Mars Cheese Castle is a specialty food store, delicatessen, and taproom which sells a variety of consumable products in

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Located along

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

, the shop is popular among Wisconsin visitors and has been called a "cheese landmark", "one of Wisconsin's most recognizable cheese stores", and "an icon for generations of I-94 travelers". While the store is best known for its cheese, it also sells sausages and other foods, beer, wine, specialty condiments, soft drinks and Wisconsin souvenirs such as

cheesehead Cheesehead is a nickname in the United States for a person from Wisconsin or for a fan of the Green Bay Packers NFL football franchise. Current usage Wisconsin is associated with cheese because the state historically produced more dairy produc ...

hats. The store is the oldest cheese shop located at what the

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

called "Wisconsin's most visible cheese interchange"; the junction of Interstate 94 and

Wisconsin Highway 142 State Trunk Highway 142 (STH-142, commonly known as Highway 142 or WIS 142) is a mostly rural highway connecting Burlington with Kenosha. Prior to the commissioning of Interstate 43 in the early 1970s, the current route of WIS 142 was designate ...

had three cheese shops until 2009 when it was reduced to two. The in-store deli offers burgers,

bratwurst Bratwurst () is a type of German sausage made from pork or, less commonly, beef or veal. The name is derived from the Old High German ''Brätwurst'', from ''brät-'', finely chopped meat, and ''Wurst'', sausage, although in modern German it is of ...

and other sandwiches. A variety of draft and bottle beers are available in the taproom – including imported European beers and Wisconsin microbrews. There is also a bakery on site.

History

Mario Ventura, Sr., opened Mars Cheese Castle in 1947. The shop's name was inspired by its owners, as the name Mario comes from the Roman god

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

; the "Castle" part of the name was inspired by a castle in Italy owned by Ventura's mother. Kenosha artist George Pollard designed the store's logo; the project was Pollard's first job. The original store, which featured a large beer bottle on its roof, burned down in 1957; a new store was built nearby. In 2011, a project widening Interstate 94 forced the store to relocate away from the freeway. The new store, over twice as large as the previous building, was designed to more closely resemble an actual castle; it features a watchtower holding the store's wine and an entrance which resembles a drawbridge. A special statute passed by the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

allowed the store to keep its sign at its new location despite a state law prohibiting signs that tall. Mars Cheese Castle has attracted a number of celebrity visitors. Rock band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backin ...

held a record signing at the store in 2001, and

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...

Al McGuire Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, an ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

have all visited the store. U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden also stopped at the store while campaigning for the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 42.6147, -87.9543, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title Buildings and structures in Kenosha, Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Kenosha County, Wisconsin Roadside attractions in Wisconsin

History

See also

References

External links