Casa de Chocolates - Berkeley — Restaurant in Berkeley

Really good chocolate bars & cupcakes (4/5 green stars). Casa de Chocolates is becoming my favorite place to pick up gifts for people. Their chocolate boxes are beautiful, and the best thing is that you can bring back the box and they’ll refill it at a significantly reduced rate ($1.50 per piece) so it’s the gift that keeps giving! Their chocolate bars are very inventive, combining great chocolate with South American flavors – I highly recommend their recent addition, the Fuerte bar. It’s topped with roasted quinoa, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), almonds, chili flakes and sea salt. The straight quinoa bar (Inca Crunch) is also wonderful, for those who are chili-averse (not that the Fuerte bar is that spicy). I also crave their luscious chocolate cupcakes regularly – they also have a deal with these: you get a discount if you bring back their little cupcake box for a refill. They can point you towards their vegan offerings, almost everything is gluten free, and they don’t use gelatin. Very friendly staff and chocolate bar samples always available!

I’m giving them 4/5 “green stars” for social and environmental impact. They are a Latina-owned business that aims to make delicious chocolates using sustainable ingredients. From their website: “we aim to purchase the chocolate from chocolate purveyors who have a direct relationship with cocoa farmers. We believe that direct trade with cocoa farmers results in farmers making far more than Fair Trade standards.” But when they opened in 2012, they purchased pre-made chocolate from Guittard, which is somewhat confusing since Guittard do use the official Fair Trade certification system. Most of their chocolate is a South American blend and in some cases they use single origin chocolate (the Quechua bar is Ecuadorian chocolate). In an interview, chocolatier Arcelia Gallardo says that “eventually we want to work with smaller cacao farmers and chocolate makers” but it has been 4 years since they opened, so it’s time they provided an update on their chocolate sourcing – are they still mainly buying from Guittard or are they starting to trade directly with smaller farmers? Not that Guittard is a bad company – most of their cacao is Fair Trade and shade grown; some is organic. Casa de Chocolates don’t mention if any of their cacao is organically grown but the staff member I talked to said she’d find out, so I’ll update that when I go back.

Most of their other ingredients are organic: milk, cream, eggs, butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar, espresso beans, berries and herbs. As mentioned above, they provide good incentives for re-use of packaging used for chocolates and cupcakes, which is really great. But considering that many people won’t be re-using or recycling the packaging it would be better to pack items like flan in small cardboard boxes rather than...

We stopped into Casa de Chocolates recently after having lunch around the corner. The shop smelled delicious and was visually inviting! We were offered samples while I asked a dozen questions or more. While we tasted and talked we could see others busy in the kitchen crafting new delicious treats. In addition to their unique selection of chocolate bars, available in two sizes, they also have assorted fresh prepared flan, cookies, and other sweet and savory items available. We ordered a hot chocolate, which was rich and creamy but not too sweet, as well as purchased a selection of chocolate bars to enjoy and gift. Casa de Chocolates is a place I can highly recommend to anyone in the neighborhood, or check out their selection online. I think you will be a fan...

My favorite chocolate shop in the east bay! I love that it's a female-owned business, but that is not the reason for my 5 star rating. The chocolate truffles are! OMG - the liquor-infused truffles are my addiction. SO. DARN. GOOD. Tequila butterflies, Mezcal, Kahlua, Mojito and more. The caramels are delicious also. The other thing that I love here are there small-sized chocolate bars. They break off nicely into just a tiny rectangle of yummy goodness. Perfect for a little sweet treat without feeling like you need to exercise it off right away. Indulge without the guilt! My favorite flavors are mole (a zing of spiciness!) and hibiscus (a great slightly tart twang to it!). I stop by whenever I am in the area. I keep the boxes in my car...