Everything you need to know about the Cheese Board expansion

There’s been a line to get into 1504 Shattuck since 1975. Customers queue in the morning to sample cheese or purchase freshly baked baguettes, brioche knots and focaccia. Come lunch time, the doors open at 1512 Shattuck, where live music entertains those eagerly awaiting their share of Cheese Board’s rotating seasonal pizza. On occasion, the music entices those finished with their meal to utilize the parklet as their dance floor.

Given Cheese Board’s consistent popularity, expansion has always been in the blueprints for the cooperative. Since moving from their original location around the corner at 2114 Vine Street to Shattuck, the worker-owned cooperative first took over an adjacent business in 1986, when the Pig-by-the-Tail charcuterie shop shuttered. In 2007, Cheese Board took over the hardware store at 1512 Shattuck, allowing the cooperative to expand the pizzeria.

Bakery: 1504 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pizzeria: 1512 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Hours: Tuesday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Wednesday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In 2018, when Berkeley Produce Center owner Sam Hort decided to close up shop in Berkeley, the Cheese Board Collective acquired the space at 1500 Shattuck and Vine, with grand plans to expand the prep area as well as Cheese Board’s food offerings. Initial construction began in 2019 to improve the space’s structural integrity.

John Wagner, a worker-owner of the Cheese Board Collective since 2006, says that the structural work on 1500 Shattuck was just the beginning of what turned out to be a very long road to expansion. “The first thing we wanted to do was combine 1500 and 1504. Prior to us moving in, the last time I think that space was renovated was ‘73. It needed a whole new subfloor, and we had to drop the floor [at 1500 Shattuck] by 18 inches.”

Then, in March of 2020, the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order came into effect, and all work on the expansion was put on pause indefinitely. Worker-owner Radcliffe Eccleston had just begun his candidacy for the collective in January of 2020.

“When I joined, we were sort of finalizing the plans, the schematics, and just collecting sort of last-minute ideas for other ways to utilize the space. And then once the pandemic hit, no one was sure exactly how long it would take to recover and what the financial impact on the business would be,” Eccleston said. “It ended up being much more substantial than anyone anticipated, obviously. I believe 2025 was the first year since 2020 that we were profitable.”

The Cheese Board Collective’s expansion into the adjacent space on Shattuck Avenue has been eight years in the making. Credit: Courtesy of Radcliffe Eccleston/Cheese Board Collective

In addition to the financial impact, the collective also saw a fluctuation in memberships over the past few years. Eccleston estimates that about half the membership had left by the end of 2023. “We were focused on just replenishing our numbers so that we could get back to full operational capacity. That was our focus for so long that the corner store project was completely an afterthought.”

Although the collective was still dealing with the effects of the pandemic on the business in 2023, a silver lining presented itself when the landlords of the 1500 buildings decided to sell their lot. “Financially, it was hard coming out of COVID, and we didn’t have the resources to do the [corner store] plan, but at the same time, we were given the opportunity to purchase the buildings,” Wagner says. “So again, that kind of set us back, but we never thought it would ever happen. This has always been our dream.”

Although the collective had a friendly relationship with their previous landlords, the members can breathe easier now that they own their properties — and Cheese Board’s fans can also breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the future of Cheese Board for the foreseeable future remains on Shattuck Ave.

Conversations to resume the corner store expansion began sometime in 2024, though not every member was initially on board with the decision to carry the project forward. “The space itself was highly contentious. With the sentiment after lockdown, and the sort of financial stream that we were put in, many felt that we should just cut our losses, that this was an expense that didn’t guarantee a proportional return,” Eccleston says. “We were able to crunch the numbers and bring a much more comprehensive proposal that included a financial roadmap that demonstrated that this was something that we could not only withstand, but would more than likely yield better business and just be all around so much more pleasant for us and the customers.”

During the construction, a modified shipping container is being used as a retail space for the Cheese Board. Credit: Courtesy of Radcliffe Eccleston/Cheese Board Collective

The expanded corner store space will house a combined prep space for both the pizzeria and the bakery, something Eccleston is enthusiastic about because the current set-up doesn’t allow for much collaboration between the two teams. More space on the back end also allows the collective to expand its current offerings, including homemade pasta for customers to purchase and cook at home. For the front-of-house, the collective is focused on bringing a much more spacious, streamlined and relaxed experience for both those hoping to quickly grab a scone and for those who’d like to take their time sampling multiple cheeses and chatting with the cheesemongers before making their purchase. Longtime Cheese Board customers will remember grabbing a playing card as their service ticket as they entered the bakery, a fun system that the collective plans to bring back with the expansion.

“The entrance of the corner store space will be through the doors [at Shattuck and Vine]. The exit will be through the doors of the old bakery storefront at 1504. So that already is a huge improvement to the flow,” Eccleston says. “Then we are going to have a dedicated line for cheese service, a dedicated line for bread and pastries. People can just expect a much more pleasant, much smoother flow, where they can take their time shopping. No one is going to be rushed.”

As announced on the Cheese Board website, the collective hopes that the corner store will be ready by mid-to-late 2026. In the meantime, select cheeses, deli items and baked goods will be on offer through a temporary shipping container set up on Shattuck outside the pizzeria. Customers will enter through the south door of the container to browse the selection and order their bakery items. Towards the exit at the north door of the container, bread and pastry items will be fulfilled. Any parbaked pizza, salads and coffee orders will be fulfilled at the pizzeria.

“When you first walk in, there will be a small refrigerated section with our core cheeses, maybe some of our deli items like the cheddar spread, the hummus and some olives. And then we’ll also have a section of rotating cheeses. Then there’ll be a little dry goods section, so we’ll have some of our crackers, jams, olive oils, vinegars, and then you’ll go to a little display area [for baked goods], and you’ll order there,” Wagner details. “Let’s say you come in and you grab a d’Affinois and a bottle of Bariani olive oil. You also want two baguettes, a scone or brioche, a parbaked pizza and a salad. You then pay for everything at the [register]. You’re going to continue down towards the north door, and right by the north door, there’ll be somebody there fulfilling your bread order. You’re going to have your receipt, and you’re going to continue north on Shattuck towards the pizzeria. From there, you’ll grab your coffee, and you have all your bread, and you’re going to walk into the pizzeria. There’s going to be a sign above one of the registers there for prepaid parbake pickup. You grab your parbake and your salad, and you’ll be on your way.”

The collective is hopeful that the expansion will be well worth the wait for both their own members as well as the Berkeley community.

“We really had [the community] in mind when we took on this project and we decided that we were going to follow through with it,” says Eccleston. “We’re hoping that it’ll be worth it improving everyone’s experience at Cheese Board.”

“I hope we continue to just keep on doing what we’re doing, being a part of the community, offering quality products at a fair price, and that we are able to retain workers and keep this going, but at the same time always honing and trying to make it better,” says Wagner. “We just keep the vision of Elizabeth and Sahag — at Cheese Board, you put in a little bit more than you take out. And if you keep doing that, this whole thing works.”

During the construction, the pizzeria continues to operate with normal hours. Retail sales from the temporary shipping container begin at 7:00 A.M. on Tuesday, January 20th, with parbaked pizzas available beginning at 9:00 A.M. For updates, visit the Cheese Board Collective website and follow the Cheese Board Collective on Instagram.

Everything you need to know about the Cheese Board expansion

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