Mancuso Cheese Company: Making 'Quality Ricotta, Mozzarella' On Joliet's East Side Since 1907

JOLIET, IL — With nearly a foot of snow on the ground and Christmas in less than three weeks, plenty of Joliet area residents might be wondering where to buy a unique holiday gift for someone special in life. How about one of Joliet's oldest food-manufacturing businesses: Mancuso Cheese Company?

Mancuso Cheese has been an enduring Joliet success story since Santo Mancuso opened his cheese-making business near the entrance of Joliet's downtown in 1907.

"Santo Mancuso was born in Carlopoli, Catanzaro, a small hamlet in Italy. In 1904, he emigrated to America, leaving behind a young wife who joined him here two years later. He lived in Carbondale, Pennsylvania for one month before he decided to settle in Joliet, Illinois where his older brother, Raphael, lived ... Yet, even as he labored in the quarry for five brutal years, he nourished the idea of having his own cheese-making business. His first attempt at producing and preserving cheese products was not successful but he was not discouraged," the Mancuso Cheese website explains.

While the original Mancuso's Cheese building was demolished due to the construction of Interstate 80's on-ramps, Mancuso's Cheese has operated since around 1970 at 612 Mills Road, just past Richards Street, on the city's east side.

You Don't Want To Fix What Isn't Broken: Mike Berta Jr.

For several decades, the Berta family has owned and operated Mancuso's. Michael Berta Jr. runs the business along with his 84-year-old father Mike Sr. and Michael Jr's brother Joe.

"My father has been here his whole life," Mike Berta Jr. told Joliet Patch at Monday's store interview. "He comes in every day. In 1907, Santo Mancuso and his kids ran it, now there's no more Mancusos left" in the cheese-making company.

Berta explained that at Mancuso's, "we make the cheese the same way. Everything is the same way. You don't want to fix what isn't broken.

"I'm proud of the quality and service I provide for my customers," Mike Berta Jr. told Joliet Patch. "Chellino (Cheese) is the same way. It's just the two of us and that's it. You go to the grocery store and pay more for a product that isn't the same quality."

In preparation for the Christmas holidays, Mancuso Cheese has created five different types of cheese boxes that customers can buy at their store on Mills Road.

The five Mancuso Cheese gift boxes are priced at $17.50, $24.75, $27, $37.50 and $39.50. The most expensive gift box weighs 4 pounds 12 ounces and comes with two summer sausages, aged Swiss, Munster, sharp cheddar, Colby, mild cheddar, Longhorn, blue cheese, gouda, gruyere, Swiss, Wispride and candies.

"Show you care this holiday season by sending a Mancuso Cheese Gift Box," the store brochure reads. "We offer a variety of options and will ship anywhere in the country. Call us or stop in for ordering information."

Despite having his Joliet cheese making company located at 612 Mills Road, Berta said he's pleased with how strong the little retail storefront does in terms of sales.

"I'm surprised. I really am. For where we're at, we do well," he explained. "If we were on the west side of Joliet, I would expect it to be double, but for what we're doing here, it works.

"We're not a big place and we're not a big ol' company. I'm not looking to get bigger. Slow and steady wins the race," Berta explained.

About 65 Varieties Of Cheese Made Inside Joliet's Mancuso Cheese Company

During Monday's Joliet Patch interview, Berta walked over to his retail refrigerators and started counting all the different cheeses that are made inside his business. "Probably 65," he answered. "Sixty-five would be a decent number."

Berta explained that Mancuso's top selling cheeses are the mozzarella, ricotta and mild cheddar. Mancuso's Swiss and Brick cheeses also sell very well.

At 612 Mills Road, Mancuso Cheese has one production shift for cheese-making. The employees typically make the cheese starting around 5 a.m. and continuing until 2 p.m. "four or five days a week," Berta noted.

Mancuso Cheese offers an enormous list of wholesale food products that you can buy on their website. In addition to the cheeses, you can find gnocchi, stick pepperoni, beef salami, sliced pepperoni, anchovies and lobster ravioli.

Seven Different Kinds Of Cheese Curds Made, Sold Inside Mancuso Cheese

Did you realize that Mancuso's also manufactures cheese curds? Proving you don't have to travel to Wisconsin to indulge in great tasting cheese curds. The seven different flavors made at 612 Mills Road are: traditional yellow cheese curds, dill cheese curds, Jalapeno cheese curds, Cajun cheese curds, garlic cheese curds, ranch cheese curds and white cheese curds.

"Garlic and white and yellow cheddar and jalapeno is my biggest sellers," Berta revealed. "Four of the seven. They all move good, but the biggest movers are those four."

What are Berta's favorite cheese curds?

"I love the garlic. The garlic and the jalapeno," he answered.

Mancuso's Also Sells Frozen Pizzas Offered By Joliet's Maurie's Table Restaurant

In addition to its retail store and wholesale contracts with several well-known Chicago-area food distributors including Orlando Imports, Avanti Foods and Anichini Brothers, Mancuso does business with two of Joliet's most beloved pizza restaurants: Cemeno's Pizza and Maurie's Table.

In fact, one of the newest additions to the Mancuso retail store is the selling of Maurie's Table frozen pizzas that the restaurant started offering in recent months. Berta said that the sales of the Maurie's Table frozen pizzas are doing well and a lot of his customers were ecstatic to find out that Mancuso's is now stocking their retail refrigerator with them.

The Mancuso Cheese retail store stays open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. It's only closed on Sundays.

"It's a simple business," Berta pointed out. "And we have a lot of second and third generation customers that come in and buy from me."

Mancuso's And Chellino's Are Joliet's Last Two Cheese-Making Companies Left In City

Back in March, Joliet Patch produced an exclusive human-interest profile story on Chellino Cheese, which has operated on Joliet's east side at 505 Bennett Avenue since 1917. These days, Chellino Cheese is in the hands of its third generation of family ownership. Greg Chellino serves as president and wife Linda Chellino serves as chief executive officer.

Berta said he wants to see Chellino Cheese continue to thrive and does not view them as fierce competition.

"Us and Chellino are the only places in the whole United States still making ricotta by hand," Berta exclaimed proudly. "No one else in the United States.

"They're good people. This is not cut-throat. I need allies," Berta continued. "We both have the same inspector, so we help each other out."

Berta said he's optimistic his Mancuso Cheese retail store will stay busy as the Christmas holiday season approaches.

"Christmas is good for us, and Easter and Thanksgiving, and the rest of the time, it holds its own," he explained. "My location is not the best. It's kind of off the beaten path especially with Interstate 80 the way it is right now. But there's not a lot of overhead in my store. I would rather sell on volume and keep prices fair."

To learn more about the food products you can buy at Mancuso Cheese, the business phone is 815-722-2475. There's also a website for Mancuso Cheese.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Chellino Cheese Co: 'We Were Going Up Against Everybody In The World'

Best Pizza In Joliet? Maurie's Table Adds Chicago Style Pizza To Menu