Lake Champlain Chocolates — Restaurant in Waterbury

This is about as tourist trap as it gets. The Millennial Chum and I stopped in here on our way into Stowe this past weekend - I saw signs for cheese and chocolate and insisted this would be an ideal location for local swag (it wasn't; the mugs in the adjoining shop were $44. Insane.). This establishment is located in a building with several other stores, but it didn't take long for us to organically wander into this one. As mentioned in pretty much every other review, it's a lot to take in, chocolate-wise. There's a self-serve chocolate variety bin area where you can scoop out preferred flavors at $31/lb (yikes), along with tons of displays with wrapped bars and bags of individual candies. Unsurprisingly, there was a strong maple bent to a lot of the inventory.

I wasn't really in the mood for chocolate at the specific moment in time (and the Millennial Chum was right - it was overpriced for sure, no matter how good the overall quality of the chocolate) and opted for the ice cream, which was nestled in the back corner of the store. There were a few people behind the long counter but I was impressed that the minute I placed myself in front of the ice cream, someone immediately popped over to assist - some vigilance points there for sure.

Since I was still getting my Vermont sea legs, I went with a small cup of maple ice cream (I think $5ish). Really hit the spot. You can taste the artisanal/small batch goodness of this ice cream - just the right amount of creamy, just the right amount of density. While I was still in the middle of consuming the ice cream, I noticed a framed shout-out by the door indicating this ice cream had won a few local awards. Unsurprisingly. The Millennial Chum grabbed a few peanut butter cups, but no one was interested in emptying their wallet before we'd even gotten to our official destination of the trip.

We noticed after we got into town that this is a mini chain; there was a super cute location just off the main drag in Stowe located in a ye olde home with a porch that I would have preferred to go to instead purely for ambiance purposes. It's pricy; I would be surprised if locals are a significant part of the clientele here. As an aside, I did grab a chocolate mint crunch bar from a local mini mart later in the day, which was tasty but honestly nothing that would significantly set it apart from any other quasi-bougie chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised by the ice...

CHOCOLATE!!!! Whenever I am in the area I go to buy their hand made fudge in many flavors and to buy their special chocolates for friends and special occasions. They have hot chocolate mixes that my down south friends beg for! - - and I send my friends who are visiting the state who are coming up or going down Rt 100 to the 89 - or visiting Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory tour - easy parking so you can just grab some great chocolate and coffee - - or linger and sit with the treats and beverages. Also - - it is right next to Danforth Pewter and across from the great Cabot Farmer's store which has a great selection of sample cheese and other products - Its a good parking lot off Route...

Stopped here to hit all the shops in this plaza and check everything out. It reminds me of Munson's chocolates that we have in Connecticut. A wide variety of rich chocolates to choose from from bars to small pieces to truffles, it was hard to choose, they had maple caramels that looked interesting. I am not very keen on dark chocolate and so I grabbed a peanut butter filled milk chocolate bar and shared an affogato, which this is the first place I have ever found that served them and I was quite delighted, what a wonderful treat. Prices are very reasonable, and there's an area to enjoy the ice cream/coffee treats they offer. And service was wonderful, staff was polite...