The South Bend Chocolate Company

The tour was alright. We could have done without the snarky elf tour guide who was funny for about 5 minutes. It was neat to see the scale of operations and the machinery but there was not a lot of production going on.
The staff was just a bunch of under-​motivated teenagers that really need a customer service training course. I know teenagers need jobs and are cheap labor, but it is a really bad look when no one in the whole store seems to care about anything but a paycheck.
Hey the chocolate was pretty good though. I liked the «almost perfect» section because they are cheaper and have a wide variety to choose from, not just a small selection of closeouts. Here is a hidden gem: they had their version of sponge candy which is really hard to find outside of Buffalo. It was good and pretty authentic!

It was interesting to see how chocolates are made, and the cost per person ($ 4) was reasonable for what you got… a chocolate spoon and small bag of malt balls (one of my favorite chocolates). The tour was okay. There really wasn’t much going on the day we were there and the part I would have found most fascinating, production of the dark, milk and white chocolate, didn’t happen at this factory.
We did get 10% off anything we bought following the tour, which was good, and it applied to the «almost perfect» pieces too. Those are ones that are slightly less than perfect. I got some pecan clusters (AKA turtles) for my husband (his favorite), mint melt aways (soon good and not too sweet like most chocolate can be), and chocolate covered tart cherries (my favorite from this place).
I don’t think I’d do the tour again (don’t need the education a second time), but I will probably hit up the other locations in the city to refill on my favorites.

File this under, «Huh! Did not know that» and, now I do.
Fun and quick 1 hour diversion that involves chocolate. And, deals on really tasty chocolate.
While they give honor to Willey Wonka in the facility, don’t expect a chocolate fantasy land. This is a chocolate factory, museum, and outlet store and café.
The tours are entertaining with guides with names like Capt. Crunch, Sweet & Salty, and Hot Latte. Very kid and family friendly. Sometimes corny, but worth the time.
BTW, the day we were there they had 20 lbs. boxes of chocolate covered cherries for $ 1.50/lb. that is about a 90% savings.

I was very disappointed… The museum is closed now, wish I would have known that before we went in. Cheesecake on a stick was yummy, kids loved the ice cream, fudge was meh, ok. Very pricey.

This place has ruined me for coffee from all other places! My husband and I stock up on their coffee beans about once a month, and brew the coffee at home — once staunch daily Starbucks goers, we rarely go there now except if we’re traveling.
The food is good (I particularly love their soups) and the playroom in the back has allowed us to have some relative peace during lunch while our 19 month old scampers around while we eat only a few feet away.
We’ve gotten to know a few of the workers now — all very nice and happy to help us. Will continue to go back for the coffee and more!

I’m not really a chocolate connoisseur, but I am just not impressed with the waxy substance they call chocolate. I love a good mocha latte, but what I got there wasn’t good. It barely had a chocolate or coffee taste, and what was there wasn’t impressive. The prices on the coffees are decent, but the taste is just lacking. Next to the coffee is a baked goods case and the items sure look good. I forgot to bring my gold bars to pay for it, so was unable to sample them. The candy case is next down the line, but if I wanted to eat wax, candles are cheaper.
I also tried a milkshake last week and, to be honest, it stunk. It was more like a glass of milk with a scoop of ice cream in it and was one of the worst I’ve had anywhere. The cakes next to the ice cream looked good, but aren’t worth what they want for them so I won’t try them out.
The saving grace of this place is the sandwich side. They have a $ 5 lunch special every day that is a good deal. They briefly removed one of the sides from the deal, but fortunately brought it back. (UPDATE: they again removed the side and now want $ 1.49 for it) I used to go in and enjoy the burger on Friday, but it was recently replaced with some kind of thing they pass off as a Philly Steak, but it is served on a hot dog bun. A HOT DOG bun! It also doesn’t taste very good. Bring back my Friday burger!
They have a nice selection of sodas to choose from. Many of them have not been seen on store shelves in years and I missed them. Finding out a bottle was going to run me $ 2 made me miss them a lot less. (UPDATE: they now have one as the soda of the day for $ 1.00. The rest are still $ 2.00/bottle)
There is also a retail candy section that has a lot of good candy, but I think it’s way too pricey.

Great coffee stop and candy store. Sandwiches… you gotta go here. Downtown location. Everything just right. Thanks folks. Well done.

I should really review this place twice: once for the chocolate and candy, and once for, well, everything else.
First, the candy… the chocolate and other homemade candy here is very good; of particular note are the various specialty popcorns. Anyone looking for a sugary gift in South Bend should definitely check here first. Four stars is about right for this, only because it’s a bit pricey.
Then, everything else… I had the misfortune of paying to eat here once a few years back. The food isn’t horrible, but it’s not especially good and it IS entirely too expensive for what you’re getting. On the coffee front, their roasts aren’t bad, but somewhere between the roast and their brews, something must get lost in translation. There are at least two coffee places within three blocks of here; either of them offers better black and specialty coffees than SBCC. I’d give the restaurant two stars at best, and that only because they have okay-​to-​decent baked goods.

Great place for coffee, chocolates and other desserts. They offer a variety of food for lunch and dinner. They are open late so you can hang out alone if you need to study or work or with friends.

I hope you will forgive me for stereotyping here, but I assure you the content is generalizable. My wife and I made our way to the South Bend Chocolate Company as part of our honeymoon, which included a road trip from Seattle, WA back to our home in Greensboro, NC. the stop in South Bend was clearly «my» part of the honeymoon, as it included a trip to the College Football Hall of Fame, but we saw a brochure for the South Bend Chocolate Company at our KOA and thought we’d give it a try for «her». Make no mistake, I enjoyed it as well. The tour included samples, a presentation from a talking cocoa bean, and the chocolate manufacturing equipment, but if you’re looking to complement the college football portion of a trip to South Bend, this isn’t a bad choice at all for the other person.

holy cow.
this was an unexpected treat when kt m. and i rolled thru south bend on our way back to cincy from chicago. the plan was to hit up notre dame. that plan was delayed due to the awesomeness of the sbcc.
from hot cocoa to coffee to candy to haribou frogs — you can’t go wrong. if you don’t give this place 5 stars then there’s something about yourself you need to check:).
willy wonka is alive and well in south bend.

So I have never been to the factory store. But I do like the fact that they have stores at Rest areas along I-​80/​90 both east and west bound. It’s a great place to stop at and get some nice gifts.
The chocolates are VERY sweet! I think they are way too sugary and not very chocolaty. I’m a little spoiled because I have access to French chocolates (michel cluizel’s), so I’m a bit turned off by overly sweet chocolates.
Gift boxes don’t have a legend so if you hate guessing what’s in the chocolates this is not a good choice for chocolates.
I may improve my ratings the next time I stop by. But overall this place was not all that outstanding, but worth a try.