East Idaho Eats: Customers come from far and wide to sample the menu at Manwaring Cheese
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IDAHO FALLS – Since Manwaring Cheese moved to Idaho Falls two years ago, Logan Theriault has enjoyed serving customers a wide selection of cheese and gelato flavors.
The business offers 20 to 30 different kinds of cheese, all of which are made in-house and are available as a grilled cheese sandwich. There are at least 16 gelato flavors as well. EastIdahoNews.com tried the Tuscan Rub grilled cheese sandwich, along with the tomato basil soup and a Halloween-themed gelato offering. Watch it in the video player above.
Manwaring Cheese relocated to 310 North Eastern Avenue next to the Museum of Idaho in November 2019 after years of business in Rigby. Justin Manwaring, Theriault’s brother-in-law, bought it from the previous owner, Blake Manwaring, who happens to be his second cousin.
“Justin thought this would be a more popular site to sell cheese and gelato,” Theriault, who is the store manager, tells EastIdahoNews.com.
Blake’s father, Basil, originally opened the business in Ashton in 1955. It closed down sometime in the 1970s when Basil passed away. Blake decided to resurrect it. He opened a storefront in Rigby around 2009 or 2010.
“Blake and his brothers and sisters had a meeting and decided to start the business up again. Blake volunteered to be the cheesemaker and help run it,” says Theriault. “Blake grew up helping his dad make cheese, so he roughly knew the process.”
Theriault says Blake had some connections in the Agriculture Department at Utah State University and they helped him relearn some of the cheese-making process.
Justin, who works at Mountain View Hospital full time, grew up in Idaho Falls and wanted to bring the business to his hometown. He purchased it from Blake and opened in a building that was once occupied by a hair salon and a Sizzler’s Restaurant.
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Theriault says the store’s proximity to the library and historic downtown was appealing to Justin.
“The location of the highway (close by) and all the other different businesses around, this was just the spot,” he says.
Blake is still involved in the business and works at the store two days a week.
Despite the COVID-19 shutdown and other restrictions over the last year and a half, Theriault says the business has continued to grow and he’s grateful for all the support from the community.
“We were still able to produce and make cheese during that time. Once the restrictions ended and everything opened back up, that’s when we noticed the biggest change. From March until now has just been continual growth. We’re constantly getting new customers,” Theriault explains.
Theriault says they’re considering opening additional locations in the future and they’re always thinking of new cheese flavors to introduce to customers.
But for right now, he’s just enjoying running the business and meeting new faces every day.
“We get customers that come from Pocatello to get the cheese they love. Occasionally, we get people from Boise. We had customers in here this morning (Monday) from Nampa who were like, ‘We just absolutely love your cheese. We’ve heard about you guys and have been fans for a while,'” Theriault says.
The business also gets a lot of traffic from people coming from and going to Yellowstone National Park.
“Come in and try our grilled cheeses. It’s some of the best-grilled cheese you can have. We do homemade waffle cones and put a lot of effort into the work that we do here,” he says.
Manwaring Cheese is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday with a 10 p.m. closing time Friday and Saturday.
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