2800 W. Frontage RoadSometimes you just have to do the touristy crap, amirite?
How many times have I driven along I-94 in Southern Wisconsin on my way to Milwaukee or Green Bay and seen a giant castle off to the side of the road just across the border in Wisconsin.
I’ve never stopped. I didn’t need cheese while I was driving.
L’s figure skating coach really wanted to hit the Mars Cheese Castle before we went out to dinner on Friday night while we were in Pleasant Prairie for the Southport Summer Classic. L’s only event of the day was at around 5:30 and she was the last event for her coach. The Cheese Castle closed at 7 so we got L changed out of her dress and took pictures quickly so a big group of us could go cheese shopping
Mars Cheese Castle is on Frontage Road just off Burlington Road which is Exit 340 on I-94/41 in Kenosha. It’s not hard to spot. It’s a freakin’ castle. I can remember seeing the sign for Mars Cheese when I was a kid. We went to Wisconsin Dells several times for family vacations. This version of Mars Cheese Castle has only been around since 2011. They had to move the building due to the widening of I-94/41. It’s still at the original site…just a little further back.
I expected a kitschy tourist trap and that’s kind of what it is…but there’s also a lot of really great local product options. Cheese, meats, sauces. It’s more than just piles and piles of cheese.
But they do have those piles of cheese and someone to help you decipher what all the cheeses are and what each is good for.
Of course, my eyes went straight to the bar. Unfortunately, they were closing as we got there so I couldn’t stop and get a beer.
It’s actually a really nice, large bar. It’s a bummer they had already done last call. There are some New Glarus beers on tap you can’t get outside of Wisconsin. I would have sat down and had a couple while everyone else shopped.
The food counter was not closed yet though and that’s really what I was looking forward to. Since this stop really is for travelers coming off the Interstate, they have a food service counter in the back of the store. Options are mostly quick sandwiches and some fried food including the “World’s Best Cheese Curds.
If I did nothing else inside the store, I was going to get the cheese curds. I order the curds from Culvers all the time, but these are completely different. Their fried in a New Glarus Spotted Cow beer batter which makes for a super light, airy batter. They come with a dipping sauce but none was needed. I wanted to horde them all but I also wanted to share with everyone we were with. I probably should have gotten two orders.
There is a little spot to sit and eat but I only had the curds so I just walked around the store holding the small Styrofoam box. They had already started putting the chairs up in the dining room anyway and I didn’t want to make anymore of a mess.
We didn’t buy a ton of stuff because just like the problem I had at Tenuta’s, we didn’t have a cooler. J did grab some cheese curds to snack on while we were there and I grabbed a bottle of BBQ sauce that sucked me in with cool packaging. We also grabbed a Kringle that we gave to J’s mom as a thank you for watching B all weekend.
Mars Cheese Castle is very obviously a tourist destination and they do have the kitschy t-shirts and knick knacks that you expect in a tourist destination. But there’s a lot of good stuff too. There’s a lot of tasty cheese but also some really great local pantry products and a large selection of local beer.
I didn’t really know what to expect when we walked in to the giant Castle but turns out, it’s a pretty cool place. There will definitely be a return visit…with a cooler…if we go back to this competition next year.