The Cheese Stands Alone

Does anyone know how I can get in touch with the old owners? Thanks for any guidance/​advice! Happy New Year!

This was a great place. I am sad that it is closed. I really loved the idea of having a quality cheese shop in the neighborhood. They had a great selection and Matt really knew the cheese.
I would go there every couple of months and ask for samples in order to make my selection. He was always very accomodating.
The owner now works at the Whole Foods on Cicero in the cheese dept.

I am so very sad they closed. Whenever we had a gathering, we purchased our cheese from here. Every time we went to Michigan (which granted, wasn’t all that often) we brought our family delicacies from The Cheese Stands Alone. It is always a favorite. I am hosting book club tomorrow and I wanted to purchase the triple cream that I crave and various other cheeses to taste now I can’t. This is a sad day.
The owners were so very kind and informative. This is a very great loss for Lincoln Square. If you didn’t have the opportunity to try The Cheese Stands Alone, then it is an even greater loss for you.
The Cheese Stands Alone, you are missed.

I loved the Cheese Stands Alone.
I would go in there and ask for several samples and get at least a pound of mixed cheeses. No, it wasn’t horribly cheap, but artisan cheeses aren’t and I knew I was paying for the service and atmosphere as well. The staff (owners) were always helpful and friendly, and I will *definitely* miss this place.

I’ve only been here once, but I certainly will go back. Not knowing much about «fancy» cheese, I told the guy behind the counter what I liked and he made some suggestions that were stellar. My mouth waters when thinking about that cheese. It wasn’t cheap, but I found I didn’t need to eat as much of it to satisfy my cheese jones as I would if I’d been eating Kraft or the like.
When you really want to impress, or need a treat, this is the place to go.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little cheese shop in Lincoln Square! Well, in all fairness, I love anyplace with a large assortment of cheesy goodness… but this place is tops in my book!
Don’t get me wrong, I may be a cheese fanatic, but with all the variety out there, I sometimes need a little guidance. The owners of the Cheese Stands Alone are fantastic with recommendations! And they even let the indecisive ones sample as much as they want.
Whenever I have a party and grab some goodies from this spot, everyone raves about the cheese platter! The prices are also reasonable, and the quality much better than you will find in any local grocery store.

Disclaimer: I’m not a Ravinia fan, nor can I regularly afford to pay $ 18-​$ 25 per pound for cheese.
That having been said, I really love good cheese and I think it CAN be worth it for the expense. Though I don’t get too excited about labels such as ‘organic’ or ‘fair trade’ or anything like that, i will pay slightly more for better quality– but the cheese has to prove it.
The cheese here is yummy. Expensive, but yummy. I often wonder how the place stays open but apparently there is a large crowd of folks who are willing to pay a lot for cheese. This is kind of the Paulina Market of cheese– and good on it!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Chicago in my 3 years living here, it’s that if Whole Foods is farther than you prefer to walk for groceries and you aren’t as impressed by Trader Joe’s as most, specialty shops are the places to go for the foods you love. For me that’s wine, meat and cheese. I had the first two covered and added the last a couple weeks ago when I had a little wine thing with friends and decided that was the perfect excuse to check this place out. (I’m sure they get that alot) I don’t know why I expected it to be bigger, but I wasn’t disappointed. All four cheeses went off with at least some degree of success (I seemed to be the only one who likes bleu’s enough to like the sharp bite to the one we tried.) As a Wisconsinite who finds Jewel’s «specialty cheeses» section insulting, I’ll be visiting here again.

OOOh so good! If you buy lawn tickets for Ravinia, this is a place to stop and get cheese for your wine basket! They sell gift certificates, which make a great present!
They have so many options. I really like the white cheddar for the days I’m wanting something a little milder. The harvarti is also great. On the richer side, the triple-​cream bleu cheese is absolutely awesome. I think I had it so much that I’m getting phased out.
I think it’s great that local restaurants purchase cheeses from their store.

best indy cheese shop in city, maybe in time zone. matt and sarah are true.

Yummy, happy, wonderful place!
My friend got me a gift certificate, knowing that I would really like this store. The man behind the counter was awesome, really listened to what I liked and didn’t like, and made recommendations based on that. I loved that he was not at all condescending when I admitted that I love cheese, but don’t know too much about it. Samples GALORE; I was able to taste any of the cheeses there (and did so with great gusto)
The only drawback was that I found that they were almost too attentive to their customers… when I first walked in, another customer was being helped, which is fine… but I was not even acknowledged with a wave or a hello for about 10 minutes, until after the first patron had left. But I received great services and lots of attention after that, so…
Delicious place. And surprisingly reasonable! I walked out with crackers and .25 lbs of about 7 cheeses for about the amount of my gift certificate, which was $ 25. I left with my goodies, inspired to have a wine and cheese party in the very near future.

Very, very cool cheese shop and that is coming from a kid who grew up in Wisconsin.
Who would have thought that the corner of Western and Wilson would house such a great artisanal cheese store, much less a great Mexican restaurant (Los Nopales) and the best Thai restaurant in the city (Spoon)?
TCSA is the place that you go if you are hosting a wine and cheese party and want to impress with cheeses that will takeover the conversation. Be prepared to spend a little, but if you are hosting a party where some spending is becoming then try this place.
I strongly suggest asking as many questions as you can because you will be dealing with someone who knows vastly more than most folks about cheese.

Let’s put it this way — Quicken has started to ask if it should schedule payments to Cheese Stands Alone. I took that as a sign it might be time to cut back but its just so hard to resist that mozzarella, that aged appenzeller, that gouda — all so good! The selection is great, and the owners are always ready to make suggestions based on what else you’ve liked in the past or what you might be having with the cheese.

a good selection in a store that pretty much sells only cheese. good for an after work cheese run — open till 7:30pm except for sunday till 5pm. closed mondays. service is friendly, the place is clean and simple, and the neighborhood feel is the best!