The Must-Visit Chocolate Shop in Every State

Published: November 28, 2025 by Christian Drerup

Chocolate has a way of mixing nostalgia with indulgence, and across the United States, certain shops have transformed this decadent treat into a true art form. Each state has at least one stand-out chocolate ship, featuring old-world chocolatiers using traditional techniques to modern brands incorporating fun flavors and quirky designs. And every one of these spots reflect local culture, creativity, and artistic skill. These specialty shops aren’t just places to satisfy your average sweet tooth; they’re engaging experiences where culinary craftsmanship and flavor come together.

In this guide, we highlight the must-visit chocolate shop in every state, spotlighting the places that stand out for their quality, originality, and devotion to chocolate in all its delicious glory. We’re talking hand-rolled truffles, small-batch bean-to-bar confections, and iconic regional favorites. Check out the shops that represent the best of what America’s chocolate scene has to offer.

To determine the most irresistible chocolate shops in every state, 24/7 Tempo consulted rankings and listings on sites including Food & Wine, Simply Chocolate, Time Out, Eater, Food Network, The Daily Meal, Yelp, and Culture Trip, as well as numerous local and regional sites, then used editorial discretion to choose the top chocolate purveyor in every state. (If you prefer baked goods, check out the top pie shops in every state.)

Here are the most irresistible chocolate shops in every state.

Alabama: Chocolatà Chocolatier

Location: Birmingham
Opened in: 2017
Owned by: Kathy D’Agostino
Specialty items: Luxardo cherry and whiskey octagon, Campesino Rum heart, dried sweetened cantaloupe in 63% dark chocolate, Unicorn Bark Slab Squares

Chocolatà specializes in chocolate bars and bonbons. The shop’s online menu includes an FAQ section that addresses questions such as how long bonbons and chocolate bars last, what is ganache, and which chocolate is vegan.

Alaska: Aurora Chocolate

Location: Anchorage
Opened in: 2014
Owned by: Chef Ingrid Shim
Specialty items: hand-painted chocolates

As the name might suggest, this chocolatier was inspired by the northern lights seen in Alaska and elsewhere in the far north. The chocolate pieces here are hand-painted using a temperature-controlled process involving colored cocoa butter.

Arizona: Zaks’ Chocolate

Location: Scottsdale
Opened in: 2015
Owned by: Jim and Maureen Elitzak
Specialty items: Dark chocolate bars with organically farmed cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, and a small amount of cocoa butter; white chocolate with just three ingredients – house-pressed cocoa butter, whole milk, and organic cane sugar

Jim and Maureen Elitzak went from chocolate as a hobby to chocolate as a vocation. Zaks’ Chocolate is a small-batch craft chocolate maker and an artisan chocolate shop. They sort ethically sourced single-origin beans and wrap chocolate bars themselves. All dark chocolate bars are vegan and gluten-free.

Arkansas: Markham & Fitz Chocolate Makers

Location: Bentonville
Opened in: 2014
Owned by: University of Arkansas alums Lauren Blanco and Preston Stewart
Specialty items: Truffles, caramels, chocolate bars

Blanco first encountered cacao farms doing economic development in war-torn countries while Stewart uses his chemistry knowledge and zeal for food science in his technical and scientific approach to chocolate-making. The shop gets its cacao beans from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

California: Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates

Location: Sacramento, San Francisco
Opened in: 2008, 2017
Owned by: Ginger Elizabeth Hahn
Specialty items: Bonbons in flavors such as raspberry rose geranium, brown butter, and olive oil sea salt; macarons, chocolate bars, ice cream

Hahn comes from a family of bakers in Northern California and got an externship at the Jacques Torres chocolate shop in New York in 2002, honing her skills as a chocolatier. She then worked at the Ritz in Chicago under the discerning eye of En-Ming Hsu, gold medalist at the 2001 World Pastry Cup. The shop ships chocolates coast-to-coast in the shop’s signature white boxes with black bows.

Colorado: Moksha Chocolate

Location: Boulder
Opened in: 2013
Owned by: Jennifer and Michael Caines
Specialty items: White chocolate coconut raspberry, oko caribe semisweet bar, blood orange semisweet artisan chocolate

Moksha Chocolate, founded in 2013 in Boulder, Colorado, has its origins in a remote Peruvian valley. The company works closely with cacao farmers near Shanao, a town surrounded by the unique Alto Mayo Cloud Forest and Cordillera Escalera Conservation Area in the upper Amazon. In 2014, Moksha formed a partnership with local cacao growers. This cooperation aims to keep profits within the indigenous community while improving cacao quality and promoting sustainable farming methods.

Connecticut: Fascia’s Chocolates

Location: Waterbury
Opened in: 1964
Owned by: John and Helen Fascia
Specialty items: Meltaways, which have a center of softened chocolate with a variety of natural flavors added.

Now a Waterbury institution, Fascia’s Chocolates has expanded to multiple locations since its first shop when John was working as an electronic technician with the Bristol Company. Fascia had been roasting nuts and selling them at work to supplement his income. He wanted to increase sales and decided to make chocolate and began to do so in his basement. Today, his daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren are all involved in the business.

Delaware: Sweet Dreams Confection

Location: Middletown
Opened in: 2019
Owned by: Patty and Luke Luckini
Specialty items: truffles, chocolate-covered strawberries and cookies plus hand-dipped pretzels

Run by Patty Luckini and her husband Luke, Sweet Dreams Confections Company is a family-run bakery, kids Sam and Ben also help out, that offers high-quality artisanal candies and also offers a monthly subscription service.

Florida: Castronovo Chocolate

Location: Stuart
Opened in: 2013
Owned by: Denise Castronovo
Specialty items: Arhuacos Dark Milk 66% with Cacao Nibs, made from cacao that had been growing wild in Colombia.

Denise Castronovo, self-styled “ecopreneur,” chocolate maker, and ecologist, says on her company website that she makes sure her partners “enable protection of the rainforest and Indigenous cultures…enhance the market for cacao so that it improves the livelihood for communities who have lived among the rainforest for generations.” Castronovo looks for wild and heirloom cacao varieties with unique flavors.

Georgia: Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Company

Location: Atlanta
Opened in: 2004
Owned by: Kristen Hard
Specialty items: Bark purses in flavors such as citrus basil, gummy bear sprinkle, and raspberry rose

Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Company wants customers to know that its product is organic, from its cacao paste, to its cocoa nibs, raw powder, and cacao beans. The company packages its product in elegant brown boxes with burnt orange bows. You can sample the purist bar with 60% dark chocolate and move on to the salame di cioccolato, 60% bean-to-bar chocolate rolled with shortbread and amaretti cookies.

Hawaii: Mānoa Chocolate Hawaii

Location: Kailua (Oahu)
Opened in: 2010
Owned by: Dylan Butterbaugh
Specialty items: Dark chocolate incorporated with ingredients like mango, passion fruit, goat’s milk, rum, sea salt, bananas, and coconuts in its confections

“Mānoa” is the Hawaiian word for “solid,” “vast,” or “depth.” The owner believes in taking care of the land where cacao is harvested and is involved in reforestation efforts in Hawaii. The shop has been crafting bean-to-bar chocolate on Oahu and says it ethically sources cacao beans from Hawaii and around the world. (Hawaii is the only U.S. state with the climate to grow cacao beans.)

Idaho: The Chocolat Bar

Location: Boise
Opened in: 2004
Owned by: Jason and Trish Stack
Specialty items: Holiday offerings like eggnog truffle, peppermint barks, yuletide truffle (white chocolate ganache infused with allspice, mace, cardamom, orange peel, coriander, and nutmeg covered in a shell of dark chocolate)

Jason and Trish Stack are world travelers who bought this 15-year-old confectionery in 2018 when the original owners retired. Jason is a trained chocolatier who managed a manufacturing plant and has restaurant management experience. Trish comes from a marketing background. They produce handcrafted truffles, clusters, turtles, barks, dipped fruits, and other chocolate confections.

Illinois: Vosges Haut Chocolat

Location: Chicago
Opened in: 1998
Owned by: Katrina Markoff
Specialty items: Chocolate with bacon, sea salt, and chiles

Vosges Haut Chocolat likes to use chocolate as a medium for storytelling. The shop’s own story starts with founder and chocolatier Markoff, who served an apprenticeship in Spain and came to the belief that food could lead to “transformative, visceral experiences.” A self-described alchemist, she traveled the world to explore “the principle of blending the elements, planets and their vibrations with food.”

Indiana: Xchocol’art

Location: Carmel
Opened in: 2011
Owned by: Joann Hofer
Specialty items: Chocolate mendiants (bite-sized slabs of melted chocolate studded with dried fruit and nuts served during the holiday season)

Austrian culture and its chocolate tradition inform the chocolate-making process at Xchocol’art. The shop was opened by chocolatier Hofer, a painter by trade who recognized the artistic possibilities of chocolate while living in Austria. After she moved back to the U.S., she began distributing Zotter Austrian Chocolate and immersed herself in all things chocolate. She’s assisted by her husband Roland, an Austrian expat who seeks to combine flavor pairings and create the packaging for the products.

Iowa: The Chocolate Haus

Location: Amana
Opened in: 2000
Owned by: Brenda Stabenow
Specialty items: Chocolates, Caramels, and Fudge

The Chocolate Haus has been churning out hand-crafted artisan chocolates, caramels, and fudge for over 20 years by Brenda Stabenow, with the help of her husband, mom, son, and daughters. They began with the Chocolate Haus, eventually expanding with an espresso cafe and now have an online subscription box too.

Kansas: Cocoa Dolce Chocolates

Location: Wichita
Opened in: 2005
Owned by: the Voegeli family
Specialty items: Macarons or chocolate pieces containing blackberry mojito, honey lavender, mimosa, or PB&J.

The folks at Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates want you to linger at their Wichita shops (they have three). “Our Sweet Lounges are beautiful spaces that epitomize the sweet life,” according to their website. “As soon as you enter, time seems to slow, senses heighten, and the pleasure of sweetness is celebrated.” Patrons can also enjoy live music at any of the locations (they post a calendar of upcoming acts on Facebook).

Kentucky: Art Eatables

Location: Louisville
Opened in: 2011
Owned by: Kelly Ramsey
Specialty items: Truffles filled with Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, or Jameson whiskey, among other spirits

Art Eatables is a chocolate shop whose website requires viewers to certify that they’re at least 21 years old because their signature confections are truffles filled with Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, or Jameson whiskey, among other spirits. There are alcohol-free candies as well, though, including layered and laminated chocolate lollipops and caramels cloaked in white, milk, or dark chocolate.

Louisiana: The Chocolate Crocodile

Location: Bossier City
Opened in: 2005
Owned by: Jim and Cyndi Ragon
Specialty items: Monster Dipped Apples (chocolate-immersed apples covered in caramel and nuts), crocodile-shaped chocolates, chocolate Crocodile Claws, and the popular Crocodile Nest

The Chocolate Crocodile is the flagship store of the Arco Company, who have three shops in Alabama and Louisiana.

Maine: Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections

Location: Freeport
Opened in: 1983
Owned by: Tom Wilbur & Catherine Carty-Wilbur
Specialty items: Chocolate-covered blueberries and cranberries; Maine Mud chocolate sauce in gingerbread caramel and mint flavors; camouflage malt balls

Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections produces its product with a staff of 12 chocolatiers and makes thousands of pounds of confections each year in small batches. The shop also currently has a line of chocolate bars wrapped in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Maryland: Wockenfuss Candies

Location: Baltimore (and 5 others)
Opened in: 1915
Owned by: Fifth-generation family-owned
Specialty items: Almond Bark, Solid Breakup, Malted Milk Balls

Wockenfuss Candies, one of Baltimore’s oldest candy makers, celebrated its centennial in 2015. Founded by German immigrant Herman Charles Wockenfuss, the company has remained family-owned for five generations.

Herman Lee Wockenfuss took over in 1945, expanding the business and creating the signature homemade chocolates that became the company’s hallmark. His son Paul, the current owner, moved production to a larger facility in 2011, enabling growth in retail, wholesale, and public engagement.

Massachusetts: Taza Chocolate

Location: Somerville
Opened in: 2005
Owned by: Husband and wife team Alex Whitmore and Kathleen Fulton
Specialty items: Oaxacan sampler, Wicked Dark, Lemon Cookie Crunch

Taza creates their chocolate from scratch, using a simple, traditional approach. Their goal is to preserve the natural flavors of our organic, ethically-sourced cacao beans. They grind the cacao using traditional Mexican stone mills. This method keeps the beans’ fruity notes intact and results in a chocolate that’s bold and slightly textured.

Michigan: Birmingham Chocolate

Location: Ferndale
Opened in: 2007
Owned by: Douglas Cale
Specialty items: Bonbons, protein truffles

Birmingham Chocolate produces chocolates in three categories: bonbons, bars, and treats. The bonbons include truffles, cremes, caramels, and clusters, sold in boxed assortments and bulk. The bars are grouped among four families: classics, decadence, ketobars, and keto!rite (no added sugars and fine for keto, paleo, and vegan diets). Treats are chocolate-covered pretzels, nonpareils, almonds, coffee beans, orange peels, and turtles

Minnesota: Chocolat Celeste

Location: St. Paul
Opened in: 2002
Owned by: Mary Leonard
Specialty items: Truffles with pear cognac, Frangelico ganache, Key lime

Chocolate Celeste is a female-owned business that’s at the forefront of the craft chocolate movement in Minnesota, having opened after the proprietor apprenticed with master chocolatier Tom Cinnamon in Vancouver. She also trained in chocolate technology with Terry Richardson (patent holder for Godiva Chocolate). The shop creates truffles and other confections with premium European chocolate and artisanal cream and butter from Minnesota dairy farms.

Mississippi: Margaretes Fine Chocolates

Location: Tupelo
Opened in: 1996
Owned by: Was changed to a corporation in 2006
Specialty items: Custom orders for special occasions

Margaretes Fine Chocolates was originally a franchised operation of the Mrs. Burden’s Chocolates chain. Among the shop’s best sellers are its chocolate-covered strawberries, made daily using up to three different chocolates.

Missouri: Bijoux Handcrafted Chocolates

Location: Des Peres
Opened in: 2020
Owned by: Meggie Mobley
Specialty items: Chocolate pieces with salted caramel, tiramisù with vanilla bean and mascarpone white chocolate, black currant balsamic combined with Peruvian dark chocolate ganache

Mobley, born in St. Louis, started her culinary journey by attending a French pastry school in Chicago where she discovered her passion for baking and love of chocolate. She returned to St. Louis, which she said lacked an artisanal chocolate boutique, a situation she intended to change.

Montana: La Châtelaine Chocolat Co.

Location: Bozeman
Opened in: 2006
Owned by: Wlady and Shannon Hughes Grochowski
Specialty items: Chocolate infused with absinthe, rose flower water, Guinness stout, black peppercorns, dandelion root, passion fruit

Wlady, from the Vosges region of France, came to the U.S. in the early 1990s and started selling French pastries. Shannon, a graduate of Montana State University, cut her culinary teeth in Parisian kitchens and continues to train in Paris each summer.

Nebraska: Baker’s Candies

Location: Greenwood
Opened in: 1987
Owned by: Kevin Baker
Specialty items: 16-ounce cello bag of meltaways, meltaway with potato chips

The company proudly calls its product “blue-collar gourmet.” Baker leveraged his engineering background to cut costs, giving him an edge over the competition. He steered the company toward making affordable meltaway-grade chocolates and became a major chocolate confectioner in the Midwest. The family-owned company operates a 25,000-square-foot plant in Greenwood, Neb.

Nevada: Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier

Location: Las Vegas
Opened in: 2012
Owned by: Jean-Marie Auboine
Specialty items: Banana-split drinking chocolate, salted caramel drinking chocolate, a passion fruit chocolate collection, sea salt caramels, blueberries covered in milk chocolate

The French-born chef graduated from the prestigious Lycée Technique Hotelier and worked at top-tier restaurants in Monaco, France, and Switzerland. He later teamed with master chef Alain Ducasse, the only living chef to hold 21 Michelin stars. After serving in pastry-chef stints at the Presidente Intercontinental Hotel in Mexico City, the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, and the Bellagio in Las Vegas, he founded Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier.

New Hampshire: Dancing Lion Chocolates

Location: Manchester
Opened in: 2008
Owned by: Richard Tango-Lowy
Specialty items: Chocolate made with exotic extracts and preserved fruit

Tango-Lowy earned his chocolate spurs in Belize, Paris, Vancouver, and the Rhône Valley. On the shop’s website, Tango-Lowy anthropomorphizes chocolate. He said he’s “sought her subtle nuances, studied her moods, struggled to understand her complex temper.” Dancing Lion Chocolate sources cacao from small farms around the world. The shop also offers courses in chocolate making.

New Jersey: 2 Chicks with Chocolate

Location: Middletown Township
Opened in: 2011
Owned by: Elyissia Chinchilla and her mom, Barbara Ferrante
Specialty items: Holiday bonbon collection featuring an illustration of a vintage truck hauling a Christmas tree, wine-infused chocolate collection.

This northern Monmouth County establishment opened in part due to a car-related injury that prevented Barbara from commuting to work while she was living in Queens. She began making chocolate in her kitchen, and it became her side job.

Her daughter sold the products door to door using a shopping cart. Years later, Elyissia, who was working in the telecom industry, caught the entrepreneurial fever and joined her mother as a chocolate maker, officially launching their chocolate store.

New Mexico: Chokola

Location: Taos
Opened in: 2015
Owned by: Debi Vincent and Javier Abad
Specialty items: Tasting trio of hot chocolate, mousse, and a truffle

This chocolate-making journey, and married life, began in Venezuela where they met and opened their first chocolate business. They now operate a shop in Taos selling single-origin, two-ingredient bars that are wrapped in packaging created by local artists. A reviewer on Yelp said, “The sipping chocolate had the perfect amount of lavender and was wonderfully rich with the chocolate.”

New York: Jacques Torres Chocolate

Location: New York (multiple locations)
Opened in: 2000
Owned by: Jacques Torres
Specialty items: Caramelized macadamia nuts cloaked in milk chocolate, holiday-themed bonbons and chocolate sculptures

Known as Mr. Chocolate, Torres crafted a storied career as a pastry chef in France and America before he opened his chocolate shop in Brooklyn, New York. The shop’s website says Torres was the first artisan chocolatier in New York City to start from cocoa beans and make his own chocolate. Torres opened New York City’s first chocolate museum called “Choco-Story New York, Chocolate Museum and Experience with Jacques Torres,” which was located inside his store for two years.

North Carolina: French Broad Chocolate

Location: Asheville
Opened in: 2012
Owned by: Dan Rattigan and Jael Skeffington
Specialty items: Bonbons in wildflower honey, caramel, raspberry ganache, lemon cheesecake, chocolate habanero, strawberry balsamic

Rattigan and Skeffington met at a wedding in 2003 and eventually settled in Asheville, N.C., where they opened French Broad Chocolate. They became chocolate vendors after driving a converted school bus to Costa Rica and bought an abandoned cacao plantation.

They started serving chocolate to expats, fishermen, and surfers in their café and dessert shop called Bread & Chocolate. It was their goal to become bean-to-bar chocolate makers. They offer sipping chocolate, chocolate bars, and treats.

North Dakota: Widman’s Candy Shop

Location: Grand Forks
Opened in: 1885
Owned by: Carol Widman Kennedy and husband David
Specialty items: “Chippers”- Red River Valley potato chips covered with chocolate (available in milk, dark chocolate, and white almond chocolates)

This fourth-generation candy company was founded by William Widman in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1885. The firm subsequently expanded to Crookston, Minnesota, and Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota (the Dubuque store is now closed).

Ohio: Sweet Designs Chocolatier

Location: Lakewood
Opened in: 1995
Owned by: Inez Rainer and Sam Sweeney
Specialty items: Creamy truffles, salted caramels, and organic and vegan chocolates are among the offerings

Rainer emigrated to the United States from the former Yugoslavia with dreams of opening her own business, and said in a video on her website that she hires people who are desperate for a job and anyone who works hard “will always have a job here.” She believes in giving back to her community. Her recipes are based on her memories of how chocolate should taste – “very chocolatey with a lot of cocoa butter.”

Oklahoma: Bedré Fine Chocolate

Location: Davis
Opened in: 1980s
Owned by: Originally owned by Pete Cantrell; now owned by the Chickasaw Nation
Specialty items: Meltaway boots, milk chocolate boots, hats, mint chocolate assortments in the shapes of Oklahoma and Texas

Bedré Fine Chocolate, near Ada, Oklahoma increased in popularity in 2000 when the shop was bought by members of the Chickasaw Nation. The new owners curated bold flavors of chocolate and turned Bedré into a luxury chocolate brand. Chocolate comes with a Western flair.

Oregon: Creo Chocolate

Location: Portland
Opened in: 2014
Owned by: The Straub family
Specialty items: Caramelized hazelnuts and almonds in dark chocolate and milk chocolate varieties

After a visit to Ecuador, the family was drawn to chocolate by watching small multi-generational family farmers, and connected with them through “common pride of growing something, by our common heritage of farming.”

Pennsylvania: Éclat Chocolate

Location: West Chester
Opened in: 2004
Owned by: Christopher Curtin
Specialty items: Caramels infused with calvados, truffles made with Peruvian Nacional cacao, Jamaican allspice with sweet, nutty sesame seeds

It’s unlikely you will find the kind of bonbons made at Éclat Chocolate anyplace else. Not to be missed are bars, milk or dark, filled with crunchy Pennsylvania Dutch-style pretzels.

Rhode Island: Chocolate Delicacy

Location: Warwick
Opened in: 1992
Owned by: Dave and Marie Schaller
Specialty items: Chocolate gold coins and brightly colored dreidel-shaped Oreos, decorated chocolate mini presents (seasonal)

Candy and fudge are the calling cards for Chocolate Delicacy, whose slogan is “Happiness is an unexpected piece of chocolate.” Don’t miss the variety of chocolate-covered Oreos.

South Carolina: The Chocolate Tree

Location: Beaufort
Opened in: 1980
Owned by: Pat Green (who retired), her son Gene Green, and her sister Joy King
Specialty items: cream-filled candies, chocolate bark with various nuts

Historic Beaufort is a pleasant city to stroll about and the Chocolate Tree is a nice place to happen upon. Patrons of the store like its variety of delicacies like chocolate-covered Oreos, among other things.

South Dakota: Chubby Chipmunk Hand-Dipped Chocolates

Location: Deadwood
Opened in: 2005
Owned by: Mary “Chip” Tautkus
Specialty items: Truffles like the Hot Mama, seasoned with habanero, jalapeño, and chipotle chiles; the Chipmunk Treasure, with toffee, praline, coconut, almonds, and both milk and dark chocolate

The Chubby Chipmunk was opened in the old gold rush town of Deadwood. Back in the ’70s, owner Tautkus had a small bakery of that name in her native Southern California intending to make customers swoon and sigh once they sink their teeth into a truffle. She offers about 30 varieties of truffles.

Tennessee: Colts Chocolates

Location: Nashville
Opened in: 1984
Owned by: Mackenzie Colt
Specialty items: Colts Bolts (either in milk or dark chocolate) based on custom-blended peanut butter and freshly roasted whole almonds

Colt’s store became a chocolate destination for rising stars and celebrities alike. A signature item is Marie McGhee’s Bumble Bees – layers of buttery salted caramel and pecans covered in chocolate that were created as a tribute to Myrtle Marie McGhee, Mackenzie’s mother.

Texas: Cacao & Cardamom Chocolatier

Location: Houston
Opened in: 2012
Owned by: Annie Rupani
Specialty items: Chocolate with cardamom, cumin, coriander, and fennel

Cacao & Cardamom Chocolatier founder Annie Rupani brings a South Asian background to her business. When she attended Boston University, she studied in London and Amman, with stops in Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Egypt, and China. While she was on the road, Rupani gained an appreciation for food and took chocolatier courses in Kuala Lumpur.

Utah: Hatch Family Chocolates

Location: Salt Lake City
Opened in: 2003
Owned by: Steve Hatch and wife Katie Masterson
Specialty items: Chocolate skulls (topped with top hats and rose garlands)

There’s more than a touch of whimsy at Hatch Family Chocolates. The Salt Lake City establishment fashions shoes, dinosaurs, cats and dogs, and golf balls out of chocolate. The company also has a line of ice cream that it ships.

Vermont: Lake Champlain Chocolates

Location: Burlington and Waterbury Center
Opened in: 1983
Owned by: Jim Lampman
Specialty items: Truffles, caramels, clusters, chocolate bars, and gourmet hot chocolate

The Lake Champlain Chocolates Flagship Store & Cafe offers chocolates and confections, and the company states that 100% of the chocolate it uses is fair trade certified.

Virginia: Gearharts Fine Chocolates

Location: Charlottesville and Richmond
Opened in: 2001
Owned by: Tim Gearhart
Specialty items: Pod and Vine, a trio of artisanal chocolates crafted with premium Virginia wines and signature dark chocolate blend

If you like chocolate and wine, Gearharts Fine Chocolates can help you with that. Gearhart has been among the pioneers in the artisan chocolate movement in Virginia. His culinary career began in the kitchens of the Marine Corps, then he trained in pastry at the Culinary Institute of America, eventually working on a dude ranch in Wyoming and in a castle in England. Most of Gearhart’s creations can be purchased in 16- or 32-piece assortments.

Washington: Intrigue Chocolate

Location: Seattle
Opened in: 2005
Owned by: Aaron Barthel and Karl Mueller
Specialty items: Chocolate beverages, seasonal truffles, and spiced chocolate bars

Barthel is a chef whose career path began as a farmer, then transitioned to botanist, brewer, baker, and finally chocolate maker. The owners say on their website, “We want you to feel nurtured, edified, and inspired to share your experiences with others.”

West Virginia: Holl’s Handcrafted Swiss Chocolates

Location: Charleston and Vienna
Opened in: 1986
Owned by: Dominique Holl and wife Michelle
Specialty items: Truffle of the month (also available in build your own box)

Holl’s Handcrafted Swiss Chocolates is what it says it is – makers of time-honored Swiss chocolate. The family-owned company was founded by Fritz Holl, who came to the U.S. in 1958 after apprenticing at his uncle’s Conditorei, a combination pastry shop, chocolate shop, and café.

Holl came to America to work for a dairy company in Ohio and after retiring, continued to make chocolate for friends. His first customer was a wine shop that sold 400 pounds of his chocolate in eight months. The company was off and running.

Wisconsin: Wilmar Chocolates

Location: Appleton
Opened in: 1956
Owned by: Wilbur and Mary Jane Srnka; the Garvey Family took over in 1984 and changed the name in 1990 to its current moniker
Specialty items: Vanilla or chocolate oysters; football-themed caramels, meltaways, Christmas white almond bark

The name of the store comes from the combination of the Srnka’s first names. They sold the business to the Garvey family in 1984. Along with the sale came a one-year apprenticeship, during which the Srnkas passed on their recipes and advice to the new owners. New recipes were added to the traditional chocolate lineup.

Wyoming: Meeteetse Chocolatier

Location: Meeteetse
Opened in: 2004
Owned by: Tim Kellogg
Specialty items: Tablettes (French for bars), truffles, barks, truffles in flavors like eggnog, focaccia, huckleberry, and jalapeño

Proprietor Kellogg got his start making truffles and brownies to sell at the Cody Stampede in 2004 to raise money for a new saddle (this is the Cowboy State after all). He took to chocolate-making and today produces numerous kinds of chocolate delights.