Hilmar Cheese Company Visitor Center

If you want to buy cheese, or even stop for lunch, you don't have to buy the tour. The visitor center acts as a large gift shop, with cheese, wine, cheesecake, sandwiches, Dreyer's ice cream, a good selection of chi-chi jellies, and cow art. The sharp cheddar is the best in the Central Valley.

Respect the heat warning when pepper jack is one of the sample cheeses. At the start of my sample piece, I thought "eh, it's not that hot." By the last of it, my mouth was on fire. Do get ice cream to get over that experience: they will let adults buy a child-size serving that's the equivalent of a single scoop at most places.

Pleasant rustic ambience, nice staff, great selection of cheese.

Hilmar Cheese Company Visitor Center is a good stop to consider, especially if you like cheese (there are 3 cheeses you can sample in the cafeteria).

My husband and I made a stop here this past Thursday afternoon, on our drive back down towards Los Angeles. We came by around 12:45 pm and were able to find parking right in front of the visitor center. We took the self tour and read all the boards, which lead upstairs.

Downstairs you can find the cafeteria, where we ended up having lunch. We ordered:

Fish & Chips Daily Special, $12.99 prior to tax- My husband decided to order this meal, which came with 2 pieces of fish and a side of fries and tartar sauce. I did not have any of his fish but my husband thought it was just average. The fries were okay, but were not hot.

Light & Tasty Meal, $7.49 prior to tax- This meal comes with a salad and a soup of your choice. I ended up choosing cheese chowder. Originally I had ordered a chef salad and decided to also get a soup. The employee taking our order had asked if I would like to have the light and tasty meal since it has both so I decided on ordering that instead. The portion for this meal was the perfect size for me. I liked that the salad was about half of the plate but the salad could have been better with more of the dark green leafys and less of the cheap iceberg lettuce. The cheese chowder was served nice and hot. It is definitely a very nice flavor and because it is a little on the rich side, the portion size was just perfect for me. I also liked the 3 slices of bread that it was served along side with too.

Slice of Cheese Pie, $4.30 after tax- We took this this go and didn't eat this until a five hours later (we had a cooler with us so it was kept cold). The cheese pie was creamy, although the slice was pretty small. My husband and I both liked it.
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(Total= $26.37, after tax)

Wait time for our food was probably about 15 minutes after ordering. We ended up sitting outside in the covered patio, although there is also plenty of indoor seating as well.

This was a nice visit to have and would recommend this place to anyone. Even if you don't like cheese that much, you can learn about the process to make cheese and try their in house ice cream.

Holy cow! Based on the cheese chowder and brown cow milkshake alone, this place gets 5 stars! I was here for a 2nd grade field trip. It was a lovely experience.

A good experience for sure , with the tour and ice cream making .

Very affordable $3/person. Came on a Saturday .

The ice cream making experience was very informative and fun. Despite the focus seeming to be for kids, it was still very inclusive and nice .

The outdoor area of the factory campus was really nice ! They had an outdoor waterfall . They really incorporated form and functionality - using water from milk (which was 87% water I think they said ) in their outdoor water usage . This was to irrigate and for the waterfall too if I recall right.

Overall a highly pleasant , informational, and peaceful experience. I didn't know cheese and milk had such a vast effect on what we use in life , and that this plant was very very impactful worldwide on the production of those products .

I have a higher respect for cheeses and milk now!

Wow! Surprised I didn't write a review for this little cheese factory in the little town of Hilmar,CA since I been here twice! First two times I came on a custom tour bus and this was one of the stops. If you don't live out here, you would not know about this palace. It is near Turlock and Modesto, CA. This is a nice place because before the pandemic 2019, they would offer a self guided tour on the two floors of the visitor center. We also had a guide that came onto our tiny tour bus to drive around to the back where trucks fill up with milk and then drive off into the sunset. It was nice to learn how a cheese factory works from the cow and processing milk to make cheese! Boy do I love cheese! Give me cheese, and I be your buddy for life! Ha! Ha! Ha! Just call me by my nickname, "Mousey". I think this is one of The few working cheese factories that are open to the public.

They have a small cafe in the back and the grill cheese is excellent for lunch and their slice of cheese cake is great! Order anything with cheese and it's great! There are other things to window shop like candy, jams and other food items and non-food items to browse. Nice little, peaceful place.

Outside the main entrance if you walk to the side there's a mini park with a waterfalll is nice to walk around. Last year someone got me a whole cheesecake! Not bad. The homemade crust is unique and I can't tell what it is, but still okay. It's always nice to support local businesses when I can and if I am in this area.

Took a friend for a visit. He liked the free cheese samples, but wished for more varieties of cheese to sample from.

The moo-vie at the back was interesting and educational. You can learn how cheese is made, from beginning to end. Then we went to see the upstairs exhibits. Those are more geared towards kids, as there are buttons to push, and clothes and hats for dress-up. From the back windows you can see down to the factory floor.

I just wish I could have seen more.

Amazing food in the restaurant Crystal clean facility beautifully laid out kids learn and enjoy about cheese and all the different factors of cheese and especially savor and remember the moments like my granddaughter from two years ago making and enjoying ice cream.
I don't know how anybody can't rate this a five star compared to any other restaurant or manufacturing plant in the area.

The variety of food to purchase is vast employees are all friendly and helpful and my granddaughter and I had another memorable moment in our travel exploration.

I highly recommend it just for a stop in your many travels but especially for your children to learn how and where things are made rather than you get it at the grocery store.

Hilmar Cheese is not willing to support the community. However, they are willing you to spend your money there. The last time I was there, you could only buy the larger bricks of cheese and not the smaller ones.

I've been eating at Hilmar Cheese for a few decades now and they are somewhat of an underrated establishment. Why anyone would waste money at Subway when Hilmar Cheese is 2 minutes down the road baffles me. I think we take it for granted sometimes.

They serve delicious sandwiches, soups, fresh fruit, ice cream, Peet's Coffee, all the best lunchtime food. I've never had a bad meal there. Nice, competent staff. Bright, warm environment with seating inside, outside on the patio or even over by the waterfall.

Highly recommend the cheese chowder, that's been a staple there as long as I've eaten there. And grab a tub of squeakers on your way out!

Must stop if you're in the area. Great variety of cheeses, crackers, food counter, ice cream counter, and bakery area. Eat outside and enjoy the grounds. Friendly staff and good prices. Thank you Hilmar cheese company for providing a wonderful place to stop on our trips.