fromaggio artisan cheese shoppe

Formaggio Artisan Cheese shop not only sells cheeses (and good ones too), they also sell gelato, ice cream, and have a wine bar too that offers tapas. The Gelato is very good and so is the ice cream. As for the wine bar and tapas, the menus has lots to offer (regardless of whether you drink wine). Formaggio is a must stop while in Manson, WA and or visiting Lake Chelan!

Now, picture opening a Italian-Spanish tapas bar/restaurant/deli/creamery with your family and with little restaurant experience. While Fromaggio does have excellent cheese and ice cream, it's got 'way too many ideas going in opposite directions. The owner is a nice, friendly local who needs to focus on the limited number of things she can do well. We had a nice dinner of Italian specialties but editing the menu is well in order. My family is pleased someone has put together a comfortable, relaxing spot in downtown Manson. We wish you the best for many more ice cream cones to come.

This place has cheeses from all over the world. Their menu looked good, we got no further than tasting their amazing cheese selection.

We were staying in the Lake Chelan area and decided to buy some cheese. I had read about Fromaggio on TA, so 5 of us stopped in after the farmer’s market, which was very fun. We were immediately greeted and asked if we wanted to do a cheese tasting or gelato tasting (I think it was gelato). We said that we were just there to buy some cheese, but we would taste some of the cheeses before we bought any.They have a printed Cheese Tasting Menu listing the cheeses available along with the type of cheese (cow, goat, or sheep) plus the country of origin. A previous review was correct that all of the cheeses are imported and not made at the store.We certainly enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed most of the cheeses we tasted. Some were a bit odd, but there was certainly a cheese for everyone. There were 11 of us staying at our villa, so we ended up buying quite a bit of six different cheeses.Our helper was new, so it took forever to cut the cheeses that we wanted and then to ring them up. As is the case so often, there was a “fight” to see who would pay. My sister-in-law won. As we left the store, I realized that no prices were posted anywhere. Not on the printed menu or posted anywhere in the store. This should have been a warning.After returning to our villa, I asked my SIL for the receipt. We played a guessing game to see which cheese was the most expensive. When I calculated the price per pound, we were shocked! Here are the prices we paid. By the way, the most expensive ones came from California. We thought that the cheeses from Sweden or Holland would have been the most expensive.Truffle Tremor $46.29/lb - CaliforniaHumbolt Fog $42.36/lb – CaliforniaCave Aged Gruyere $37.64/lb – SwedenManchego $31.15/lb – SpainCoconut $27/lb – HollandDouble Cream Gouda $26/lb If we hadn’t been buying cheese for 11 people, perhaps we wouldn’t have noticed the prices. The experience was fun, but I think it’s a little dishonest not to post prices especially when they are so expensive. Yes, I know that we should’ve asked. I won’t make that mistake again.

I had high hopes for this place as I quite enjoy cheese. We'd received a coupon for a free cheese plate from our hotel (in conjunction with a Living Social deal). So we walked in to check the place out, fully expecting to purchase a glass of wine to pair with our cheese based on their recommendations and / or possibly I would have purchased some cheese had I found something that I liked.The attendant asked how she could help me and I mentioned that I had the Living Social coupon for a free cheese plate. She said "ok" and took the coupon. After several minutes of her running around and asking other co-workers questions and the co-workers looking over at us, she finally brought us a small plate of cheese, crackers and fruit wrapped in saran wrap and said, "Here you go". Then an older co-worker said, "It'd be great if you bought some wine".I wanted to say, "It'd be great if you explained the cheeses to me and gave me some recommendations". Instead we walked over to where the wine counter was and it was busy, so we decided to go outside and try out the cheese and maybe someone would come by. Eventually someone did come by and gave us a wine list and said he'd be back to take our order. Still no recommendations of what to pair with the selected cheese! When he came back out we declined any wine, finished our plate and left.Terribly disappointed in this place. Not to mention, from the 3-4 minutes that I waited for my cheese plate, I perused the cheeses available and it didn't appear to me that any of the cheeses were actually made there, they all seemed like imported cheese, but I could be wrong about that.It annoys me that companies sign up for the "Groupon" type of deals, but then just assume that there's no additional business to be had so they treat customers with disrespect and have a pre-concieved notion about the customers. Not only did you not get a wine or cheese sale, you've inclined me to write a not very positive review. Think next time!

Warm, friendly staff and delicious cheese, breads and Chocolates. If you enjoy wine tasting, I highly recommend you do the full cheese tasting they offer. What a fun time I and my guests had!Thanks so much ladies!

We had arranged a group wine and cheese pairing at Fromaggio and CR Sandige and we were blown away by their hospitality, their cheeses and the wines they paired with them. We were the zebra party...appropriate zebra attire and hats were worn by all...imagine our delight when we saw the table decked out in zebra table cloth, wooden zebra centerpiece...too many zebra elements to list here...the wonderful staff were also wearing zebra outfits...I think there was a safari hunter too...lol Besides the great spirit of the people who took care of us, Timi told us about each cheese and wine it was paried with. It was very interesting and so much fun...I highly recommend a stop at Fromaggio!

Be sure to add a visit to the Fromaggio early in your visit to this beautiful wine country because you will want to go back often. You will also want to take more of your favorite cheeses back home with you. Timi, the owner, is a delightful lady who shares her passion for great tasting cheeses with anyone who visits her shop. She offers "cheese tasting" and teaches how to pair great cheeses with great wines to enjoy an absolutely devine tasting experience. Our cheese tasting experience with Timi was one of the highlights of our recent vacation to Manson/Lake Chelan. Thanks, Timi!!