10 Un-Brie-Lievable Philly-Area Cheese Makers and Mongers
From small-batch creameries in the countryside to shops offering rare wheels of traditional European styles, here's where to upgrade your board.
Valley Milkhouse Creamery cheesemaker Stefanie Angstadt / Photograph by Zoe Schaeffer
Forget the supermarket selections. Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside are home to family-run farms crafting delicate blues, urban creameries pushing the boundaries of flavor, and bustling market stalls brimming with local and international treasures.
Philly-Area Cheesemakers
Birchrun Blue by Birchrun Hills / Photograph courtesy of Birchrun Hills Farm
Bandit
East Passyunk
Hand-rolled logs of sharp pimento. A luscious spread, perfect for any morning bagel. A dank wedge of blue with earthy striations of vegetable ash. But make it vegan. Operating out of the cheese caves (okay, the walk-in refrigerators) of the Bok Building, Bandit specializes in making plant-based cheeses that you’d never guess aren’t the “real” thing.
Birchrun Hills
Chester Springs
Just because they’re small-batch doesn’t mean they lack variety. This family-run dairy farm and creamery churns out cheeses that are perfect additions to any charcuterie board. Try the Powder Mill, a silky Valençay-style coated in a layer of vegetable ash; the earthy, cave-aged Fat Cat; and the ever-popular Birchrun Blue, a semisoft, delicate blue cheese. Find them at most farmers markets and specialty grocery stores, or order online.
Valley Milkhouse Creamery
Oley
Sure, Berks County isn’t quite Philly, but we’ve accepted Taylor Swift as our own, so this micro-creamery makes the cut too. They take the concept of bloomy rinds to a new level with French- and Dutch-inspired cheeses pressed with seasonal botanicals. Covered in dried flowers from Katydid Hill, the Clover Blossom fromage blanc offers a tangy, sweet taste of spring, while the chamomile-ripened Honey Bell greets us with floral notes of summer. Find Valley Milkhouse at Riverwards Produce and Weavers Way Co-op, as well as at the Clark Park and Fairmount farmers markets.
Perrystead Dairy
Kensington
This award-winning urban creamery believes that world-class cheese begins with world-class milk sourced from small, local, sustainable dairy farms. The result: nontraditional styles of irresistibly creamy hunks like Intergalactic and the seawater-washed Atlantis, with complex flavor profiles you’ll crave long after your last bite. Good thing they have a self-service cheese dispensary where you can snag a late-night snack after the grocery stores close.
Misty Meadow Sheep Dairy
Woodbine
Ask the folks here why sheep’s milk is their specialty, and they’ll tell you it has more calcium than cow’s milk and more folic acid than goat’s milk — and that these creatures are just too cute. There are about 30 ewes at this farm, and most will give birth by early April. You should absolutely visit for family-friendly lamb camp (through April 27th), and while you’re there, pick up the signature Bloomy Sunflower, a soft cheese comparable to Brie, for a nutty, buttery delight.
Philly-Area Cheesemongers
Third Wheel Cheese / Photograph by Neal Santos
Downtown Cheese
Market East
This woman-owned shop in Reading Terminal Market has an impressive selection of accoutrements to go with its hard-to-find fromages from around the world, like Beaufort Chalet d’Alpage and Swiss Maréchal. Cured meats, fancy jams and spreads, jars of pickles, and a collection of balsamic vinegars and olive oils — the hardest part about shopping here is not going overboard.
Claudio Specialty Foods
Bella Vista
The old-school market is cozily stuffed with gourmet foods and usually filled with shoppers filling their baskets — oh, and it also has a cheese counter that runs the length of the store. Shop global offerings (the cantaloupe-lookalike Mimolette cow’s-milk from France, Beemster XO Gouda from the Netherlands), plus Claudio’s own smoked mozzarella and provolone.
Third Wheel Cheese
West Philadelphia
What began as a woman-owned specialty cheese distributor to restaurants and retailers in 2019 has bloomed with last year’s addition of a retail shop, where you can choose from Pennsylvania- based picks like the luscious Noblette Brie from Calkins Creamery in Honesdale. Nearly 40 boutique makers from Virginia to Vermont are sold here, with even more on the horizon — a club subscription with Philly Cheese School (page 87) launches this spring.
Collective Creamery
Various pickup locations
Run by the women behind Birchrun Hills and Valley Milkhouse, this CSA connects Philly curd nerds to small-batch creameries focusing on regenerative dairy farming and traditional processes. Subscribers get a curated box of artisanal selections from the Collective Creamery founders as well as from guest cheesemakers from across the Northeastern U.S. Every month, you’ll be introduced to new styles — perfect for folks looking to learn more.
Riverwards Produce
Fishtown and Old City
The 10-year-old market’s selection will satisfy any locavore turophile. Riverwards focuses on regional cheeses from the likes of Conebella Farm in Chester County. Look out for the spring return of Lancaster County-based Linden Dale Farm’s concoctions, made from the milk of LaMancha goats after their winter “maternity leave,” says Riverwards founder Vincent Finazzo, when “cheese falls second to motherhood.”
Published as “10 Un-Brie-Lievable Cheese Spots” in the April 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
