If you could distill the charm of St. Charles’ historic Main Street into one storefront, then it might be Cork & Rind, the delightful wine and cheese shop located in the heart of the area’s quaint retail and dining strip. The shop boasts an impressive selection of domestic and imported cheeses that can be enjoyed on site or at home—or in the area’s gorgeous riverfront park, along with a bottle of natural wine (also available for purchase here). 555 1st Capitol, St. Charles.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
Less a wine shop, gourmet market, and cheese shop than a balm for the disconnectedness of our current online and big-box society, Parker’s Table is everything you want a cheese shop to be: well-appointed with interesting, always-rotating selections; stocked with plenty of charcuterie and accouterments to round out your cheeseboard; and knowledgeable staff who will help guide you in the right direction. There’s a reason that Yelp named Parker’s Table the best cheese shop in Missouri for 2022. 7118 Oakland.
Starrs may have started as a gourmet coffee roaster in 1979, but this wonderful gourmet market has grown into one of the metro area’s most essential destinations for hard-to-find cheeses. Owner Bud Starr and associate John Nash hold court over this delightfully quirky Richmond Heights haunt, ensuring that you walk away with not just an outstanding cheese, but a wonderful, reasonably priced bottle of imported wine to go with it. 1135 S. Big Bend.
Now in its 41st year, The Wine & Cheese Place started with a vision to bring to St. Louis a truly European cheese-buying experience and has never deviated from that. Although its selection is hard to beat (including the wonderful pate selection), the thing that distinguishes this wonderful Clayton shop is its intense focus on customer service. Multiple locations.
Don’t let the name fool you. The Wine Merchant may be known for its world-class wine selection, but it also has an impressive assortment of boutique domestic and imported cheeses that its well-versed staff, including a master cheesemonger, is happy to slice up for your at-home cheese board—complete with on-point pairing recommendations. 7817 Forsyth.
Nerida Wilbraham and Scot Martin opened this Shaw neighborhood gem to celebrate their respective passions for Australian and California wines. They ended up pairing that vision with a quaint curated cheese counter with such items as marinated feta and olives, which feel tailor-made for a Wednesday evening of jazz at the nearby Missouri Botanical Garden’s Whitaker Music Festival. 2201 S. 39th.
