Olympic Cheese

To put it simply - if God were a Cheese Monger, this would be His store. Between a Great selection of cheeses, Fantastic prices and a family-like approach to business; this is a definite go-to for any cheese-related needs. I Recommend the "Old Croc" and the "Pine River Craft Beer Cheese Puck" cheddar cheeses.

My favorite place to explore cheese in the market. When I look for cheese, of course there's your favorites, but what I like most about Olympic is passion the staff has for its products. I go there to explore. Usually chat to get a direction, then we taste to find something new they recommend. Simply the best experience in exploring new cheese!

Love this place! The staff are always amazing and give great advice and very generous samples. They also generally have a good sale section. I never feel pressured to buy anything and always end up getting exactly what I was looking for.

I think I just found my new go to for cheese... I just had a fantastic experience with this place! In search of the best blue cheese and they did not disappoint. Loved being able to sample a few before purchasing as well. Great customer service and I will be back

This is a very good place to buy different varieties of cheeses. The store is located inside the St Lawrence market. We purchased two from their huge collections, and they were tasted awesome. The price also seemed reasonable to us. The staffs were friendly and courteous. Overall, we had a pleasant experience. I would definitely recommend this place.

Love this place! The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and they’ve introduced me to some cheeses I wouldn’t have thought to try.

Olympic Cheese at the St. Lawrence Market or "The Cheese Stands Alone" I was not born to cheese. In fact, for a significant part of my formative years, I lived on a military base that regarded roads and highways as the likely route of communist infiltration. Ergo, there were none and virtually all food came by air. On those rare occasions when “cheese” arrived, it was bright orange gloopy stuff that came in jars, or bright orange slightly less goopy stuff that came pre-sliced, or bright orange brick-hard stinky stuff my Dad’s friends brought him “from away”. That all changed during my first trip to the Great Cheese States of Europe. Like a convert to a new religion or young folks discovering the benefits of puberty, I was instantly and noisily obsessed - a newly born cheeseaholic. And when I returned to Toronto (where I tried unsuccessfully to convince my girlfriend to name her kittens Gouda and Camembert) I set out to find any place that could answer my addiction. It took me a couple of decades but I finally came across Olympic Cheese at the St. Lawrence Market. It’s the market’s oldest cheese store. George, its current owner, has been dealing with Toronto’s cheese needs for over 60 years, and what you’ll find there goes far beyond my usual list of something old, something new and something blue. Toronto has other fine cheese emporiums, but only here can I choose between a pair of Ossau-Iraty or competing Chaumes. Last week I found a French feta. And every week, Fani, my favorite cheese guru, brings me up to date on what has arrived from my home province, Quebec. However, Dear Reader, it takes more than just variety to make a place an “Escape” during dreary days of pestilence and plague. When the media’s morbid mania for numbers gets wearisome and I go wandering, I’m looking for a cocoon of sorts, something I can wrap around me like Harry Potter’s Cloak of Invisibility. Olympic Cheese provides that for a blissful half-hour every week and it does so by sharing and honoring my addiction. For that brief moment, life returns to normal and I forget I am wearing a mask. Loblaw’s “Wall of Cheese” doesn’t even come close to creating a similar ambiance – and right now, ambiance is everything! Have you ever heard the old children’s song, “The Farmer in the Dell”? It’s actually a dancing-circle game and everyone gets a chance to stand in the center. The winner is ultimately “The Cheese”, who “stands alone” as all the other players raise their hands and draw the circle inwards. We all need an occasional anti-reality oasis during these times, and Olympic Cheese is one of mine. Join me there some Friday and just “Say Cheese”. Cheers!

Dearest George, Thank you for being patient and picking up cheese for me. I’ve visited Olympic a few times but I was handled by the owner this time. His exceptional behaviour makes me want to come back again. Their cheese is fresh, vast variety and support many local makers all over the country. All the best.