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We went to the cheese factory this summer on a road trip from the Oregon coast. We were starving when we got there and planned to eat in the cafe. OK, so if you read my reviews you know how I'm in love with a great patty melt and I am teaching my 10 year old the essence of defining that perfect one. FOUND IT. Awesome menu choices and all have their luscious cheese in them somewhere.
I, and my daughter, of course ordered the melt. BEST EVER!!! I'm am not kidding. Just right in every way. The rye bread, the caramelized onions and of course the swiss cheese all came together like a symphony in my mouth.
I wish I lived closer so I could eat it every day. The ice cream is really good too. We did not do the tour, because I grew in Idaho and I know how cheese is made and my kids just wanted to shop in the gift stores. The whole experience was made outstanding by the one little patty melt. Everything else was a cherry on top.
My only hope is that this is the best one so far and I can continue eating my way around this world we live in on the search for the next BEST patty melt.
Amazing Ice Cream. I love the Vanilla Bean. I could eat that for days. I was actually really excited during the cheese sampling since they has a new cheese flavor, Habanero. It is spicier than Pepper Jack (no spicy for my taste) but the habanero has a great kick to it. Unfortunately they didn't have large blocks of it just baby ones since they are still looking to see how much demand they have for it.
Overall, if in Tillamook this is a great place to stop at. The self guided tour is great.
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If you are a cheese lover and happen to be in Oregon, you may have to be the worst, dispicable, posing, disgrace to the cheese lovers, if you do not come here.
Take a person like me. Who happen to be in charge of my family trip up the Pacific Northwest. Is it just by coincidence that I took the longer route and added an extra day to swing by Coos Bay just to come here? Is it just coincidence that I took the path least taken to go through the mountains in rain and thunder, just to visit the magical birth of Tillamook cheese pacakges. Maybe. But I'm certainly glad to have made it since they offer quite an awesome tour. It's more of a self guided tour, but I felt like I was sitting in the actual room where they do the "behind the scenes" look at how things are made like int that food channel. Although you don't get to see the stirring of the cheese and stuff, the packaging itself is quite amazing too.
And what's even better? they have samples! I probably sampled enough for 10 kids who all were waiting for me to finish my fill, while the adults would just grunt slowly. I had the Cheese Curd, Sharp Chedder, Medium Chedder, Sharp White Chedder, Pepper Chedder. The best were probably the Sharp White Chedder and the Pepper. Curd is just weird.
Downstairs, they also have a ice creamery and so I had the waffle cone 3 scoop sundae with Almond Mocha Fudge, Strawberry Cheesecake, and the Huckleberry for ice cream.....what a musuem
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Definitely a fun place to stop while on the road. We'd been driving most of the day and thought, "Hey, let's eat cheese!"
It's fun to see where my cheese comes from -- we buy Tillamook cheddar from Costco pretty regularly. The "tour" is self-guided, and you can walk around looking down onto the factory floor and see the cutting and packaging process. Then, you get to taste the cheeses! The sharp cheddar was a favorite.
They also have a LOT of ice cream flavors here, and it's super cheap. I think I got 3 scoops of 3 different flavors for some insane price like $3 or something. Yum!
1.5 star experience and yes, I feel like a hater.
We have spent the last few days on the Oregon Coast and after hearing about the Cheese Factory 3 cars full of family caravaned here for lunch, touring,etc.
First off, the place was packed. This might be due to the local fair that was taking place in town. We arrived around 1pm and 8 of the 9 of us were hungry for lunch. The women folk staked out tables while the men folk stood in a long line to order lunch at the counter. The order was placed and we all sat down together. We waited and waited and waited and waited. 45 minutes later, grilled cheese sandwiches (luke warm), clam chowder that was probably from a food service company and very well done luke warm bacon cheeseburgers were delivered to our table. The family was hungry and just ate-no one complained nor complimented the food but no one was happy either. The only saving grace for some were the crispy tater tots that were served with some of the sandwiches.
The next step was the "tour". It is a self guided tour where you go upstairs to look down on the factory workers and this was the best part of the whole experience. Once you look at old cheese making memorabilia and look down on the workers, you are done with the tour and go back downstairs to then stand in a long line for your Costco cubed cheese samples (if you want to stand in line for this). I was disappointed that due to how small this place really is, they couldn't have one of the many workers standing upstairs with trays of cheese for people to sample. The line situation here reminded me of Disney. Once you get your sample, you walk into their food store. The store has cheese, meats, crackers, and the other Tillamook products (ice cream and milk and yogurt) for the same price as the grocery store. This was another thing that amazed me-no discount what so ever available here.
There is another main gift shop that had everything from shirts to mugs to regular car wash gift shop type do dads and junk. Not impressed.
Lastly, comes the ice cream. Yes, I know, who disses ice cream? They tout 38 flavors, but you can't taste any of them first. You stand in another line to order ice cream. Once you order and pay, you are given a ticket and then told to go stand in yet another line. Once you wait in the second ice cream line, you give the ticket to a worker who then scoops your ice cream. LAME, plus the husbands peppermint ice cream was lacking any peppermint flavor at all.
Boo Tillamook. You could have been a contender...
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So I've been a fan of Tillamook cheese, and to come to the Tillamook Cheese factory was great! :)
I was able to see how they made their cheese... and let me tell you - they make A LOT of cheese! AND... they have poster boards up on the history of Tillamook Cheese, which is quite interesting. What I absolutely love the most about Tillamook was their ICE CREAM!!! It is soooo good! I wish that they sell their ice cream in stores here in Southern California (yes, I am on that hunt!). Also, their fudge... that's another story! It's sooo good!
I recommend that everyone come here at least just once to experience it all! :)
A fantastic stop if you're in Oregon. The best ice cream around and amazing cheese. Despite the overt "Real California Cheese" campaigns, I still opt for Tilamook cheddars when I can.
I... love... cheese. And ice cream. If you love it too, stop by. There's a do-it-yourself tour if you want to see it being made. I went upstairs, looked around, and then bolted downstairs to the sample line.
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Tillamook Cheese Factory is good if you're in Oregon and going down the Oregon coast.
Bathrooms on the lower level & they also have bathrooms upstairs - so ladies just go up the stairs instead of waiting in that long line!
They sell ice cream here and it's pretty cheap - No samples. They sell ice cream downstairs & upstairs! On the sign upstairs it looks like 38 flavors.
Single dip (scoop) $2
double dip $3
triple $3.75
jr dip $1.25
3-scoop sampler dish $3
5-scoop sampler dish $4.75
waffle cone 75c extra
sundaes $2.5
shakes $4
malts $4.25
root beer float $2.5
ice cream soda $2.5
hot fudge sundae $3.5
I got:
3-scoop sampler dish $3 - it's in a bowl & only jr. scoops, but I got to taste 3 different flavors: sweet centeniial - 100th anniversary feature flavor summer '09-fine; Oregon strawberry-good; Tillamook Mudslide - ok.
They accept credit cards.
Self-guided tour - boring to me, machines were barely working. 2 young people were talking more than working sealing the blocks of cheese.
You can try samples of their cheese downstairs - there's a line. Take 6 toothpicks when u see the box of them to try them all:
fresh cheese curds
medium cheddar
extra sharp cheddar
vintage white extra sharp cheddar
garlic white cheddar
hot habanero jack
They have a store to buy their cheeses $2.59-$2.99, their 1.75 quart ice cream $4.49, etc. Farmhouse Cafe available, & Tillamook Fudge.
Overall, recommended for a visit.
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Cheeeeese! Interesting factory with lots of tourists and rightfully so! You can watch them package and make the cheese upstairs, very cheesy big brother. Great shop downstairs with their cheeses, snacks, fun touristy things and etc. Opted for their spreadable cheddar cheese, a cheese knife and little magnet. The ice cream was very good, I wish they distributed it in California, want it NOW.
~~~cheeseawesome~~~
I've never been to a cheese factory before, so rating it is difficult. It was strange watching over the employees, I don't think I'd be so comfortable if I were one of them. Anyway, we found some cheeses here that we don't see in Nevada, so that was cool. They also have fudge, ice cream, and of course, the gift shops. Although it had nothing to do with the cheese factory, what I'll remember is the unrelenting smell of cow poop on the drive up the 101 to Tillamook (and back). Even so, it was a nice stop and the cheese is fantastic!
This place is alright. Nothing too exciting except for the ice cream - 38 flavors to choose from ( although I still think Cold Stone is better). I think this place is kind if overrated. It's worth visiting if you're in the area. If you're hoping to find some deals on cheese, well people...you will be disappointed.
To enjoy this place means that you were only semiconscious. It is like a Disneyland gone horrible wrong of the cheese world. We saw a line of at least 100 insane people waiting for a cube of cheese. We walked in looked at the hordes of people wanting a stuffed cow toy and walked out fast. Not worth the time spent looking for parking.
Since we were in the area, we made this a destination on Wednesday. Showed up around 1:30pm and decided to eat lunch at the cafe. Not bad - I had the daily special. Good size plate of nachos for $5.95 - beef, chips, tomatoes, olives, onions, cheese, sour cream, etc. My sis ordered the mini burgers and they came out with smiley face fries on the side. Reasonably priced for a tourist spot. Then we went on our tour. My little boy stared in awe at the big blocks of cheese (42lbs) going by on the conveyor belt for forever. He loves Cheese. After wandering around on our tour, we wrapped up with some cheese samples. Love the curds - squeak squeak. The line was not bad at all while we were there. I think there were 2 small familes ahead of our group and people just went right through. Afterward the ice cream... For about $26 you too can try the 38 Scoop Ice Cream Tour. We shared it among 3 adults and a kid and it was a lot of ice cream... We got 1 scoop of every flavor! They rung a bell and sung a little song. The huge bowl was every kids' dream come true. Loved the chocolates but watch out for the white licorice flavor. It was a total Harry Potter moment when he's eating the jelly beans and hits a gross flavor unexpectedly. Took our leftover ice cream back and stuck it in the freezer and worked on the bowl later on. whew...
Come for the cheese, stay for the ice cream.
After passing this place a million times in my forays to the coast, it took family friends to finally get me in there. What was WRONG with me? there was ICE CReAM in there all along, but I didn't know.
And, I reconnected with Tilly the cow, who was a marketing toy in the 50's - I remember Tilly from my childhood - i KNOW i had one of those little squeezy cows.
Watch: huge vats of milk, giant blocks of cheese on conveyor belts, cheese being formed, cut, bagged and boxed for aging.
Eat: the white extra sharp cheddar; Marionberry Pie ice cream, oh YES.
Go.
Did you collect rainbows, unicorns, beany babies, artichokes, or Holstein cow motif bric-a-brac? Did it take you until your thirties to stop collecting any vein of this crap because your mother-in-law will find out and send you metric tons of it that is not at all cute, but still meets collection criteria by virtue of simply being of that motif?
I've since sold off my collections. (Translation: broken the salt shakers, stained the aprons and turned them into rags, boxed the rest up and taken it to Goodwill). But when I visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory, my Holstein cow menagerie was at a critical point in gene pool diversification. It's quite possible that their gift shop singlehandedly saved my herd.
The tour is really quite adorable. Not a huge big deal, just a bunch of folks wearing hairnets, boxing up blocks of cheese. It's precious.
There was a moment, when the information video talked about how the "curd cascades out of the Cheddar Master" when ever synapse in my brain had a reaction formation at once, every muscle vacillated, I shuddered in ecstasy. I had a big cheese out, surrounded by dozens of other tourists.
It was this definitive phrase that led me to move to Oregon fifteen years ago. I will always remember how that Cheddar Master made me feel, how it changed my life.
Wherever you are now, run, don't walk, to any local grocery store and get yourself a $12 giant brick of the Special Reserve Tillamook White Cheddar.
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My version of self guided tour at Tillamook Cheese Factory:
* Sample of Cheese Curds in my mouth....yum yum yum...
* Ooh sample of medium cheddar cheese in my mouth they went...yum yum yum...
* Sharp Cheddar Cheese samples went into my belly...yum yum yum..
* Pepper Jack Cheese samples very tasty went into my belly tooo....yum yum yum...
Too bad they don't have samples of the Ice Cream, I didn't get any education on that subject :(.
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You can't go near Tillamook without visiting the Cheese Factory!
I've always enjoyed seeing conveyer belts and how things are made/processed, so the self-guided tour has always been a favorite - we always try to figure out what cheese they are working on at the time. This last trip, all 3 conveyer belts in the main window were working at once. Even if you've been here before, going on the self-guided tour is a fun way to start out your visit.
Next, go down the stairs and stand in line for cheese samples. Even if you have to wait, there are cool pictures in the hallway and a bunch of historical info about things like Tillamook's start, and the TIllamook Burn, and pretty shadow boxes about the cheese factory's start. The cheese samples always include squeaky cheese (cheese curds - don't knock it until you've tried it) as well as other varieties.
Then you might feel like buying cheese or other Tillamook products. It's so much fun to see what you might NOT have in your grocery store! The specialty section of local and Northwest food-makers on the right side is also worth looking through carefully, with everything from jams and syrups to soups and dips and even pre-packaged fudge. These things make great gifts for further away friends and family.
On your way out, there's a food area. If you don't have time for lunch, you should make time for a scoop of their famous ice cream. It's exciting to try flavors you can't normally get in the store.
There's another gifts shop on the other side of the entry way, but it's a little more ordinary. We don't stop there every time.
All-in-all, a great way to spend a few hours of your trip to the beach, you won't be disappointed!
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I discovered the awesomeness that is Tillamook cheese during my not-so-proud moments at Johnny Rockets. Yup, that was me clumsily dancing to Sinatra's "Chicago." Laugh and die, bitches.
A few years back, when I realized that I would be driving through Tillamook County on a road trip up north, I made a point to visit the famous factory.
If I lived in Oregon, I would undoubtedly be a big fat heifer. A sexy big fat heifer.
Suddenly, I was in Frighteningly Obese People Heaven and didn't want to leave. I found myself shamelessly shoving young children over to inhale samples of the freshest cheeses and ice cream into my blowhole. By the end of their free tour, I walked away with a tub of cheese curds, which look like the most delicious little yellow and orange turd droppings. You never thought the words "delicious" and "turd" could be used in the same sentence, did you? YUM!!!
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A visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory is a must for any family vacation in Oregon. It's also a must for vacations with friends. Oh, and maybe significant others, too. Basically, if you're in the neighborhood, make a trip to the factory.
When you walk inside, you're greeted by a large plastic cow (with working udders & milk production) and the smell of freshly prepared waffles (for the waffle cones, of course). You'll also be bombarded by old people and other families, but don't be discouraged. Everyone eventually makes their way to the free samples line and then on to the ice cream.
Okay, so watching the workers package gigantic blocks of cheddar isn't the most fascinating thing in the world, but it's great knowing that those blocks of fabulousness are going to warm the hearts (and stomachs) of others elsewhere.
And definitely buy at least one package of fresh cheese curds. The "squeaky cheese" is NOT to be missed.
So...to recap. Tillamook Cheese Factory = waffle cones/fresh ice cream & squeaky cheese.
For those yelpers who are lactose intolerant (like yours truly), make sure to stop by the nearby Fred Meyer for some Lactaid (or other enzyme supplement) so you can take part in the whole Tillamook Cheese experience.
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Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese was the key ingredient in my mom's homemade mac & cheese. I can still picture my younger brother gnawing on a baby loaf of the stuff...
Part of my 30th birthday present was a weekend in Portland, including a day trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It did not disappoint. We picked up a fantastic TIllamook refrigerator magnet, watched factory workers and their robot friends magically transform large blocks of cheddar into the baby loafs of my childhood, wolfed down grilled cheese and tots in the cafeteria, and gawked at tourists (or locals??) in jean shorts, and sampled some satisfyingly squeaky cheese curds. I only have two suggestions to improve the experience: (1) deep fry the cheese curds for a more heart-stopping treat; and (2) offer a wider selection of awesome, branded key chains.
P.S. My favorite grilled cheese recipe is Tillamook Medium Cheddar between slices of San Luis Sourdough. Another very tasty treat is Tillamook Medium Cheddar on Triscuits (cold slices or nuked - Triscuits stay crispy in the microwave!).
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My friend invited me on a trip to Oregon with her and her boyfriend this year. Once I found out that the Tillamook Cheese Factory wasn't too far from where we were, I had to go. This honestly was the one thing I was really looking forward to. You see, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheese! I can honestly say that this is one food I couldn't live without.
I enjoyed the tour, looking at all that cheese on conveyor belts on the floor below was like heaven for me. There was cheese everywhere, from being weighed and being packaged. Once you are done you go down to the lower level and there is where you get to sample different types of cheese. My favorite was the Pepper Jack, super good. If there weren't people behind me in line I could have ate the whole tray myself.
After filling up on all the free cheese you enter into the factory store. And yes, there they have even more cheese! I wanted to take one of everything home, but since I live in Southern California, that was out of the question. So I had to be wise on my selections. I decided on some cheeses that I can't get in the grocery stores where I live. They also have an assortment of jams, jellies, crackers and beef sticks.
Not only does Tillamook make awesome cheese, they have great ice cream. They make there own waffle cones, and they have a large selection on delicious flavors. Right when you walk into the factory you can smell the waffle cones, and see the line for the ice cream counter. It was kinda nice that there was a line, because there are sooooo many yummy flavors to choose from, I needed the time to decide. Since Oregon is famous for berries, I chose Marion Berry and Lemon Blueberry Pie, which was my favorite. The ice cream was nice and creamy, just like I thought it would be. If in Oregon this is a must place to stop! Who can say no to free cheese!!
Watch 50 pound blocks of cheese roll out of magic machines and partake in a sample line offering everything from cheese curds to jalapeno cheese goodness.
But! BUT! Come here for the ice cream! You smell the fresh waffle cones right when you walk in, and the array of flavors is admirable. I prefer the Oregon Strawberry, but have never been let down.
Also, those cheese curds I mentioned, i.e. squeaky cheese (it squeaks when you chew it), are a favorite as well as the vintage extra sharp cheddar.
Oooh, ohhh, and they sell homemade caramel chews at most checkout stands, so grab some of those too. :o)
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This was a great place to go to as a break from being on the beach. We went here as a stop for the Memorial Day Weekend and it was packed but not to the point where you can smell people's cheesey breath or ice cream is in your hair.
This was my first time here and I think it will be one of those 'traditions' of going here for ice cream every time we're at the coast.
Go straight upstairs and they serve ice cream there where the line is shorter and overall less crowded. While you're waiting for ice cream, you can walk around and they have huge open windows where you can actually see workers packing cheese and see the production line of how cheese is manufactured. My understanding is that this is not where they mass produce the product but is somewhat of a demonstration/tourist facility.
Downstairs, they have samplings of cheese and they have every cheese imaginable!! I bought some nice smoked cheddar cheese spreads and we bought some teriyaki and pepperoni dried sausage sticks to munch on the way back. Go Atkins!
The kids had a great time and of course we all enjoyed ice cream!!
Fun game to play once you're in Tillamook county until you get there, everything you say has to start with a "T" - Tave Ta Treat Time Tat Tilamook Tith Tour Tamily - Trom Tarmen!!
CHEESETASTING!! All I needed was some wine and this place would've been heaven! Unfortunately, the machines were off or they were just not working the day we went to visit... so we didn't see the cheese factory in action... but we got to sample the different cheeses here.
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Tillamook Cheese Factory is great! Free cheese self guided tours and Tillamook ice cream! Something you may not know is they serve great breakfasts there for a reasonable price and they have of course the best ham and cheese omelets!
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Cheese curds. Go now. (The only reason that directive isn't in all-caps is because Yelp's programmers have coded in an all-caps-disappearing filter of some kind. Which I appreciate in theory, but sometimes you really, really need them. Like now. ***Cheese curds!!***)
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This cheese is the best..yummmmmmmm While I was in Oregon at the end of April , my bro decided to take a little road trip to the coast and it was very cool.. This place has all kinds of cheese and ice cream .. damn my nephews and I ate up all the samples...I couldn't get enough of it. You cant beat having cheese so fresh and rich... I'm glad my Costco here in Cali has the big blocks of it....So if you get a chance to visit this place do it ....
I miss cheese curds! We don't have them out east. I went to the Cabot cheese factory in Vermont, which was about equal to Tillamook. Tillamook is better in terms of the view you have, but at Cabot you're right in the thick of everything, not watching over everyone like big brother. And at Cabot, there's an actual cheese nerd showing you around, not just a bunch of screens. Still, this place is fun and definitely worth a trip. Man alive I want some squeaky cheese.
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I think every Oregonian should be required to experience the Tillamook Cheese factory. What was once a small, regional operation has now grown into being known nationwide and even internationally because of the exceptional quality. The fresh ice cream you get here is the best, there is no better. I think last time I went they had 30+ flavors to choose from.
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This place rocks!
First of all, they have more than just the cheese you buy in the stores. They had what is called a "curd" cheese that is basically yummy, buttery with a bit of sharpness curdled cheese. They also have a white cheddar I don't see often in stores.
Walking through the factory you get to view everything happening down below. The huge tables full of cheese are so tempting that i just wanna find the employee entrance infiltrate that place. I love the statue of the cow at the front that shows how to milk a cow.
My mom grew up in this town and so I have been here countless times. The ice cream is the best I have ever had. They don't distribute it very far though. We, the unfortunate, here in California will probably never see this brand of ice cream in the freezer section. The only chance we get is going to Oregon or visiting the factory. They also make yogurt(oh damn!), butter(I only use their butter for baking) and sour cream that is perfect heated up and drizzled on top of a steak and onion sammich. Hungry yet??
Time to plan another trip to visit Grandma, Aunt Linda and Aunt Pat and have them take us to this wonderful cheese factory. Besides, I ran out of my huge box of Tillamook fudge and I really don't want grandma to try and care-package that through the mail again.
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This place is worth visiting in Tilamook, Oregon, but wasn't nearly as great as I hoped.
We enjoyed our boys seeing cheese being made; as fascinating as it is to see automation at work, it is even better to serve as a teaching experience for why it is good to learn skills more marketable than factory line work.The tour is not nearly as informative of how cheese is made as we wanted. The whole show mostly serves to guide the line of tourists along to the areas to buy cheese, ice cream and other products. We were really pleased to discover that Tillamook Cheese makes a Vintage White version of their cheddar, giving us a new appreciation for products from this brand. Several decent samples were displayed to try, and a gift shop that is practically a stocked supermarket is quite impressive. To the operation's credit I came away sold on spending a little more for cheddar with as nice of undertones as Tillamook Cheese can have. I now expect a little more of a cheese variety I've normally considered ordinary.
Nonetheless, unlike many other factory tours, there's not much of a bargain to find here that you couldn't find just by watching the sales at your local grocer who stocks Tillamook Cheese. Didn't even find any interesting cheese versions (read: edible souvenirs) that I can't find by looking around a little here in Utah.
It's still fun to grab a bag or two of "squeaky cheese" (fresh cheddar curd) along with the rest of the tourists. Most also flock to the large creamery, that, in my opinion, stands as a fattening salute to what is wrong with the state of American ice cream. Instead of focusing on clean, bright, natural flavors, "premium" ice cream becomes dimly overburdened with cream. Tillamook Factory, I wish I could pack you up and ship you off to eat gelato in Italy, to learn it is possible to have creamy texture without all the butterfat.
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