Chizu

Chizu has a nice, intimate setting with very limited seating (maybe seats around 15 people). We went in at around 5 and were promptly seated. There weren’t any other customers inside when we went. Being woefully inept when it comes to cheese, we opted for the omakase option for 1 – 2 people. After asking us about our preferences, the nice woman behind the bar got to work creating our perfect cheese board. After a short wait, we were presented with an assortment of 5 cheeses, some crostini, and a sprinkling of nuts and jams. It seemed like she paid attention to what we said we liked and didn’t because we enjoyed all five varieties. They checked up on us multiple times throughout the night to make sure we were still doing alright, which I appreciated. The only gripe I had was that I wish they had given just a little more of the crostini and nuts and fruits because it went so well with the cheese! All in all I enjoyed my experience at Chizu and I’ll be back the next time I have a hankering for some cheese.

What a wonderful experience! We live in San Francisco and there is NOTHING like this place in our area… what a brilliant idea to have a wine and cheese bar. Cheeses were amazing; wine excellent; service so great; and in an intimate setting.
We will be back when we are in the area.
Cheers!

Epic experience! This is a very cute bar with a great selection of rare cheeses and friendly service. The art was strange and overall interior design was not as impressive as I had expected, but everything else was perfect. Lovely service, quality recommendations, and a concise wine list, which felt appropriate.
My favorites, listed from best to least compelling:
Cascadia Creamery Sleeping Beauty
Tomino Langherino
Chiriboga Blue
Meadow Creek Grayson
Pholia Farm Bandaged Goat Cheddar
Berger Basque

I’ve been wanting to go to this place for a while and was glad I finally got the opportunity, The cheese selection was great with nothing I’ve ever heard of before and the place itself was pretty comfortable!

Amazing and excellent selection. Did two very large plates and did not repeat selections. The duck board was phenomenal. Very friendly staff and great ambiance. Highly recommended.

Such an amazing experience! We got the Omakase (which means we let them choose a selection of cheeses for us) and it was one tasty surprise after another.
I highly recommend experiencing Chizu.

Cheese bar? So down. Who knew the concept of sushi at a bar combined with cheese would be so good? The owner decided to use the omakase concept, replacing sushi with cheeses! I was the first customer of the day since Chizu opens at 3 pm, and after walking in I was the only customer for the hour and a half I was there, so the people working there were really able to give me good suggestions and tell me about Chizu. After asking about the available cheeses, I decided on the brabander, idiazabal, and meadow creek-​Grayson and a glass of Riesling because how can I eat cheese without wine?
The cheeses were amazing, and being a cheese lover, I could not hate or dislike any of them. It was obvious that the lady working there was passionate about cheese as well as she discussed them with her co-​worker and gave me more suggestions. She frequently asked me whether I was enjoying my cheeses and with every bite, I would say they are amazing, especially paired with the nuts, berries, crostini, and a fruity jam. The customer service made half of the experience, especially talking to someone who also loves cheese and was not trying to rush me or force me into choosing something I dislike.
The interior decorations were similar to that of a small Japanese restaurant with the small display windows in the bar that usually display fresh fish displaying cheeses and stool seats along the bar. One larger sit down table sits in one corner, and paper cranes decorate hang from one part of the ceiling. Some bottles of beer, wine, and cider line the wall behind the bar along with cheese boards and knives all lined up perfectly and cleanly.
I definitely recommend this place to all cheese lovers, and the concept of a cheese bar is the first time I have seen it. More places should adopt this concept, even for other foods. Chizu has great service, ambiance, and cheese, so I will be coming back!

«Alicia, what did you do with your free night in Portland this week?»
«I went to Chizu and had a transcendental cheese experience.»
Omakase style really is the way to do things here. I walked in and said to the kind cheesemongers behind the counter, «I have a $ 25 per diem for dinner tonight and would like both cheese and meat. Let’s do this.» I ended up with a $ 21 cheese plate and a $ 4 worth of side salami, which was the perfect amount of food for someone who wasn’t *super* hungry but has a seemingly bottomless stomach when it comes to cheese.
The salami selection included small portions of orange and cumin pork salami from Olympia Provisions (very good!), a curried salami (good but definitely the least good of the three), and DUCK SALAMI, something I definitely didn’t realize was missing from my life until that moment I took my first bite.
The cheese, though. They asked what kind of cheese I liked, at which point I told them I’ve never had a sheep or goat cheese I didn’t like but I was also super interested in trying the water buffalo cheese since I’d never heard of such a thing. I ended up with a board that covered everything from the water buffalo to some raw cow cheese, with candied nuts, dried apricots and blueberries, and a smear of jam mixed in. Every cheese they picked for me was flawless and perfectly suited to my tastes (except the blue that they wanted me to try but it’s not their fault all blues smell a little like a festival port-​a-​potty on the morning of the first day).
A real game changer, though, was when I mentioned this life changing cheese I had in Croatia that I’d never been able to find anywhere else. See, there’s this island there, Pag, where sage grows wild on the salty lands where sheep graze and when those sheep are milked, their milk carries that salty, sage-​y flavors. I bought a 1 lb wheel of it at a gas station in Bosnia for $ 9 to smuggle back home, only to have customs at JFK find it and confiscate it with my bear sausage and my kulen sausage. I’ve been missing it ever since but no one stateside had it. Except when I mentioned it to the ladies behind the counter, they were like «omg! Paški sir! We have that at our sister shop on the other side of town!» Now, I was staying in a hotel 3 blocks from Chizu with no access to a car, but I immediately started looking up bus/​train routes and seeing if Über was pulling a surge at the time. That’s when one of them offered to go to the other shop the next day, pick up as big of a wedge as I wanted, and bring it back downtown for me to pick up. (Of course I took her up on it! I now have a wedge of paški sir in my fridge!!)
If that’s not Grade A customer service, I don’t know what is. Someone give those ladies a raise and a promotion.

What an awesome place for cheese lovers. The staff is obsessed with cheese, so my wife and I got to have a great discussion about French cheeses vs Oregon cheeses while we sampled a variety of 7 different goat cheeses.
Like any cheese platter, it can get a bit spendy for the quantity of food that you get, but the cheeses that they selected are all very top-​notch. My only criticism is that they’re pretty skimpy with anything that isn’t cheese. We ordered $ 30 worth of cheese and got 5 nuts, a single line of drizzled honey, a small handful of preserved blueberries, and a teaspoon of jam.
We’ll definitely be going back for occasional tastings. Great to have a place like this near us.

We stopped in for a quick snack. They have a great selection of cheeses and great staff that can point you in the right direction of what you might like. We ordered 3 cheeses and a salami plate and 1 glass of wine. That set us back about $ 30. I would need a whole lot more for a meal, but like I said it was a great snack. Fun little setting. And when I say little, I mean little. Not a lot of seating, but they get you in as quickly as possible.

If you’re a cheese lover, you should go here! Such a NEAT concept– they serve cheese as if they were a sushi joint. You can get cheese Omakase style! I don’t eat much cheese myself, but it’s a great place to take a friend who loves cheese.
I’ve walked by this place a few times before, it’s right next door to the Whiskey library.
Tips:
They have NO ice here– that probably doesn’t matters to you, but it does to me.
I’d recommend the duck platter. If you’re a cheese connoisseur– you can select your own. You can ask questions. They’re very knowledgeable about cheese. If you want them to choose for you just tell them how much you want to spend and then they’ll choose the cheese for you. For two people– I’d say around $ 30 is a good amount if you’re eating just the cheese and crostinis. If you’re ordering other stuff and having drinks, I’d order $ 20 worth of cheese.

I’ve been patiently waiting for Chizu ever since reading about it in the Willamette Weekly. Steve Jones’ concept of a cheese bar is novel approach of «East meets West» — taking Japanese sensibilities and applying them to a European food experience. Take one part cheese monger, one part sushi restaurant, one part wine bar and blend it together. Enter Chizu and their curated selection of cheese.
First of all, I adore. nay. love cheese! I can’t imagine a meal without this delicious goodness. Like wine, another favorite of mine, so much goes into producing the right cheese: the raw ingredients, the process, the cultures, and so on. And like wine eating is the beginning of the journey.
Secondly, the restaurant is small and adorable, sticking the Japanese style and aesthetics. Almost missed the front door and walked to the Multnomah Whiskey Library. We sat at the bar and had an entertaining conversation with the cheese-​tender.
Come here for a quick bite and drink, or stay for an entire meal. I’m pretty sure they have what you’re looking for.

Great concept and great meal! You can order cheese by the slice or go omakase and name your price and the staff will prepare a nice selection of cheese for you, depending on your affinity for stinky, mild, hard, or soft cheeses. For us we let the staff decide and got a plate of varied cheeses from around the world and a few slices of delicious duck breast. There are also some good crackers, jams, and nuts to go with the plate. Accompanying local IPA was a great complement.
Overall, I hope this place does well and becomes a mainstay. Surprisingly affordable for the quality of cheese you get and the Whiskey Library is next door!

What a nice little place to enjoy the company of friends and experience the joy of cheese. We allowed the very knowledgeable staff to select what turned out to be a fantastic selection of tasty cheeses accompanied by crusty bread, nuts, dried fruits and more!
It was tasty, it was FUN!
I definitely recommend this place and will return!

Love at first bite!!! Great variety and educated staff. Small place with bar seats or one table for 4 – 6.

Took a chance and was delightfully rewarded.
This place serves a wide variety of cheeses.
If you love cheese, welcome to Cheese Wonderland!
EXTREMELY knowledgable staff led us to exactly what suited us perfectly. We enjoyed the Cacao plate of candy coated chocolate nibs, dulce de leche pieces, and dark chocolate coin shaped delights. For cheese, you MUST try Brabander which is a goat cheese from Holland. Forget it if you thought you didn’t like goat cheese. This stuff was magnificent in flavor and texture!
Check it out!!!

I’m infatuated with the *idea* of Chizu. I love cheese, and while I love sushi, what I value most is a sushi bar you can saddle up to, converse with the man behind the bar and have him shephard you through a meal, bit by bit. The idea of cheese being doled out that way, in small enough pieces you can taste many, a bit at time, seems like a particularly sound idea. We have a love/​hate relationship with Cheese Bar, their other location (love the cheese, can’t deal with the ludicrous markup on beer).
First, I’m not going anywhere in downtown PDX on a Fri night without a reservation, and though not advertised, I was basically allowed to do so. Score. We sat right down at 6:30pm as promised. We went with the omakase option, because we could not stand the idea of Sophie’s Choicing the extensive menu (with insanely delightful descriptions). We got a meat board as well, and settled into a 30 $ range for the cheese. The markup on booze wasn’t as crazy as it is at Cheese Bar, as well.
The timing is a piece they haven’t quite figured out yet. We’d been sitting a while when we were given the meat plate, and we’d instead been expecting to see a small plate of cheese every little while. The meat was certainly good… it was a selection of 3 different local salamis. I requested some crostini (its another appetizer) and was told it would come with my cheese. Dude, I’m trying to spend some money, lemme, ok?
Then we waited, again. And finally, a large plate of cheese arrived. So of note, are three observations. First, its impossible to remember what cheese is what. We were going to kill the server if she didn’t STFU and let us dive into the cheese since we’d been waiting so long already. We were starving. If the cheese had come to us in smaller groups or individually, we’d be able to savor each more and recognize each, as we’d originally intended. Second, because it was served to us all at once, you realize too quickly that even while 30 $ isn’t expensive, and its a lot of cheese, its not a good amount for the money. Spread out over an hour we’d have felt differently, I suspect. Finally… just because its omakase, doesn’t mean that we don’t want adjustments. There was a cheese neither of us enjoyed, and had it come along during the course of a more sushi-​esque experience, we could have interacted with the cheesemonger and had it affect our later options. If nothing else, a menu with the options we had ticked off, or paper labels would be ideal.
The cheese itself was. mostly good. There were a few we really liked (though we can’t remember which is a shame, since we’d have liked to buy some) and a few we didn’t. The crostini was good, the accompaniments good… but what it wasn’t, is dinner. We were around the corner for that after. Its a misstep for Chizu, because honestly, we came for dinner. We’d have kept spending money if they didn’t serve everything to us at once, but let dinner roll a bit more.
The service itself was good. I liked everyone who served us, and I enjoy the staff at Cheese Bar as well. I’m hoping that the fine tuning of this new restaurant means they’ll adjust to embrace their sushi bar leanings.

We saw this place last night and were so intrigued by the concept that we made it a point to come back today as soon as they opened at 3. A cheese bar like a sushi bar with omakase? What is that?
So went in and say at bat. Maybe 13 seats in whole place. Very minimalist décor which is good. I had a local Pinot noir which was very nice and the hub had a ginger hitachino which he said was good. We chose four cheeses and they arranged it on a board for us with some nuts and chutney and crostini and craisins. It was fun. And weird. And quiet. Only another couple in there before us and then one after us.
It’s kinda cool and different. Nothing really links it to being Japanese when we asked. Cept the owner wanting a style of giving small servings of a variety of cheeses. I liked it. If it were in Honolulu not sure all the lactose intolerant Asian genes could handle it. Seems like a fun concept.

I mean, can you go wrong with cheese? Steve is a genius. The few kinks will get worked out soon enough (better board accents besides dried fruit, settled attentive staff, more glassware, bathroom mirror), eat your cheesy heart out Portland

Came here unexpectedly on their soft opening and glad we did. I love cheese, so why not? Besides, there was a 45 min wait upstairs at the Whiskey spot, so we had time to kill. Just know, their main attraction is cheese and everything else is just there to compliment it, including the salami, pickled veggies, fruit, nuts, wine, beer, and sake.
I love their Omakase option since I am clueless about cheese. You just name your price and Steve will hook you up. Just let him know what you don’t like and he’ll do the rest. It’s really that simple. Steve definitely knows his cheese… while hanging at another restaurant, we talked about this spot, and instantly, the chef knew Steve as the cheese guy around town. It’s nice to know when another chef gives a stamp of approval.
Now the place is small, so there aren’t a lot of spaces at the counter, but I like the simplicity of the place and it’s intimate setting. I hope this place will last with cheese being their main attraction. I really enjoyed it and left without even going back upstairs for the whiskey lounge.
When I’m back in town, I’ll do another visit. It’s definitely worth a try.