Andrew's Cheese Shop

Andrew’s Cheese Shop 

“This Place Stinks!”

728 Montana Ave

Santa Monica, CA 90403

Type: Restaurant, Shop

Category: Lunch, Dinner, Picnic

Company: Everyone minus those who are on diets or who are lactose intolerant

Cost: Varies

Quickie: A library-esque specialty cheese shop that sells cheese and everything that goes with it (wine, beer, crackers, chocolate, meats, olives, and bread)

Cheese-related accompaniments

Review: Like a hot young single girl/guy in LA, there are very few people who don’t like cheese.  Fittingly, cheese gets around, and it’s probably safe to say we’ve all seen it laced through eggs at breakfast, pressed between bread for lunch, draped over crostini (while simultaneously flirting with wine) during happy hour, melted beneath pasta at dinner, and occasionally lounging nakedly next to fruit for dessert.

With all the options, there are a lot of questions. Luckily, Andrew’s Cheese  Shop has all the answers and more.

OTC Tip: Andrew’s makes daily sandwiches ($9), and is also knows for packing outstanding picnic baskets. For avid enthusiasts, join cheese of the month club!

Every cheese has a story

Initially, I thought a cheese shop cultivated by a man who has been called Fromanger,  Cheesemonger, and Affineur would open up like a ripe cavern teetering with molded rinds and sweating curds. But the feel of Andrew’s cheese shop is quite opposite: warm wood and welcoming smiles present bookshelves of wine and beer, crackers and jams and chocolate, a blackboard that lists the sandwiches of the day - and of course, the cheese case that leaves no cheese unloved and unnamed.

OTC Tip: Love grilled cheese sandwiches and beer? Once a month Andrew pushes out a long communal in to the middle of his store and hosts a 5-course grilled cheese tasting menu paired with beer for $45/per person.

My favorite thing about Andrew’s Cheese Shop is that each cheese is attached with an index card that depicts country of origin, a bit of a bio/history, and a few notes on taste and beer/wine pairing. Anyone who can turn a cheese with a foreign name in to a flavor in English that belongs in my stomach should be exposed and rewarded.

So if you are looking for a bite to eat, a cheese for dinner, a fragrant gift, or even just an education, leave the nose plug at home and visit Andrew’s Cheese Shop (recommended: go hungry).