cheap, but it’s worth it for the whole experience!

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★ 5

So. Much. Cheese. Free samples!

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★ 4

It’s a cheese castle, lots of choices of cheeses and meats, samples, clothes, chips and drinks. Neat place with decent prices and good staff.

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★ 4

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★ 2

In years long since passed, Mars used to have a great variety of local cheeses.

Since getting rid of the Mouse mascot and building the eyesore castle, they have very little cheese and a limited selection.

The majority of what's there are the touristy-trap items like Wisconsin-shaped cheddar in wax, a few kitchy curds and flavors, and bog standard cheese you can get at any local grocery store.

They have a large bar that serves food. I have not been able to bring myself to taste the food, based on the low quality of cheeses now offered. Of course they have Packers branded stuff, Wisconsin t-shirts and the same tourist junk available at more gas stations.

I would definitely not hold this place up a a Wisconsin classic any longer.

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★ 5

Love this place but over priced on everything. It's easy to be the king when your the last stop out of Milwaukee

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★ 5

A little pricey , but for a tourist attraction , I guess it's okay

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★ 5

Heavenly palace of cheeses.

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★ 5

Located right off 94, in the middle between Milwaukee and Chicago. They have a tavern with drinks and food, a large gift shop with regional items from alcohol to knick-knacks to snacks, and of course cheese! We tried the [World’s Best] Fried Cheese Curds and local ice cream from Cedar Hills. You could tell the cheese curds were made fresh and very good. We tried some unique flavors of ice cream which were a bit odd, but yummy! Definitely worth a stop for all ages if driving between the Windy City and Brew City!

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★ 5

Interesting place. Never seen a shop so dedicated to cheese before. They do have a very wide selection of cheeses for sale along with jerky and other snacks. A fairly good selection of drinks, both regular and alcoholic beverages. Fairly cool gift shop as well full of knick knacks and local support stuff.

Parking was ok but I can see it getting cramped on a busy day or holiday. Staff were nice n friendly as well and I will go back to try their restaurant.

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★ 5

Love stopping here to get cheese!!

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★ 5

Very interesting place a little bit of everything

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★ 5

I'm lactose intolerant. Of course I love it here.

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★ 5

A fun variety of tourist shopping for all things Wisconsin and cheese. We ate at the restaurant in the back and the food was good.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 3

Different types of cheese. They didn't have two different kinds of cheese I was specifically looking for, and some of the employees didn't even know what they were.

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★ 5

Definitely worth the stop if you are in the area.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 3

Clean & Spacous for a quick or long stop from traveling between WI & IL. Cheese curds are extremely disappointing, not fresh. You can bring your purchased snacks into the bar which is a nice atmosphere. Also has outdoor picnic tables. I liked it better when this wasn't a warehouse district.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Lived here my whole life, passed by thousands of times and stopped for the first time. I was so overwhelmed, this place is huge & full of a variety of goodies!

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★ 5

Lots of choices and friendly staff

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★ 5

Nothing like Mars for lunch and food shopping on your way to vacation.

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★ 3

Lots of different cheese and sausage available.

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★ 5

There's no place I'd rather be.

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★ 2

Stopped in to get a quick brat at the small cafe in the rear of the store. There was no line and there were 4 employees in the back that I saw through the opening. I waited for ten minutes with one lady looking directly at me three different times. Never once saying someone will be with you or sorry we are closed (which they weren’t) Then another employee looked at me through the opening and still said nothing. It was like they were having a contest to see who could do the least amount of helping. I finally walked out.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Great ice cream, cheese selections and pickles

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★ 5

Great place to work and shop all the staff is amazing here they treat every person like family

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★ 4

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★ 5

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★ 4

If you're on a day trip to visit six flags, a water park, or an apple orchard, this is a fun place to stop for some really nice picnic supplies, souveniers, and kitchy merchandise.

Smoked cheeses are very good here compared to what is usually available at local grocery stores.

There is a restaurant and bar if you need a place to stop for a bite before driving on. This is a fun place for kids and for photo ops in addition to the excellent selection of rare foods, candies, hot sauces, and specialty items.

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★ 5

Perfect place to get the best quality items for a grazing table or charcuterie board

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★ 3

The store is nice but the staff is not friendly at all.

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★ 5

Awesome place to get a variety of Wisconsin cheeses. I chose to stick with cheese from MARS CHEESE CASTLE since that's where we were shopping. They had a few cheese samples out to try and each one was delicious. More than just cheese: lots of other grocery items, ice cream, souvenirs, etc. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and it was busy but not overcrowded. Checked out in under five minutes. All employees were pleasant and helpful. A must-see if you're headed to Kenosha!

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★ 5

Love this place! It's a must stop everytime!

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★ 5

I didnt know there were so many different cheese until i visited here at mars cheese castle, i went there during weekdays and odd hour so it was almost empty which was easy for me to look around taking my time to learn about so many varieties of different cheese. They had four different sections, as you enter, on the immediate right, thats cheese, all cheese, to the left, there was wines and mars cheese castles goods, next aisle over from it was drinks and more goods and next over was a bar. I bought a lot of different cheese so im having it everyday just to prevent it from going bad. What an experience.

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★ 5

Great experience. Has more cheese then I have ever seen in one place.

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★ 4

While this is a fantastic stop it is most definitely a tourist trap. BUT lots of items to peruse. My complaint is it was 1:45 on a Thursday and they had ONE ….ONE only….
person checking out and the line was 12-15 ppl deep! Manager came to help but could only stay until called away!

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★ 5

Definitely a destination! A great selection of cheese but also have a nice supply of snacks and sauces. Decent beer selection, nice bar and a small eatery inside. Overall a great experience! I make it a point to stop there when I make my business trips to Pleasant Prairie.

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★ 3

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★ 5

I was like a kid in a candy store. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH GREAT CHEESES!!! We'll definitely be back & let our family & friends about it!

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

This place is a "must stop" whether you're on your way to Milwaukee or Chicago. They have some of the coldest beer on top, awesome cheeses, and great snacks to munch on.
Been coming here for 20 years and I always leave happy.

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★ 5

Love this little tourist stop. The cheese curds are phenomenal and the bang for your book can’t be beat.

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★ 5

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★ 4

Great selection but pricy.

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★ 5

Always a great so along the highway. Their fried cheese curds are the best!

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★ 5

Awesome place. Wide verity of cheese 🧀 and other great food items. Great for gifts or stocking stuffers.

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★ 4

Cute stop, very touristy. Food was pretty good, and prices are decent.

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★ 5

First time there for my anniversary, best cream cheese I just had to buy some for a late night snack/souvenir

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★ 5

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★ 5

Cheese curds hot and fried are amazing. Grilled cheese is on another level. Everyone in that kitchen is just rad overall. Thanks for all the delicious food you make yo!

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★ 5

All of the cheese tourism you could possibly imagine plus delicious cheese.

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★ 4

Its fine and all. Its a tourist destination. Its a thing to see. Prices are OKAY... my issue... not enough 1 off family farm cheeses. But ...it is what it is

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★ 2

Good food at the cafe. Very unfriendly staff.

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★ 5

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★ 4

Kind of a tourist trap but the fried cheese curds are delicious!
Some fun souvenirs

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★ 4

Nice place!! Good food and was cheap. Loved all the cheese.

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★ 5

Really fun place. Lots of great cheese and meats. Great stop.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 4

Has cheese. Not cheap.

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★ 3

The store has a lot of cool stuff to offer. I personally LOVED the cheese curds and fries!! Soo crispy :) the burger though was NOT itttt. It lacked a lot of flavor unfortunately. But my partner said his kings ransom sandwich was good! Thank you Allison for explaining the menu 🫶🏼

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★ 3

Only go there because the bus group stops there. I think it's overrated & not cheap

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★ 5

A cute place where u can find reasonable priced cheese, liquor, souvenirs and photo n selfie ops . The food and ice cream is good. U can sample a variety of cheeses, cakes and breads for free .

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★ 5

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★ 5

Went to Mars Chesse Castle it's a good place to stop and shop and have a good snack

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★ 5

Grabbed a bite to eat from their kitchen. And bout some cheese of course. Don't forget about their baked goods. I recommend the blueberry pound cake.

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★ 4

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★ 5

They claim that they have the world's best cheese curds.... And I do believe they're correct!!! They were delicious!!!!

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★ 5

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★ 5

Great place for cheese curds and all sorts of unique gift items. Great place for Wisconsin souvenirs!

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★ 5

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★ 3

Becoming more of a tourist trap than a good place to get cheese. The selection seems to get smaller and smaller every time. But more and more stuff to buy

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★ 5

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★ 5

Excellent place to stop at for cheese and so much more. I go at least once a month. It's worth the 1hr drive

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★ 5

I think this one looks much different then i remember. But still plenty of cheese.

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★ 5

Great place to pick up any type of cheese, baked good, beer or any other European rarity! The bar and restaurant is a bonus! Don't forget to get to the bakery and get some cheese bread or some kringle!

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★ 5

This is a bucketless place for sure if you love cheese and all things. Wisconsin.

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★ 5

Really good food actually

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★ 4

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★ 5

They have almost anything you want, really. Great place for gifts for someone as souvenirs. All the cheese you can dream of and lots of other stuff.

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★ 5

Cheese, beer, sausages, restaurant, deli friendly people. I'd live there if I could.

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★ 4

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★ 5

Huge selection of cheeses, meats, and just annoy anything you could want for a charcuterie board. Great selection of wine and craft beers. And touristy bumper stickers, hats, and t shirts of your into that. Plus the building looks like a freaking castle!!

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★ 5

Such a nice discovery! It’s a great place to check out while driving from Chicago to Wisconsin. I found some really good products and I loved.

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★ 5

Great place to get chesse and wine

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★ 5

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★ 5

Try the grilled cheese. Great selection of wine

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★ 5

Cheese Cheese and more cheese! Ok I bought some great beef sticks as well. One note: In your CARRY ON you can ONLY bring bricks of cheese, but not plastic containers of spreadable cheese...In your checked luggage you can carry both. I hope TSA enjoyed my Port Wine Chedder...😔😂

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★ 5

Love it!! Go there every time I visit Antioch IL.

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★ 5

Delicious and unusual options. Quite pricy

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★ 5

Really neat place. It was an unexpected stop for us, so next time we are in the area we will make sure to bring a cooler. So many varieties cheeses and meats and lots of cool little souvenirs and things. We made sure to buy a cheese head hat to remember pur stop here and first little trip into WI.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Always stop when in the area, great selection of food and drink

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★ 5

We went to the Cheese Castle on our way to where we were going for a business trip. There are so many types of cheese and beef sticks for sale inside of the store, you could spend hours in there finding new different kinds. There are also a lot of cool decorations inside of the place, and the gift shop is nice too

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★ 5

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★ 5

Way more there than I expected. They obviously have a phenomenal cheese and meat selection and also have a variety of wines and (craft) beers to pair with too. Bakery, deli, gift shop, candy, off the wall hit sauces. Awesome spot.

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★ 4

A fun stop, but I wish they would have all of the local products labeled. Many of the things they have (like the jams and the jellies and crackers) are from other areas of the country. I’m from a town where we produce a lot of local products, and so the stores label them. Even the grocery stores! Because I really want to shop local. It’s Clear the beer was local, But I would’ve loved all of the local cheeses to have been labeled as such. And if they had other local products, just put a big sign up that says “local” because I really want to support local farmers etc.

All that said, this is a lot of fun (As you can see from the photos). They also had a pretty amazing wine selection, and they had some local beverages as well, and again, it would’ve been great if they had a big sign up that said “buy local!”

They had a mix-and-match for the local beer. Which I love! So we brought home a mixed six pack. We also brought home some of the cheese that they had offered for tasting, which seemed very local. And I love that they have the cheese to taste as well.

Restrooms were clean.
My husband had a Reuben and he said the pastrami was good, but they didn’t have it on the correct bread. A Reuben should be on rye bread. They had an alternative.

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★ 5

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★ 5

I went to mars cheese castle and got cheesed. Great place.

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★ 5

A must stop!!!!

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★ 5

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★ 5

It’s the tourist trap that you’d expect, except its delicious! They have a lot of samples and eats. Plenty of seating and parking. Photo ops are around every corner.

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★ 5

Great selection of cheese and other snacks!

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

Stock full of cheese. Had a beer and mini cheese plate good price.

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★ 5

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★ 5

lots of good cheeses and a bar with some local drafts

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★ 4

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★ 5

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★ 3

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★ 4

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★ 5

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★ 5

All things souvenir. Great cheese curds

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★ 5

So much cheese and snacks and it's a really cool castle

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★ 5

My wife and I stop here every year to get cheese and other snacks. This place is awesome.

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★ 5

Unique place.

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★ 5

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★ 5

Always a fun place to visit when heading back to Illinois. More cheese than you can shake a stick at. I always go in trying to find the spiciest cheese they have. Haven't been able to find anything hot enough for my liking but that's not going to stop me from continuing to try.

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★ 5

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★ 4

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★ 3

Im a local. I have been coming here since I was a kid. My go to item was the cheese bread. I was very disappointed with it the last couple of times. It used to have much much more cheese in it. Which is what made it stand out. Now I would say there is about 25% of the amount of cheese it used to have. Just disappointed is all.

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 4

Tourist trap, but fun nevertheless. Tons of everything imaginable to choose from.

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★ 5

A must stop experience between Chicago and Milwaukee.

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★ 4

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★ 5

Awesome

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

So many cheese choices, among other yummy snacks and a diner/tavern. Had some samples to help you make choices as well!

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★ 5

Lots of selections. The sandwiches we had after shopping were magnificent.

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★ 1

I Understand places have a time to close but to lock doors ten minute before close.
We watched a group go in followed by a handicapped slower paced person but by the time she got up there the doors were locked that’s just wild. All before close.

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★ 5

There's always a reason to stop at the cheese castle

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★ 2

12 pack of spotted cow $22.99. What a ripoff. On sale at pick and save $13.99.

Save your money . Buy all the same stuff at pick and save.

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★ 5

One of my top 3 favorite places on earth

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★ 5

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★ 5

So many good things to choose from

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★ 5

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★ 5

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★ 5

Great place to visit for all kinds of gourmet treats when you're driving by.

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★ 4

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★ 5

Cool great place

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★ 5

Great service

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★ 5

We absolutely loved this place. Worth the stop while passing by on the highway. Fantastic place for all the Wisc items and more.

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★ 5

Great Cheese shop with a friendly, knowledgeable guy Behind the counter. Good samples so making choices was easy. Would happily go there again when in the area.

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★ 5

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★ 4

Love this place

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★ 5

Such a neat little place! Lots of different cheeses and great souvenirs!

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★ 5

It was the first time I had been there after it was enlarged. Really great place to shop and the restaurant was very good.

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★ 5

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★ 5

I mean, its cheese.....thats all you need to know! If you love cheese, you must stop in!!

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★ 5

This place is so fun and we got mizithra cheese here, which we always have a hard time finding, so I bet you can find most everything here cheese. The 17 year cheddar is chefs kiss. And the coolers with ice to bring stuff back was so smart since we were 6 hours away.

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★ 5

A few sour grapes behind the registers but overall a magical place.

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★ 5

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★ 4

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★ 5

Burger was good, pastrami was so tender and delicious, cheese curds were very good too.

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★ 4

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★ 2

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