Murray's Cheese Review: Cheese Clubs

Murray's Cheese, established in Greenwich Village in 1962, remains deeply rooted in New York City, offering various local experiences. With three locations including the flagship retail store on Bleecker Street and outlets in Grand Central Terminal and Long Island City, Murray's caters to a diverse clientele, serving neighborhood regulars, commuters, and tourists alike.

More than just a cheese club

The company extends its presence beyond retail, operating two restaurants - Murray's Mac & Cheese and Murray's Cheese Bar - each offering unique dining experiences. Furthermore, Murray's offers educational programs, catering services, and online retail options via its website, along with a selection of specialty cheese available in over a thousand Kroger and Kroger-owned stores nationwide (after being acquired by Kroger in 2017). Additionally, Murray's cheese can be found in over 600 restaurants across the country through their wholesale business.

New-and-improved cheese club offerings

Murray's Cheese made some big changes to its cheese club offerings in the fall of 2023, based on feedback from subscribers over the years. Not only do they have more memberships to choose from, but each subscription also includes more cheese in each delivery. Here are the cheese clubs currently on offer (but note that there is a fifth club, Mac and Cheese, that we didn't evaluate here as a cheese-specific subscription):

• Globetrotter's Cheese Club: each month's delivery comes with three half-pound cheeses from a featured country, whether that's Spain or Switzerland, the US or the UK. This club is priced at $62.62 to $65/month, depending on the length of the subscription you choose.
• Cheese Explorer's Club: described as offering "bold, unique picks", this subscription also comes with 2-3 half-pound cheeses. Some months will include an accompaniment in place of that third cheese selection, while others will be a club-exclusive item like a new cheese release or a cheese from one of Murray's favorite makers. You'll pay $66.67 to $70/month, based on the subscription term.
• Cheers to Cheese Club: if you've always wanted to explore perfect pairings with different cheeses, this is the subscription for you. Every monthly delivery has 3 half-pound pieces of cheese and an accompaniment, all designed to go with a recommended beverage (though you'll have to supply the libations). There's even a tasting worksheet for you to evaluate each cheese and keep track of what you loved and what you didn't. Because of that extra accompaniment, this club is priced a little higher at $80.83 to $85/month, again dependent on the subscription length.
• Cheese Board Club: charcuterie boards are all the rage, and if you'd like to take your arrangements to expert level, Murray's has you covered with this subscription. Every month, you'll get 4-5 quarter-pound pieces of cheese, along with charcuterie and other pairings, plus step-by-step instructions for Instagram-worthy arrangements. This is Murray's most expensive cheese club, at $104.17 to $108.33/month.

Sneak a peek at previous boxes

If you're curious about which cheeses have been included in previous subscription boxes at Murray's, just scroll down past the add-on accompaniments and click on the dropdown. As an example, one shipment in the Cheese Board Club came with Brooklyn Cured Sliced Smoked Beef Salami, Firehook Multigrain Flax Crackers, Murray's Delice Cheese, Three Little Figs Puddletown Pub Chutney, Murray's Irish Cheddar, Murray's Stilton, Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson, Cotswold, and Mitica Caramelized Walnuts.

Pay upfront for 3, 6, or 12 months

All of Murray's cheese clubs can last for 3, 6, or 12 months, and shipping is included in the price. You do have to pay in full for the entire subscription term, which is a slight disadvantage compared with cheese memberships that let you pay as you go.

First-time subscribers can save 10%

You can save 10% on your cheese subscription from Murray's. Either enter your email address and mobile number when you see the pop-up, or look for the "Save 10%" link in the red box (usually in the bottom left corner of the page you're on). This will subscribe you to Murray's regular newsletter, but keep in mind that the discount is for first-time subscribers only.

Reputation may be on the decline

Unfortunately, it's hard to find a lot of glowing feedback for any of the cheese clubs you can get through Murray's. Even among the reviews left on the store's own website (which we're happy to see are unfiltered), there are more than a few subscribers who haven't been impressed with what they've received. Prior to late 2023, many of them complained about the meager quantities of cheese in each delivery, so we can assume (and hope) that newer subscribers wouldn't have the same disappointment as the company upped how much it put in the boxes. However, there didn't seem to be much buzz for the new-and-improved cheese clubs either. What we saw across the board, not just for the subscriptions but for Murray's in general, is a general sentiment of "Things went downhill in the last few years, especially after Murray's was acquired by Kroger."

Don't count on a refund or replacement

That definitely applies to customer service, which isn't always the most responsive when subscribers have had issues with deliveries. Even when people have reached out during the 24- to 48-hour window for reporting problems, getting a replacement or refund hasn't been a hassle-free experience. And, there's nothing explicitly stated in Murray's policies that says you can get a prorated refund if you pay for a subscription to a club but then decide that it's not living up to your expectations.

Not as good as you might expect

While we love the variety of cheese clubs at Murray's, we can't get excited about the overall customer experience here. It's absolutely on the higher end of the price spectrum, compared with many rival memberships, and from what we can see, it doesn't live up to expectations in terms of the value for the cost.

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On the Murray's Cheese website