| Cheese & Crack Snack Shop | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The restaurant's exterior, 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Cheese & Crack Snack Shop | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2012 (2012) |
| Owners |
|
| Location | 22 Southeast 28th Avenue, Portland, Multnomah,Oregon, 97214, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°31′21″N122°38′14″W / 45.5225°N 122.6371°W /45.5225; -122.6371 |
| Seating capacity | 26 |
| Website | cheeseandcrack |
Cheese & Crack Snack Shop is a restaurant inPortland, Oregon, United States. The business started as afood cart onHawthorne Boulevard before moving into abrick and mortar shop in thesoutheast Portland part of theKerns neighborhood in 2014. Cheese & Crack servescharcuterie,macaroni and cheese, sandwiches,soft serve, andsundaes, among other food and drink options. The restaurant has garnered a positive reception, particularly for itsice cream. Cheese & Crack was included inThe Oregonian's 2022 list of Portland's best food carts of the past decade and ranked seventh inYelp's 2023 list of the city's 50 best restaurants.
Cheese & Crack Snack Shop operates on 28th Avenue, nearEast Burnside Street,[1] in thesoutheast Portland part of theKerns neighborhood.[2] It is aqueer-owned business described by Thom Hilton ofEater Portland as a "social media sensation" with long queues and "high-profile" customers, includingPaul Thomas Anderson andMaya Rudolph.[3][4] Cheese & Crack has aseating capacity of 26 people.[5] Its interior contains concrete walls, an open kitchen,[6] and pictures of the country musicianDolly Parton.[7][8] ForPride Month, Cheese & Crack has displayed a cardboardstandee of the country singerReba McEntire in the window.[3]Eater Portland said the indoor and outdoor patio space has a "rustic charm".[9]
Cheese & Crack servescharcuterie on stainless steel trays. Boards include house-made crackers,capocollo and roastedturkey meat,[10] and cheeses such asbrieganache, as well as honey,jam, andoatmeal raisin cookies.[11][12][13] The sampler plate has a slicedbaguette, butter crackers,Dijon mustard,marionberry jam, olives, andpickled cucumbers.[14][15] The sampler's cheeses includeblue cheese from Hooks, brie brûlée, cana de oveja made from Spanishsheep milk, andcheddar fromSeattle-basedBeecher's Handmade Cheese.[1][15] Charcuterie packages have also been available viatake-out, most frequently during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[9][16]
Cheese & Crack'smacaroni and cheese is composed ofGruyère and white cheddar (fromTillamook)mornay and an herb sauce withchives, garlic, lemon, andolive oil.[17] The restaurant has also servedbiscuit sandwiches forbreakfast, aham sandwich with ham fromTails & Trotters and herb butter, as well aspotato chip "nachos" with mornay and pickledlentils.[5]
Among dessert options issoft serve inice cream cones with chocolate ganache on the bottom to prevent leaking; toppings include chocolate cowboy hats, colorfulsprinkles,[3] and varieties of "dust" such asbeet,espresso,[18]matcha,[12] and strawberry.[11] Vanilla soft serve is also the base forsundaes; varieties have includedbanana pudding (withNilla Wafers), caramel cornflake, and raspberrybirthday cake.[12] Another sundae has cookie, ganache, andmarshmallow.[18] Drink options include beer, wine (includingProsecco on tap),[19]frosés, and frozenlemonades.[11][13][20]
Cheese & Crack was established in 2012 by business partners Nathan Hall and William Steuernagel.[21][22][23] The restaurant started as afood cart onHawthorne Boulevard before moving into abrick and mortar shop in 2014.[3][11][24] The restaurant operates in the space that previously housed Black Bike Cafe, an outpost or sibling establishment of Black Cat Cafe.[25][26] In 2020, a man wielding a bat demanded Hall to remove aBlack Lives Matter sign displayed in a window.[27]
Cheese & Crack has served special dishes for select holidays. On April 20, 2020, for thecannabis holiday "420", the restaurant offered a Munchie Cone.[28] For Halloween in 2022 and 2024, the Eye Scream Sundae had purpleube pudding as "witch goo",chocolate cookie as "dirt", vanilla soft serve, raspberry sauce as "blood", and a gumball resembling an eyeball.[29][30]
Food criticKeith Lee visited Cheese & Crack in 2025.[31]
Willamette Week ranked Cheese & Crack fourth in a 2016 overview of Portland's best soft serve.[18] The newspaper's Andrew Jankowski recommended the restaurant in 2024 as an option for late-night dining.[32] Michael Russell included Cheese & Crack inThe Oregonian's 2022 list of Portland's best food carts of the past decade.[21] In 2023,Yelp ranked the business seventh in a list of the city's fifty best restaurants.[33] Cheese & Crack ranked eighth in a list of Portland's best ice cream shops based on Yelp reviews in 2025.[34] In his 2025 review, Lee gave the ice cream with espresso and matcha "dust" a rating of nine out of ten.[31]
Maya MacEvoy included Cheese & Crack inEater Portland's 2020 list of the city's "top-notch" macaroni and cheese.[17] In 2023, the business was included in an overview of recommended establishments on East 28th Avenue's "restaurant row" by Thom Hilton and Nick Woo and a list of recommended eateries nearLaurelhurst Park by Olivia Lee.[9][11] Hilton has also described Cheese & Crack as a "dairy palace",[35] and the website'sBrooke Jackson-Glidden recommended the restaurant for a late-night sundae in 2023.[36] Localdrag performer and entertainerCarla Rossi recommended Cheese & Crack in a 2023 dining guide of Portland published byEater Portland.[37] The website's Michelle Lopez and Janey Wong included the restaurant in 2024 and 2025 overviews of the best ice cream in thePortland metropolitan area.[12][38]
