Town Clock Cheese Shoppe

This place is everything right about supporting a local awesome little business. The owner simply loves cheese, and loves sharing his love with you. He makes you feel at home. Gets to know you as a customer, and builds the experience around you. Prices are great, and he has awesome stuff in there.
I would give this place 6 stars, if you are in the area, stop by!

Passionate, engaging and entertaining owner, Bill is the difference here. 160 cheeses in house from all over the world each with its own story. Can’t believe I’ve never been in here. Sheep and goat offerings, aged cheeses, specialty cheeses I’d never heard of. Fabulous.

Nothing special by any means. One very small case of cheese to pick from. Half of what they sell you can buy at a grocery store. Wegmans has 10 times the selection of cheese as this specialty cheese shop… not impressed.

My only regret is waiting so long before taking the time to go into the Town Clock Cheese Shoppe. Bill was welcoming, educational, and entertaining. It was a fun experience and we bought several cheese flavors that have extended the savory experience into our home. This stop made our day quite delightful.

My wife and I stop here every time we go to Lancaster County. The owner, Bill is very friendly and knowledgeable about cheeses. He is always ready to suggest a new cheese and give us a sample. This is a great place to visit and buy cheese.

We finally made it to Town Clock Cheese Shoppe today and are so happy we did!
Bill, the owner, was there to host us, and I do mean host, because he is a true gentils fromagier, as one might find in France. I have often wanted to put a decent cheese plate together and have yet to find somewhere on the Mainline that can come up with half-​way decent cheese. The «high-​end» supermarkets, like Whole Foods, Wegman’s, etc. (who make the effort to dedicate a refrigerated island to cheeses), can’t manage to sell anything someone in Europe would ever eat (and I don’t mean that snobbily, even teenage exchange students won’t touch American cheese, or American versions of Brie, Camembert, etc.). America doesn’t have what Europe does, period. And if you crave a little taste of the Continent, you know what I mean. Well, today we went into Town Clock Cheese Shoppe with fingers crossed that the other reviewers knew what they were talking about, and they did. We were hoping to find some delicious authentic cheeses from France, and we certainly found those, and much more.
Bill was quick to pick up on our tastes, and asked the right questions to narrow options down to exactly what we liked. I was surprised to learn things about myself, as well as my husband, in terms of palate.
I had tastes of France in my memory from travel. Bill provided samples that took me back to the wonderful treats I remembered, and introduced us to new ones as well. He shared stories of his own travels in France, which were great to hear for entertainment and education.
Bill is sincerely interested in meeting new people, sharing his love of fine cheese, and giving excellent tips to help you to appreciate the culinary experience more deeply.
When I read the Unilocal reviews I was sure I needed to try this place, but I had questions about a few things. First, the hours weren’t posted, and still aren’t as of the time of this review. So, FYI, as of today, the hours are as follow:
Wednesdays: 3pm — 6pm
Thurs, Fri, Sat: 10am — 6pm
(I called to find the info but it is helpful to have it online too.)
Also, I wasn’t sure about prices, so, while prices change, as does selection, I wanted to at least give a rough idea. I included a photo of our cheese plate purchased today. We just eyeballed the sizes rather than ask for it in pounds, and it was just over $ 25 for four delicious, sizable pieces (note that in the photo, some of the cheese had already been eaten, and our cheese knife is the Cutco one, which is quite large compared to other knives; the plate is a full size dinner plate). We bought three French cheeses, Ossau-​Iraty, Fromager d’Affinois, and Mandego, as well as a Dutch cheese, Old Amsterdam, which was Bill’s sample cheese of the day. The Old Amsterdam was my husband’d favorite, and mine was Mandego. Pricewise, one of the cheeses (Ossau-​Iraty) was a bit more expensive than the others, so the total would probably have been a lot lower had we selected a different type. But, this is to show others that the prices are very reasonable, even when buying one of the more expensive cheeses.
The French people I have known enjoy their cheese daily in their home, typically after dinner, with perhaps some fruit, yogurt, and sometimes a chocolate pudding or novelty ice cream. Baguette is on hand, as is wine, but it is all very casual, not with any pomp & ceremony or etiquette involved. They don’t eat the pudding or ice cream in the same bit with the cheese or anything, this is just all set out at the time of the cheese plate, for casual nibbles, as one pleases. My point? I say this because I love chocolate (and even novelty ice cream is better in Europe because they don’t put wax in their chocolate over there like they do in the US), but I have to say, despite my unwieldy sweet tooth, I would go for the cheese over anything else, every time. It is such rich and rewarding flavor, it IS dessert.
Tonight, with our cheese plate fresh from Town Clock Cheese Shoppe, my husband and I have had trouble keeping ourselves from enjoying the cheese too much! It is disappearing dangerously fast, which is not how it is meant to be consumed. But it is being appreciated for every morsel, for sure.
My husband, who is not originally from the Phila area, said this is the most fun and gratifying experience he’s ever had in Lancaster County, and he has enjoyed our trips quite a bit. He said he really loved hearing Bill’s stories, getting an education on cheese tasting, and learning to pay attention to his own tastes as per Bill’s tutelage. The same goes for me. Thanks, Bill! We will be back many times in the future!

We discovered this gem about 8 years ago. The owner is so personable, great with kids as well as adults. He loves to educate you about his craft and is happy to let you taste… and loved to broaden your taste bud horizons if you’ll let him! We have been when it’s empty, crowded, and in every season. We have never been disappointed. He even provides cheese for the local vineyard… we have purchased cheese, gone to Twin Brooks, and sat with a bottle of wine catered to match our cheese. It’s a date or a great group thing! Definitely worth going to the Town Clock Cheese Shop over and over… but bring cash! They take cards, and you are guaranteed to overspend as you just can’t seem to say no!

We drove by this shop for 20 years! Nothing special looking but recently we have started enjoying a cheese tray now and again so we stopped in.
The owner is very friendly and knows his cheese! Samples of anything you want and it is even more fun when there are «regulars» there and they share favorites!
Yes some cheese can be purchased at the grocery store but most is more specialty and did I mention samples?
First time $ 20 and next time $ 50 with slices wrapped separately to enjoy at a later time. Not that much later!
Treat yourself!!!

Cute Idea to have a cheese shop… but this guy was just rude. His Harvarti cheese may be from Denmark — but you can buy it at any grocery store. Honestly, there are better places to buy cheese!

We absolutely love Town Clock Cheese Shoppe. When we got married two years ago, we decided to have a «cake» made out of wheels of cheese instead of a traditional cake. This is commonly done in the UK and Australia, but hasn’t caught on yet in the US. When I called to ask if Bill was willing to help us with this he was curious and more than willing to find us the right cheeses so our selection was varied, but the wheels could be stacked like a cake. The day we went to pick up our cheese, Bill even took us in the walk-​in to make sure our selections were what we wanted aesthetically. Our «cheese» cake made our winery wedding and now we have «anniversary cheese» every year. This is the place to go for a high quality selection and someone who is passionate and knowledgable about cheese.

Outstanding. Very knowledgable — they know their cheeses! Samples were offered for any cheese we wanted to try, and I have to say we bought some of every one we tried! We will be back… no doubt. It is worth going out of they way if you have to take a detour from your travel.

Boasting a vast array of local and imported cheeses, and an engaging proprietor to kidnap you on a world tour of buttery aged gold — the Town Clock Cheese Shoppe is destination worthy rather than a mere pit stop while passing through!
As others have mentioned, you must be patient… but certainly NOT timid! Bill Houder has done his homework. He not only knows his cheese and can describe both in depth and in layman’s terms; but has the people skills to make a crowded room of strangers feel like an intimate gathering of cheese loving chums. If you happen to stop in during a busy spell, by all means — don’t feel like you have to hide in the corner and wait your turn! Bill will include the room on every tasting, just remember to «put your hand in» if you want a taste!
Give some patience at check out, one of the charms of the Shoppe is he hand cuts, weighs, and wraps (with love) to order each piece to send home with you.
There is also a lovely assortment of grab and go items; crackers, Hanover pretzels, mustards, local breads, olives, cheese spreads, fresh mozzarella, and stuffed pepper poppers.

This place has become a must stop for me when in the lancaster area. A very nice selection of very very very good cheeses. You can tell the owner here cares about what he does and knows everything there is to know about what he does.