Looking for something sweet for your sweetie? Feel like treating yourself? Need the perfect gift that shows a lot of love and thought but doesn’t take a mountain of effort? Have you considered a box of gourmet chocolates from one of the fine purveyors right here at home?
See also: 10 Local SF Bay Area Coffee Roasters To Know
San Francisco’s gourmet chocolatiers offer a plethora of unique treats to gift your loved ones for Valentine’s Day, the holidays or any fine day. Next time you're in the market for a treat, stop by one of these tried-and-true chocolatiers.
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401 Hayes St.; 415-355-1105 / Website
This is the perfect place to stop for artisanal chocolate. Molds resemble gemstones, housing bright yellow treats filled with lemon, bourbon and an assortment of sweet surprises. The sleek store also offers its beloved drinking chocolate.
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Various Locations / Website
A small-batch bean-to-bar maker, Dandelion roasts and grinds beans, giving each bar a distinct flavor. Its events have gone online without losing the taste element: In the large-group tasting, held via Zoom, chocolate bars are shipped directly to each guest as instructors lead the session.
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2222 Palou Ave.; 415-813-6000 / Website
Feve’s truffles make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day. Glazed in glossy bright hues, each piece packs mind-blowing flavors like matcha and wild honey. The nine-piece set has assorted flavors with a gorgeous passion fruit heart-shaped truffle in the middle.
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607 Grant Ave.; 415-350-3878 / Website
Located in Chinatown, Jade features chocolates blended with ingredients from Asia and the Pacific Islands. Standouts include chocolate bars with unexpected flavors like genmai, made of milk chocolate and roasted brown rice and jasmine tea; and Krakatoa, an Indonesian-inspired bittersweet chocolate flavored with cracked black pepper and lemon grass.
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3901 18th St.; 415-874-1081 / Website
This modern store in the Castro features chocolate made from Arriba Nacional, a rare Ecuadorian cacao variety known for its terrific flavor. Definitely try the Cacao Porridge, a concoction of sweet and salty premium chocolate noir and pillowy rice topped with bubu arare (Japanese rice crackers) and creamy grated coconut.
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1 Ferry Building, Shop #30; 415-625-4586 / Website
Recchiuti prides itself on single-origin, preservative-free chocolates infused with California farm-fresh herbs like lavender and lemon verbena. From silky ganache to pates de fruits, must-tries include the peanut butter puck, cardamom nougat and burnt caramel.
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535 Folsom St.; 415-400-4071 / Website
Sisters Wendy and Susan Lieu incorporate flavors from their Vietnamese heritage into their offerings. Try the Little Saigon box, a package presented as a four-course Vietnamese meal where every chocolate represents a drink (jasmine tea, Vietnamese coffee, cognac) or food (pho, passion fruit, litchi).
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307 Sutter St.; 415-780-0130 / Website
Specializing in Champagne truffles, Teuscher’s creations include a dark Champagne truffle, a Dom Pérignon-infused treat with dark chocolate cream ganache inside milk chocolate. Its gift sets in green boxes and gold ribbons are super luxe.
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754 Columbus Ave.; 415-421-4814 / Website
This quaint store in North Beach is celebrated by locals for freshly made French-style chocolates by chief truffle-maker Jean-Marc Gorce in liquor-infused flavors, including Kahlua. The store is noted for homemade-looking, unrefined small truffles made from extra-buttery ganache.
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474 Columbus Ave.; 415-395-9116 / Website
The locally-owned retailer makes unique, multilayered pies, like the seven-layered peanut butter pie. Not-to-be-missed fudge flavors include Bailey’s Irish coffee and s’mores.
Looking for more great guides to the best of San Francisco? Check out our list of best workout classes in the city, or perhaps try one of our favorite local coffee roasters, or pair your chocolate and coffee with a good read from one of the best bookstores in San Francisco.
Photography by: Westend61 / Getty
