Celli's Chocolate Chips — Restaurant in Virginia

First, the important part. The cookies are very good, in a deliciously gooey, melt in your mouth, sort of way - with ample chips of quality chocolate. They make you thirsty, like a good cookie should. A very welcome treat.

Now the fun part. It was perhaps 10:15 AM - I had just gotten my Flu shot next door and thought - Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies sound like the perfect treat for having gotten my shot.

As I walked in I was greeted by the pleasant aroma of freshly baked cookies and there are a few bags with 4 cookies each on the glass table. The amazing part was that the room is fairly sparse, and the greeting from the young women at the desk (no real counter here) so startled that I wondered quite a bit if walk-ins were welcome or not. Maybe this place is a front for some other business....a cookie spa?

Fortunately, a woman (more my peer) emerged from the back and chatted a bit less awkwardly, informing me that these are Gourmet Cookies, and a bag of four is (as of this writing) $12. So certainly not an everyday treat or one for a group. I do wonder what the price per dozen might be, but that information was not offered.

And again, the cookies are very good, but I am very old and have had many cookies in many places. Call me pleased, but not blown away.

ADDED AFTER RESPONSE FROM OWNER

WOW! You are way too defensive! I did not consider my review negative, just honest. Others have observed you do not seem like a bakery, but more like a spa of some sort. Perhaps that is what you are going for. Roll with it. Visitors should know what to expect.

If my arrival was just after opening, you staff should have said so. I would have understood. I had already had my shot and was heading home. Your door was unlocked. I walked in. Your staff member was sitting at her computer behind the desk. I do agree she was startled. Which startled me. Deal with the reality rather than get defensive.

How in heaven did I attack your character?

I did not call you or anyone awkward - the prose was intended to reflect that my conversation with your staff was awkward, which it was. I am the customer. It is your job to make customers feel welcome. I am just reviewing and reporting on my experience as I have done over 300 times.

How or where did I ridicule your product? I gave the cookies a fine review.

I have corrected the typo, from women to woman. Thank you for pointing it out. I also corrected amble to ample.

When told the price of your cookies, my immediate and vocalized response was that the price point must be required to pay for your retail space. I decided to purchase a bag, in part to help a woman-run business that seemed surprised to have a customer.

I have no idea why you object to my photos.

Pursue legal action if you wish. Regardless, you have lost any potential of my occasional future business. I'll go back to Extraordinary Cupcakes - they are women owned too, and very friendly.

I am leaving the 4 stars, because the cookies are good. If my rating was based upon this interaction. Two stars would be...

Funny story. About 2 years ago, I had just found a cookie place in savannah ga that I absolutely loved during our travels to Florida. Missing that cookie place( since I live in Virginia) and always on the lookout for a good cookie, I googled chocolate chip cookies while in Williamsburg for the day and found Celli's. The cookies were more expensive than the place in savannah which confused me. Being somewhat of a money conscious person, i just wasn't sure i could justify the price but i didn't want the trip to be wasted so i decided to purchase a 4 pack and try it. One bite made me wish i had purchased more! They didn't even compare to the ones in savannah! (What cookie place in savannah??🤣) They were larger, fresher and so much better!! The ingredients are phenomenal!! Now I schedule my day trips to Williamsburg around when Celli's is open because I purchase them every time I'm in town! Oh, and Gina and her husband are just the nicest people! The absolute best cookie anywhere!! My favorite is the chocolate chip pecan, but I'm looking forward to trying others soon! Try them! You will not be...

My kids and I found Celli's via Goldbelly. The saying is we eat with our eyes first, and boy, did those the pics have us drooling. So when we were in Richmond, we made sure to go by. Not only did the goodies look even better in person (and the aromas!), but Miss Celli was there! We all enjoyed chatting with her and her family, and she was so nice to my kids. We had a devil of a time deciding which ones to get and finally bought several different varieties, (more than I'd planned, actually, but ZERO regrets! Plus Miss Celli have us another version for free, so sweet!). We got the classic chocolate chip, white chocolate cranberry sea salt, the Italian wedding cookies, and were gifted the chocolate sugar cookies. And when we finally ate those cookies...... oh emm gee, can you say sublime? We sat in the car devouring them before we even left the parking lot, lol. They were fresh and moist, and sweet, perfectly chewy at the right points, a nice crisp bite around the edges. So yummy!! 😋 Wish we lived closer so we could stop by again. But at least we can get the goodies...