Charles Chocolates

Tried out the Afternoon Tea on Sunday 6÷12÷16. You pay online for a spot $ 36.50 per person at least 2 weeks in advance because it gets Sold Out. I took Bart to 16^th St, walked up 16^th to Florida. Lots of homeless sleeping around 12pm on Florida. Gotta cross the street.
Got there early and checked in. Got a spot on the communal table in their patio that’s facing the street, but it’s up a flight of stairs so higher up.
Choice of Teas or Hot Chocolate. I picked Genmai Cha Tea which was fine. I did get to sample someone’s Yorkshire Gold Black Tea that was ok too.
Food came late around 12:20pm. They served the back tables first and I was annoyed because I was one of the first ones there and so hungry!
Portions were ok to small size, I just wish there was more Food!
We got:
Valrhona Dark Chocolate Scone — I liked it ok
Ricotta Blueberry Loaf — tasted fine
Cheddar Sesame Shortbread — cheddar cookie I liked
Spring Vegetable Quiche — I’m not a fan of quiche but I ate it since it was there and I was Hungry!
Bresaola, Arugula Pesto, Parmesan — Sourdough Baguette — small piece of pesto toast, tasted ok.
House made Loch Duarte Gravlax — crème fraîche, tartine rye — tasted ok, ate it all.
Charlemagne — Valrhona Guanaja, house made Hazelnut praline — small round dessert that I liked.
Chocolate chunk financier — tasted ok
White chocolate cheesecake — not a fan of white chocolate, but it was small enough that I ate it all.
I was full, but one reason was I had almost 2 pots of tea. You can get refills of hot water so I drank lots of tea! Problem with drinking so much tea, had to use the bathrooms lots afterwards! Their bathroom is only available to the public during the Afternoon Tea — It’s through the glass doors inside their store, up the stairs, on the left. 2 unisex bathrooms.
Afterwards, you can shop in the store and get 15% discount! I should have bought some candy, but I didn’t. I did eat some sample candy that was for everyone in the store.

They are not provide afternoon tea everyday and you need to make reservation before you go. Pay when you booking from online system, so you don’t have to bring wallet anymore :) The dishes are all set when you there, and the only thing you need to do is pick up what type of tea you like. Good experience, but the outside is not refinement as I expected.

Worst experience of my professional life. They sent the wrong product, did not respond to my call when there was a problem for 25 days. They let Christmas, NY, my deadline and almost two weeks in January go by until I got a response from the owner. And he refused to acknowledge that they made a mistake, after ordering $$$$$ worth of corporate gifts and sending them all over the world, only to discover it wasn’t the right product on Dec. 17^th. Ordered the fabulous chocolate covered caramels in the very expensive chocolate boxes and got the variety instead. (Not a fan.) Not $$$$$$ worth of it, especially.
I had ordered some of the chocolate for a huge, global trade show & had to get special permission to bring in outside vendor food. CC didn’t respond; let my deadline pass even after leaving multiple messages asking for a response all the way into early January and left me hanging out to dry. I didn’t have time to get authorized to bring anything else for the show. I looked like an idiot to my boss. Spent way too much time I didn’t have. It was a problem.
Trying to help a local small business really burned me. Not cool!
Adding insult to injury, they didn’t speak to the people on staff I had spoken to initially, who heard the big order and great story that went with it. (Very memorable.) They refused to ask at the time, then waited 25 days to talk with me and refused to answer me when I specifically asked if those employees had been asked about it. That was so infuriating; being treated like «talk to the hand».
When I told the owner he needed to make some effort to make it right; that no one in their right mind does this, with social media to share these issues; he called it a threat and threated to contact my boss. Seriously? I recommended the place and sat 2 feet away to make the order. They cancelled the order, rewrote it and didn’t include the notes or special instructions I gave, either the first or both times. So much for «the customer is always right». Not here; even when the customer IS right.
Sure, I cancelled and reordered the next day to get the holiday promo price, before anything had been made. But do you think paying the same price as everyone else using the promo code, justifies getting the Wrong product and No amends? No apology really, because all they expressed was disbelief. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Even after this, my clients asked about the chocolate and I gave them contact info and recommended the caramels and triple chocolate almonds. They’re delicious; but the time it took to make the series of calls, weeks of frustration, loss of professional standing and disrespect was deplorable. Honestly; how do people Do this and think it’s okay?
I even gave them weeks before writing this review to do something to make amends. Zero; again.
My advice; don’t put yourself through this.

I was gifted their sweet salty hazelnut bar. It’s 65% bittersweet chocolate with chunks of hazelnut and some sea salt. You could see the pieces of hazelnut and it is the perfect mix of salty and sweet. Who doesn’t love chocolate and hazelnuts? And together. kinda mind blowing!
I hope to make it out to their factory one day and possibly enjoy their tea service.

Okay here! I’m giving Charles Chocolates 5 stars based alone on their super delish and delectable chocolate bars that I’ve picked up and enjoyed from Andy’s Candy Apothecary here in Downtown Sacramento.
So far I’ve had their:
Salty-​Sweet Cashew Bar
Salty-​Sweet Hazelnut Bar (my fave)
Salty-​Sweet Pecan-​Cherry Bar
I enjoyed all 3, and or course, I want to try more!
When I make it back to San Francisco, I want to go to their shop, and try their handmade hand-​piped all-​natural macarons that look so perfectly delish. I’ve heard they’re as good as they look in their photos!
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A group of us went for the Sunday Afternoon Tea. They took our order for tea, then came back with individual glass teapots and no cups. The cups arrived a bit later and after about 20 minutes, the food. I rate the tea, food and chocolate as very good but the service was just ok, they could improve on that plus the ambiance. Even adding a few plants to the outside area where they serve the tea would improve things! Afternoon tea seemed to be an afterthought or maybe they just started the service and are working out the kinks. If they improve the looks of the serving area and the service, it would be worth the money.

Sunday afternoon tea is becoming a popular thing to do nowadays. Charles Chocolates is becoming more and more popular alternative to other popular afternoon restaurants such as Lovejoys. The place is about a 15 minute walk from 16^th St Mission bart, which makes for a nice stroll before and after to get your appetite going or — to help with digestion.
Charles Chocolates works a bit differently than most — they only offer afternoon tea on Sundays at 12PM. And you need to buy tickets on Evenbrite prior to attendance. I haven’t met an instance where they sold out of tickets but I imagine you’ll need to buy tickets at least a couple days in advance since the outside patio area is not super large. Once you arrive, you’ll need to check in with a worker to let them know you’ve arrived. They’ll give you a tea menu and check back in on you to get your tea order, and to give you your afternoon tea snacks — a mixture of sweet and salty.
Everything was delicious — just come and try it. It is a little pricey, but you get soo much food and its basically lunch+breakfast in one ;)
P. S. If you’re vegetarian, feel free to let them know so they can adjust some of the items for you.
P. S. X2 — the bathroom is located on the 2^nd floor. You’ll need to go through their kitchen to use it (which is usually locked, but just let a worker there know). I believe bathrooms are only available for afternoon guests.
P. S. X3 — that lemon tartine with crispy chocolate bits was my favorite. Not too sweet, and tart. Just the way I like it ;9

I love Charles Chocolates. I especially love their s’mores. Imagine a soft, home made graham cracker with a thick chunk of their awesome chocolate, topped with a slab of home made marshmallow, all toasted to order. I’m in heaven. I buy them to take home and either torch or put under the broiler so I can enjoy at home too. This is well made chocolate and a place I love to go to when I’m in the area.

Came here because I read about the cashew chocolate bars in a magazine, then I was delighted to see they also have other treats (ie. heart-​shaped ganache chocolates, caramels, cookies, smores). I like that they have multiple options, so there’s something here for whatever type of chocolate you’re in the mood for. Good stuff!

Amazing! I want to come back and eat everything!
Popped by on a weekday afternoon and the place was virtually empty, so we took our time poring over the baked goods and ordered a bunch even though dinner was only 1.5 hours away… oops.
The nice lady behind the counter strongly recommended the canelés, which looked unimpressive but were DELICIOUS!!! Plus they were two for $ 3, what a steal! We also got the caramel cookie (amazing) and s’mores (so good). It was very pleasant to eat out on the patio in the sunshine.
I also picked up a few bars of milk chocolate to take home, and I love how creamy they are. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ I would come here every week if I lived in SF!

I had one of the best chocolate chip cookies ever. With a cup of black rose tea and milk. Tomorrow I will share the toffee coffee chocolate bar with my husband. If I can wait for him.
They have a beautiful store and outdoor patio. I can’t wait to attend their tea on Sunday.

I really wanted to like this place since I love chocolate and like to support our local chocolatiers. I tried 5 – 6 samples and they were average. I was in a desserty mood and bought their dark chocolate cookie and it was okay. The carmelized nuts were nice, but the chunks of chocolate I was told were in there were too well hidden. My wife had the light chocolate cookie with the salted caramel chunks and it was also just okay. The cookies at Specialties are much better and cheaper (certainly less than $ 4.50 a crack). So kind of just an okay experience.

YUM! Amazing chocolates that are so decadent. If you’re looking for a small «add-​on» gift for someone (or just a special treat for yourself), I’d definitely recommend popping in to this Charles Chocolate store to browse. While you can find Charles Chocolates pretty much in any grocery, convenience or wine/​cheese store in SF, I’d recommend stopping in this location to browse. Not only do they offer the largest variety of Charles Chocolates’ chocolate truffles, chocolate covered nuts, and chocolate covered nuts, but they also offer several samples so you can try to determine which treat suits your palate best :)
Another perk is they offer delicious bakery treats. I tried one of their macaroons and a piece of their decadent chocolate hazelnut cake. I was fortunate to just so happen pop in during their «bakery happy hour» (6−7PM) and received 50% off all baked goods. I will definitely be stopping in again soon for some more of those baked goods — definitely grabbing some more macaroons, and will have to try the brownie frosted with a café/​chocolate frosting. Looked amazing :)

I was really excited when I found that Charles Chocolates had an afternoon tea. Unfortunately, I left feeling disappointed. To start, the selection of teas was a big letdown. The only black tea available that wasn’t flavored was PG Tips which anyone in England was call cheap supermarket tea. The food was prettily presented, but not exciting. Being served mediocre tea and food on a picnic table, crowded in with a bunch of strangers isn’t nearly worth $ 36 per person. If you want a more authentic afternoon tea experience, try Lovejoy’s instead.
Sadly, even the chocolates weren’t too exciting. They’re very pretty, but too sweet and the chocolate texture seems grainy to me.

I came for the 12pm tea brunch. You’ll need to book and purchase tickets in advance on Eventbrite.
Food: ⁵⁄₅
They brought us out a beautiful plank of savory and sweet bites. Every bite was rich, divine, and made from top notch ingredients. I could barely finish everything. Excellent combination and festival of colors. Presentation is beautiful!
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Friendly, smiling, sweet, andregular check-​in (but not too much)… A perfect balance!
Setting: ⁴⁄₅
This new location is kind of in an industrial-​like part of the Mission. Parking is easy. There’s a nice little patio with wooden picnic tables/​benches next to the shop where they hold their tea brunch.
Value: ⁴⁄₅
Slightly pricy: $ 36/​per person (tax included) for the tea brunch but still it’s worth it.
Free chocolate samples are served in the store. A++ in my book!

Wasn’t impressed with my chocolate hearts.
(Passion fruit and raspberry) The passionfruit didn’t really taste like passion fruit to me.
Will be back though to try their afternoon tea service.

Came here when a search for «drinking chocolate» turned it up. So. They don’t «really» serve drinking chocolate… but if you are lucky they will be serving samples of it. And those. Are. Money. It’s like the Chantico you may have had in Italy. Or at Starbucks before they discontinued it. For a steep but worth-​it price, they’ll sell you the powder which you mix with milk to make it at home.
Anyway, they also have some pretty righteous truffles: a delicious salted caramel chocolate (I think the dark chocolate version is better than the milk chocolate version but get both just to be sure) and «peanut butterflies» which are chocolates with peanut butter inside; get the milk chocolate version of that one.

Oh man. This place is so addicting. Charles chocolates are amazing!
I really can’t get enough of everything here but some of my favorite things are the
— Mocha Java bar: it’s got cacao nibs and espresso bean nibs so you get a nice crunch. AMAZING.
— Triple Chocolate Hazelnuts: roasted hazelnuts from Oregon w/​a blend of semi sweet and milk chocolate and cocoa powder. SO GOOD.
— Caramel Cookie: all i can say is… BEST EVER.
Next time I’m back here, I’m getting some of my favorite things plus a s’more because s’mores are the bomb diggity.

Dddeeeeelicious chocolate made on site! I like that they dont put a gooey ganache into every chocolate, i hate that. A bit on the expensive side but after 6pm its half off all pastries, you’ve been warned! The chocolate cake and cookies are amazing.

Amazing afternoon tea service!!! Very nicely made pastries and sandwiches, including chocolate chip scone, duck confit, etc. Definitely up there with craftsman and wolves’ afternoon tea.
They also gave a nice hot chocolate sample – which was the perfect size as it is quite rich.
A very nice experience overall and I would absolutely recommend! All tea guests receive 15% off retail purchases on the same day.

One of the best high tea experiences I’ve ever had EVER.
I want to go back. I want to eat those savories & sweets all over again.
The spread is so beautiful & makes for some amazing photos (as you can tell from the photos below) and YES, they taste as good as they look (if not better).
Definitely not your typical, cutesy, high tea experience. They only have outdoor patio seating and décor is very minimal. You’re literally just under an overhang, sitting on wooden benches and you’re at the mercy of mother nature.
Glad we went on a nice & sunny Saturday afternoon. No harsh SF winds and just the right temperature to be sipping tea out on the patio, munching on some delicious scones and tea sandwiches.
Honestly, their tea selection is fairly limited and I wasn’t overly impressed with the tea but the flavor and unique tastes of the food made up for the tea. In fact, mild flavor of the tea (think traditional dimsum jasmine tea & your standard PG tips black tea) perfectly balanced the food’s robust flavor.
I liked all of the food except for the sesame cookie (which was a little too salty for my taste). My favorites were definitely the salmon sandwich, the chocolate chip scone, the blueberry pound cake, & the chocolate muffin :3 Basically everything that had chocolate was a winner, duh.
Also, Chuck the owner was super nice and down to earth and came by a couple times to ask us how we were doing. He also took the time to explain which foods are recommended to be paired with the spreads. Super nice guy :)
Definitely want to go back and try their chocolate tasting tour.
Ordered tickets for afternoon tea for 2 on Eventbrite. Not sure if you can just call to make reservations. Cost around $ 40 per person with tip!

What a delightful chocolate experience! I call it ‘experience’ rather than ‘tour’, because the majority of the «tour» focused on highlighting the actually chocolate and then taste testing and really understanding the various textures and components — a great chocolate education for the chocolate aficionados out there!
It’s also an intimate experience — one that involves Chuck the Chocolatier sitting down with you at a picnic table in the courtyard, and really sharing his love and passion for chocolate-​making.
I highly recommend Charles Chocolates for a lovely chocolate experience — both for chocolate lovers and those who’d like to better understanding chocolate, the chocolate making process, and the chocolate industry overall.
The best $ 10 you can spend for an a great activity that also includes tons of chocolate (you will most definitely be chocolate wasted at the end of this!).

Came here for afternoon tea. It’s one of the best tea services I’ve had. $ 36 bucks per person (tax included). You have to buy tickets ahead of time on their website.
Every item that came were made from top notch ingredients. Samovar teas, 4505 meats, Tartine bread, etc. I just wish it came with a small fruit salad in addition to what we had.
The staff there are super nice but not exactly attentive. We had to get up and go ask for things a few times.
Great baked goods and chocolates. Would be back very soon.