Encore Chocolates and Teas — Restaurant in Olympia

This place was an unexpected treasure. When you enter from outside, the tea and chocolate sections are separately walled "shops" in an indoor shopping area. In the tea shop, there was a huge selection of teas and tea appurtenances. You can decide what loose-leaf blends you like, and they fill bags with your requested quantities behind the counter. I'd never been to a chocolate store like this one. There was a massive selection of chocolate bars, organized like a bookstore: displayed prominently, and organized by chocolate type and ingredients. Lots of these chocolates have great packaging design, so it was a good setup. They're also hoping to add more fun bookstore-esque quirks in the future, such as employee recommendation notes on the shelves, or mystery-wrapped bars. The employees were the stars of the experience. At first I assumed they were simply aiming to sell their products, but really they were just super passionate about chocolate and wanted to share that passion. They knew so much about all the bars & brands they sold, and couldn't help but share their knowledge & recommendations. I learned a lot about chocolate! One employee helped me pick out a couple bars as a gift, based on the tastes of the gift recipient. It was a lot of fun. I spent 30 minutes here, and I didn't even browse the entire shop! I hope to return to hear more of that enthusiasm--and try out a few new varieties.

COVID-19 measures: both shops limit occupancy; everyone is required to wear masks; compulsory hand sanitizer/disposable glove stations at the doors; tall plexiglass barriers/"sneeze guards" on all cashier counters; currently offering no tasting or...

Really enjoyed the tea side of the store! Wonderfully kind employees, and very well laid out store. Really excited to try the new teas I purchased.

Not a fan and will not return to the chocolate side, though. The employees there made both my husband and I extremely uncomfortable. I was told by the employees on the tea side that I could take my basket with me to the chocolate side of the business. I let the employees on the chocolate side know that I had the basket with a few items in it, and we went to browse. One employee literally followed us, giving us side eye glances, and not so secretly watching us suspiciously. It got to the point that they would STARE at us when we weren’t looking, but turned when we would face them. We had done absolutely nothing wrong or to warrant the behavior. They not once said anything directly to us, asked if we needed anything, offered help, etc. I finally said out loud that we must look like thieves, and maybe if we had dressed different or appearing like a different demographic, we wouldn’t be followed.

Finally that employee actually understood that we knew would they were doing, and went back to the check out stand, but kept craning their head to watch us around the store.

I went back to the tea shop to pay for the teas I bought because what the hell??? I decided to not buy any of the chocolates I was marginally interested in because of the behavior of the employees.

Never going back to the chocolates side again, absolutely rude. If you are a queer or alt even looking person, don’t come here expecting to be treated with...

I always visit a place twice before I leave a bad review. Never been to the tea side. This is for the chocolate side.

They have a combination of bean to bar chocolate and chocolate candy. The bean to bar is what I was interested in. I eat 1 oz of dark bean to bar chocolate daily, so I order a lot, I spend about $400 a month on 2 ingredient bars. I just moved here in Nov and a friend told me about this shop. I try to always shop local and support local businesses and artisans.

The bean to bar selection is pretty good. Well organized. I bought 10 bars each time I went. The customer service is HORRENDOUS. No hello. No may I help you. No thank you. They guy behind the counter was comatose. The only thing he said was do you want your receipt. I even restocked from the back for them and brought up an empty box. The second time I went in, a woman was also behind the counter and after I checked out, I told them their customer service sucked. She laughed! Wow.

If you want bean to bar chocolate for people that will bend over backwards to make you happy and are incredibly grateful for your business, try buying directly from the bean to bar chocolate makers. Other options I use are Bar and Cocoa in Denver, Caputo's in Salt Lake City, or The Cocoa Store in NYC who all have a wonderful selection and are quick to respond if you have questions. Free shipping is offered by most makers and sellers for...