Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Takeaway. A quick tour of how the candy gets made. I'll give it a fun 7.1/10 for being free, but the tour itself is too quick. You get great samples and some genuinely cool behind-the-scenes views of industrial chocolate-making, but at under 30 minutes, probably not worth more than a 10-minute drive.
I came with my 5-year-old son, but the tour is better suited for adults who appreciate seeing how things are made. But kids will perk up for the free chocolate at the end.
Worth a stop if you're already in The Hill area and want to kill an hour on a weekday morning. The tour guide knows his stuff and makes it entertaining. Free samples, discounted "oopsie" chocolate, and a surprisingly good selection of candy apples sweeten the deal.
Make sure to reserve a ticket ahead of time. Parking is easy, it's free, and tours run every thirty minutes Monday through Friday. Just don't expect your five-year-old to stay engaged for the full 15-20 minutes.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Summary
I didn't know anything about Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate before my son and I showed up for the factory tour. We got a text the day before from a friend asking if anyone was interested, so I, of course, said yes.
How else can I experience all the great free stuff St. Louis has to offer?
I had literally no expectations going in. Free tour, free chocolate. How could it be bad?
Walking into the lobby, you're immediately hit with the smell of chocolate and rows of beautifully displayed confections. You can buy chocolate by the pound or in fancy cases.
They've even got St. Louis Arch-shaped chocolates, truffles, and all sorts of specialty items.
But the real draw for us was the factory tour. It runs every half hour and lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. You suit up (they hand you a little custom hat) and head into the production area.
The coolest part, in my opinion, is watching 130-pound vats of chocolate being made. You get to see these massive marble slabs where they pour and cool literal tons of chocolate each day.
It's pretty cool from an ingenuity standpoint.
Just watching that much chocolate spread out and harden on cold marble is weirdly satisfying.
They also make their own caramel on-site. The assembly lines show you how everything flows down conveyor belts and gets packaged. It's a real working factory, not some sanitized demo kitchen.
The tour guide was fantastic. You can tell they've been doing this for years. They had jokes ready to go and knew exactly how to keep adults engaged.
They explained how many people work there, the company's background, and some of the technical details of chocolate-making.
My five-year-old, meanwhile, was checked out after about five minutes.
He liked looking at the candy and the chocolate moving around, but you could tell he was just waiting for the free samples at the end. And to be fair, the samples didn't disappoint.
They give you both dark chocolate and milk chocolate to try, and it's legitimately good chocolate. That was his favorite part, hands down.
I enjoyed the whole experience more than he did. The tour is definitely skewed toward adults who appreciate seeing how things are made. If you're into manufacturing processes or just curious about how candy gets from ingredients to finished product, you'll dig it.
One thing worth grabbing: they sell "oopsie chocolate." This is leftover chocolate that didn't come out the right size or got messed up somehow in production.
It doesn't look perfect, but it tastes exactly the same. And they sell it for basically half the price of their regular chocolate by the pound. I scooped up a pound for $14 at the end of the tour.
Can't beat that deal.
I also grabbed a candy apple because, well, I love candy apples. Haven't had one in forever.
This one was fantastic. The caramel was super chewy, but the chocolate coating was that lush, fancy kind of upscale chocolate you'd get from a top-tier confectioner.
Worth every penny.
One fun fact I learned on the tour is that Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate bought Bellinger's a couple years ago. That's another very old St. Louis / French candy brand I'd never heard of. They moved most of the staff over here and now sell Bellinger's products in the shop too.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Things To Do
The main attraction is the factory tour. That's pretty much it. You walk through, see the production area, learn about the company, and get free samples.
Takes 15-20 minutes.
After the tour, you can shop in the lobby. They've got everything from bulk chocolate to specialty gift boxes. The "oopsie chocolate" is the best deal if you just want quality chocolate without paying for perfect presentation.
They also have candy apples, truffles, and seasonal items depending on when you visit.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Details And Info
Tours run every thirty minutes. The whole experience, shopping time and all, will eat up maybe an hour.
The factory runs only Monday through Friday, but it offers tours on the weekends. So if you're in The Hill and want something quick to do, it's a solid little stop.
The tour is completely free. But we did make a reservation via a free ticket the day before.
Parking At Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Parking is easy. They've got their own lot, and there's plenty of space. You do wind up in a commercial zone near the train tracks.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Receipt
