Haskell’s Big Cheese Deli

Not just a deli!!! Consider the Big Cheese for catering your next gathering. We had occasion to call upon the staff of the Big Cheese recently to help us with menu ideas, preparation and service for a large memorial gathering — one of those times when you wished you could «call your Mom» for help! From start to finish — menu ideas (imaginative, appropriate to ease of service) through service (included bar, appetizer area as well as buffet) and clean-​up, Jan and her colleagues handled everything and the attention to detail was remarkable.
In addition to a wonderful array of finger foods appropriate for the ‘stop and go’ guests, the late afternoon buffet was perfect for the early fall occasion: pork and chicken sliders with accompanying sauces, a Thai slaw as a side, beautiful red and golden beet salad with chev, roasted potatoes and vegetables. Then — brownies and lemon bars that are better than your Moms! The gals at the Big Cheese just ‘go the extra mile.’

Big Cheese is my go-​to shop when creating a party cheese plate or when I need a host gift for a foodie friend.
What’s better than walking into a deli designed around cheese? Love it. Big Cheese is a tiny store next to Haskell’s wine store. They make good use of the small space and offer a variety of items to pair well with your cheese selection. Flavored balsamics (mmmmmm), jellies and jams, deli meats, crackers, olive oils, cookies, and more. If you can’t put together the perfect cheese plate after a visit here, there’s something wrong with you.
To make your shopping easier, Big Cheese offers small cuts of cheese that are the perfect size for a cheese plate. For one dollar! Seriously. I have made some fabulous tastings out of those little cheese bites and will continue to do so whenever the craving hits. If you want a larger cut, there is an entire case full of lovely soft and hard cheeses from which the friendly staff can help you select. They can also pick out great pairings of food items to go along with your cheeses so you can make the best tasting plate at the party.
If you’re at the shop for something besides cheese (really, people do that?), check out their soups and other deli items. Anything you get here is going to be good and it’ll be served with a smile.

This one was hard to find because it’s tiny and not on skyway level. I wandered around the 1^st floor of the Young Quinlan building for a bit before finding it. They had a few dozen cheeses in the case, but were somehow out of gruyère. However, what they did have was more than enough to tempt me into a little spending spree (what the heck, it’s the holidays, right?) on a Hook’s blue and some Jarlsberg. The lady behind the counter was very helpful making recommendations, pulling label information on the cheese, offering samples, and she packaged everything up very nicely and carefully, which I really appreciate.
They also have a surprisingly large selection (especially considering their small digs) of cheese accoutrements: crackers, various tapenades and spreads, chocolates. You can also purchase quality Greek olive oil and balsamic vinegar here: finish the bottle and bring it in for a refill from their cask. Very neat.
I didn’t get a chance to try their deli operations, but they do offer soups, sandwiches and Otis Spunkmeyer cookies on a rotating menu, and coffee and prepackaged muffins and croissants that appear to have been brought in.
This tiny, overcrowded shop has a cute old-​timey feel, and I didn’t think they charged outrageous downtown prices. Although, with cheese, you do tend to get what you pay for, and they sell quality stuff. For every day use, I’ll still go for the Kraft, but on special occasions, I like the Big Cheese.

Haskell’s cheese shop is lovely. You can buy smaller samples of the various cheeses out of a «grab basket», which I love. I might not want to buy a big block of smoked gouda, but a small wedge is just right, especially at a $ 1. They also sell a bunch of spreads/​salsas/​sauces, all of which look and sound very appetizing. I noticed that they sell tofu pasta too — which I’ve never tried — so I’m stopping back in later this week to pick some up and give it a whirl.
The Big Cheese also has soup and sandwiches every day for lunch, and I’ve stopped in many times in hopes of getting a vegetarian soup. While that has yet to happen, I did finally try a veggie sandwich on Monday. They offered to make it fresh (it wasn’t in the case) and offered at least five different breads for me to choose from, on which they managed to fit at least seven different veggies. It was a really great, quick lunch to go! They also offer fruit cups and a few other smaller items on the side. My boyfriend had the cheeseburger chowder soup, which he raved about. (It had hashbrowns in it!) The price is right too, at $ 4 for a bowl large enough for one person to struggle to finish. I’m going to keep trying back for some without meat… I’ll keep eating their cheese until then.

A hidden gem, in the old Young Quinlan building next to haskells.
Had great cheese selections, really small place, nice sandwiches, Vernors in a can (can’t beat that) really friendly staff– had nice local and WI cheeses. Who knew? You would only know by their sandwich board outside, but unless you go into the building you’d miss it. I hope they grow and stay!