Months before I found myself planning a trip to San Francisco, I came across this cheese and wine bar while I was doing research for another post: Mission Cheese. The blog post that I found had all of these awesome photos of the bar, which was made of natural wood with the bark still on it. Also, there were pics of these pretty unique knives. So, there I was thinking, “This is just another cool place I’ll never visit.” However, sure enough, I ended up in San Francisco—and, one of the places on my “to-do” list was Mission Cheese.
Now, I have put this post of for quite a while—almost 4 months. Wow, it really has been a long time. That being said, I don’t remember everything about the cheeses my friends and I ate. Sure, I have notes … … let me tell you what I remember.
The neighborhood that Mission Cheese is located in is called the Mission District, or most commonly, “the Mission.” I believe it’s most famous for Mexican food, being home to a ton of taquerias; and, is where the famous San Francisco burrito originated.
We ordered the Monger’s Choice, which is always a different selection of cheeses; however, ours consisted of the following:
- Goat triple creme
- Hollyhock, a sheep’s milk cheese
- Rush Creek Reserve, a cow’s milk cheese
The platter came with sliced baguette, some dried fruits and some miniature salty pickles, which were really tasty. Also, instead of water glasses, they had mason jars, which was kind of quirky.
My friends and I ordered wine; both of them were delicious.
- Carignane (Preston Vineyards, Healdsburg, California)
- Sierra Foothills White (La Clarine, Somerset, CA)
Also, the staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. I’m pretty sure I spent a hot minute at the register getting wine recommendations, and the girl there, Sarah, made some pretty good recommendations. Eric, the cheesemonger, brought out our cheese and did an excellent job of explaining what everything was—but, I’m sorry, I glazed over. The staff maintains this blog, which is pretty fun if you want to check it out.
It does look very much like just a wine bar, but they do also sell retail. So, you can actually just walk in and have the monger cut you some cheese and walk out. Pretty convenient, right? Also, they sell gift certificates and everything. Definitely check it out if you’re in San Francisco:
Mission Cheese
736 Valencia St
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Check out their page on Yelp
Overall, this place was really great. I kind of wish I had tried the grilled cheese or the mac n’ cheese—supposedly these are their signature dishes. But, we had other dinner plans; so, it wasn’t going to happen. Next time I’m in San Francisco, I will surely stop in to gorge on everything. Until next time, stay classy San Francisco.