Specialty chocolate shop and interesting walk through. Please come and create your own adventure.read more

I'm kind of a tasting enthusiast... I enjoy blind and nonblind tasting of everything from wine to…read morebeer to olive oil to chocolate. Came here as part of a group chocolate tasting event a friend had arranged, and I was not disappointed. As you may already know, this place is a sort of temple to the long lost art of making chocolate using pre-modern agriculture and insanely-manual-labor-intensive processing, right down to removing the bean germ by hand to remove bitterness from the final product. It works btw: even when the final product is a "100%" cacao bar, it's not bitter - just intense. Somewhat oddly, most of their chocolates then add flavorings back - for example ginger or grape moonshine. I'm not sure whether to look at this as the opposite of a purist approach to chocolate, or as a loving curation of chocolate combos that is only possible with the pure-ist of chocolates - but two of the combos are fantastically successful. Namely, the ones I already mentioned: ginger and the grape moonshine powered "Ubric" which will mesmerize you long after you taste it - and which has been the subject of article length features in at least one popular magazine. If you want a souvenir it'll be almost $40 for a few ounces. Do it anyway. And follow any preparation directions to the T, e.g. bringing the chocolate up to about 80 degrees before eating it.

Walking by, a woman was exiting the Laderach shop breaking off a bit of chocolate to eat. The power…read moreof suggestion, right? I stepped towards the entrance and a very nice staff member presented me with a piece of milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts in the bar. That's it! That's my downfall. Deliciously smooth Swiss chocolate ..yum yum! I bought some of the bars broken off from the large blocks. The one I chose has ground pistachios and flaky phyllo pieces... the Dubai chocolate! Just in time for Mother's Day (5/10/26) or Teacher Appreciation Day (5/8/26). Guess I'll have to come back tomorrow in case this Dubai chocolate doesn't make it to my Mom or the teacher at school :) chocolate is the best gift!

YUMMMM!!! Such amazing quality chocolate. Variety of standard and unique flavors. The only…read moredownside--hence the 4 star rating--the average price per pound is $80, which excludes a lot of folks from enjoying this treat....

An unassuming chocolate shop that sells the most delightful sipping chocolate in three forms: hot,…read moreiced, and milkshake. The prices for a 6 oz and 12 oz drink feel exorbitant, but it's worth it. You can also choose your cacao percentage, milk type (whole or almond), and any other add-ons. I was never a hot chocolate fan, but this place has me changing my mind! Service is also kind, and theres a cute patio with fresh flowers in pots and hanging lights. So great for sitting and chatting!

Got an iced chocolate drink and some chocolates to try. The chocolate drink was thick and high…read morequality - I found the dark chocolate too be to sweet even in the 60-70s so go higher if you prefer your drink to be less sweet.

This cute shop is located in downtown Palo Alto and has such a chic vibe. You'll find tons of…read moreartisanal baked goods and desserts, and the ambiance felt straight out of the Victorian era. Everything was beautifully presented. The workers were friendly too! Their items were a bit pricey, but worth it for the quality. Their spiral croissants were so much better than Fancy Flavors. It was flaky, buttery, and filled with delicious pistachio cream. This spot is especially great for more traditional flavors. The Anton Hokkaido Milk Crepe Cake wasn't overly sweet and the cream was light and fluffy. It was perfectly up to my standards when it comes to sweetness. I'd definitely come back again even if I'm willing to hurt my wallet because the sweets are just too hard to resist.

Beautiful desserts, very sweet, however, the service could have been better for the price tag we…read morepaid. My family and I stopped by Marvel Cake during Mother's Day for a sweet treat on Sunday. This location is in the strip of Downtown Palo Alto and has limited parking (similar to the rest of the stores there, there is a lot of parking, and you will need to get lucky). My mom does like the Marvel Cake in their first location, so we swung by here to try this one out! Location-wise, this is a smaller shop than the original one in West San Jose with limited seating inside. I would say it's not work from home friendly however, I did see a college student next to me on her laptop so maybe I am incorrect here! The interior is nice and light, matching the elegance of the desserts. We ordered three items on the menu: the pillow cake, the bisou, and the blueberry lavender roll. Here are some thoughts: * Pillowcase cake: It may seem like this would be a fluffy cake due to the nature of its shape, but it is a gelatinous Jell-O cake with fruit jam. It was not bad, and tasted refreshing and light. I didn't know if I liked it at first, but ultimately I did come back for seconds and thirds, so this is approved. * Blueberry lavender roll cake: This was not at all what we were expecting. I did not taste any lavender, nor did it have a strong blueberry flavor. I think what threw our party off was the layer of gelatin that surrounded the cake. Texturally, we were not a big fan. * Bisou: This one was our favorite one. I appreciated the nutty crust in the bottom layer of the cake, while the filling was soft and bouncy. It is very sweet, however, but overall, I really enjoyed this one and feel like it would go great with a cup of coffee. What made the experience here a 3 instead of a 4 or 5 was the service we got. We weren't greeted when we came in, which, to be fair, is totally fine, maybe they were busy. However, the person helping us stared at us the whole time and did not really communicate well with us. When I tried to order the cakes for my family, they looked bothered that we were there, and I was not sure if they understood what pastries I was ordering because they did not repeat it back to us at all or confirm anything. When I did place the order, they slowly grabbed the plates and looked visually confused, which again, if they wanted to, I could have repeated it back to them. After they gathered everything, they put it in front of us and rang me up. The whole time, they did not say a word to me at all. Did not reconfirm anything, did not acknowledge we were there, did not say thank you. It was a bit strange, and I had to check with my family if it was me or if that was a really weird experience (it wasn't me).

I've bookmarked this place from the last time I was here and I've been dying to come down!…read more Yummm best rose pistachio tres leches cake Ive ever had! I've never anything like this and it was so delicious! It wasn't heavy or overly sweet. You can definitely taste the rose and they didn't go cheap with the pistachios either! There were pistachios in each bite. The cake was moist and light/fluffy. Baklavas are to die for here!! I love all the different pastries they had. They had everything from cookies, baklavas, and cakes! It makes such a nice gift! I had them make me a box for my doctor's office which they handpicked all dozen treats. It all looks sooooo good! The staff were so nice and helpful! The guy took the time to explain the pastries and even recommended the popular pastries. They know their menu so well! You can also get a whole cakes here if you wanted! My husband like the latte here as well! Very smooth! Ambiance is nice! Pretty spacious and very nicely maintained especially being its location in middle of their downtown area! Thanks for having such awesome staff and providing amazing customer service! Wish we had this in Vegas!

I found this cafe while looking for places serving halawet el jibn which they call Sweet Cheese…read moreRolls. It's modern, light, and bright inside with professional service. Perhaps a bit on the fancier side, but it's a pleasant place to go for some coffee and a dessert. All of the desserts are beautiful and imaginative spins on classics with a middle eastern twist. Baklava Cheesecake: Such a pretty little packet. This is a bit contradictory, but the cream cheese filling is a little too sweet and dense and the outside should be a little more sweet, perhaps with syrup like on a traditional baklava. I missed that stickiness and moisture on the flaky exterior. But overall, it was fun to eat. Sweet Cheese Rolls: These were pretty good and quite creamy inside. Halawet el jibn is traditionally served with pistachio and rose syrup. These are hard to come by in the Bay and kind of expensive here, but tasty.

My grand daughter told us to check out this place after we ate at teleferic barcelona and it did…read morenot disappoint. we ordered snickerdoodle dark chocolate orea semi sweet and white macademia nuts. all were delicious, would definitely come back again. Day old batch was gone i would have love to buy more of those. Store clerk could use a little bit more smile if i may add.

I got a snickerdoodle and cookies and cream cookie. They were good but nothing extraordinary. I…read morewish we had the option of heating them up.

The almond chocolate croissant and flan were really good! :-)…read more Wasn't too into their seasonal strawberry matcha, however they had milk substitutes which is a plus. Lots of seating and it was a cute atmosphere.

Service is totally fine and staff are friendly and helpful and it is near the office…read more Unfortunately, this cafe just doesn't have affordable options. Everything is significantly overpriced. A good croissant in most other places is $6. Not here! I got a simple grab and go turkey sandwich today and it was $17. The flavors were not great and the amount of meat was literally a single slice of turkey. The focaccia was wildly oily too. Stick with their coffee and pastries when you have extra $$ to spend. I don't think I'll be returning.

Cute cafe on University Ave…read more We always go there when we visit Palo Alto. Their hot chocolate is really good. We get the Cioccolata in Tazza. It is thick and creamy (see video). Also, it is just perfectly sweet, not overwhelmingly so. We also tried their flourless almond cake - it was quite dry, brittle and tasted like toasted and ground almonds. Will return for the hot chocolate and pass the cake! There is no option for to-go (for drinks) and you pick your food at the billing desk itself. They serve with a smile.

The coffee is good. I'll say that first so nobody can wave this away as sour grapes from someone…read morewho doesn't know what an espresso should taste like. Everything else about Cafe Venecia is a problem, and it has been a problem every time I've gone, including today. The outside tables are never cleared. Crumbs, coffee rings, somebody's abandoned napkin. No one comes out. Ask an employee about it and they'll point you toward a rag you're welcome to fetch and use yourself. That's the arrangement here -- you buy the coffee, you bus the table, you wipe it down, and the staff watches you do it. Today I asked for a bowl of water for my dog. The answer was no. Not "we're slammed, give me a minute," just no. So I asked whether they could put a little water in a to-go container instead, and was told, "Well, I can't give you a to-go container because we don't do them." Sit with that one. They don't do to-go containers, which means everything in the place comes in real dishware, which means the building is full of cups and bowls. They had exactly what I was asking for. They simply weren't going to hand one over, and they made sure I understood that by the tone. So: a café on University Avenue, with sidewalk seating, in a town where half the foot traffic is people walking dogs, has decided that tap water is outside its operating capabilities, and table cleaning is outside its operating capabilities, while charging Palo Alto prices is somehow well within them. There are a dozen places within three blocks that manage the coffee and the manners at the same time. Go to one of those. One star, and the star is for the beans.