May 2024/Santa Monica: I enjoy shopping and looking around It'Sugar, as it's such a fun store! It's…read morebright, cheerful, has unique candy, as well as international candy, which I love! One of a Kind: Larger than life candy, which make fun gifts! Coffee mugs w/hilarious sayings, some chocolates with liquor inside, retro candy, cute plushies, Hello Kitty cup of noodles... So much to see! It's always a fun surprise to discover something new whenever I visit, which is whenever I'm on 3rd Street Promenade shopping! Favorites: Unique flavors of KitKat bars, Barbie drink, chocolate bar mixed with potato chips, boba drinks, Bailey's chocolates...& so much more! Customer Service: I'm always greeted right away! Friendly service! Recently, I had a question about an item, and though It'Sugar did not carry it, the nice girl told me what store did carry what I was looking for! So sweet! Overall: Fun store that I always enjoy going into and shopping! I love it!

If you have a sweet tooth? this store can satisfy your craving. This store has all kind of sweets…read more Peanut brittle, licorice, necklace candy nerds and chocolate. This store has something for everyone. So many items to select from. You can purchase by the weight or prepackaged items.

The selection of goods are stale and overpriced, it is more efficient as a show room than somewhere…read morepractical to shop for party decoration needs. Not to mention the terrible, snarky customer service by a rude associate who repeatedly identified the place as HER "store." Considering I was the only other person in the store, I would think service may have been more customer friendly and helpful. Wouldn't recommend based on price, selection, or customer service. All thumbs down.

This place is the worst candy shop ever. It is CVS bought candy placed in a fancy box. You don't…read moreeven get the whole bag of candy. For example, I saw a box of happy cola bears that were "imported from Italy". The price of this box made me and my credit card cry. The price of it was so bad that it equaled my weight. When I tried to look at it, my eyes turned into to one of their chocolate eye candies that cost $100. I even thought Rick Astely was going to come out and sing Never gonna give you up. Then I realized, he didn't . I didn't buy any candy because the prices were higher than Snoop Dog in his house.

I found this amazing toffee company during the chocolate festival this weekend in San Francisco. I…read moregot hooked. Great quality and plenty of flavors!

I tried them at San Jose Made fair. I tried 3 flavors and decided to buy the Pistachio butter…read morecrunch. All flavors were amazing. But Rachel just said it was premium and charged me a dollar extra than what it is on their website. 3 stars for that reason.

I passed this Rocket Fizz location in the Westwood Village so many times. I might have checked it…read moreout before? Maybe! This time around we stopped by to get some candies for a gift and my husband was craving a particular Black Cherry soda, getting nostalgic for it. They didn't have it, although their soda selection is huge. We got the candies - as you can imagine they have a great selection for a gag gift. Prices are a tad high, fun shop, they sell some toys as well. You could spend a while just browsing! Good shopping experience!

We stopped into Rocket Fizz to get some old-time candy. The store is like a Disneyland for adults!…read moreThere are tons of candy and novelty candies lining the shelves among other knickknacks and soft drinks made by Rocket Fizz. Some of the soft drinks have very interesting flavors and some are just normal soft drinks. Some are made with real cane sugra which taste super sweet to me, but plenty of people were buying them. Prices tend to be high, but the experience of seeing childhood favorites like Abba-Zaba is worth it.

I got a box of about 24 assorted chocolates, and almost all of them were amazing (except the…read morecaramel ones,they are too sweet). The chocolates were not bitter at all,it had a rich, nutty flavor and, best of all, no overly sweet aftertaste that makes you want to reach for water. The shop itself has a fantastic selection of chocolates,probably every kind you can think of--and the staff are really friendly. I was asked a couple of times if I needed help finding something, and they even gave me a free sample, which was delicious!

Excellent service! The ladies were kind and professional. I definitely will be returning.read more

The best. The best I've had to date. Or in the words of Drake "the best I ever had" on repeat…read more Here, that refrain is warranted. I used to be a diligent frequenter of Tobi Tobin in Malibu for their chocolate. I never knew it was simply John Kelly marked up!! My goodness. That was a shock and relief all at once. I was so grateful to find my beloved chocolate AGAIN after TT closed but was shocked I was buying from a secondary distributor who did not disclose. Mind blown. Regardless, so grateful for this super decadent chocolatier on Montana. I love it so much I stopped in on a work trip when back in LA to gather my faves and my husband collected me some upon his recent trip back. I had a delightful chocolate bunny for Easter. Goodness it's just the best. I love the chocolate walnut and the marzipan I tried recently was a new introduction and a delight. Their chocolate embodies the joy of life. Each bit is pure pleasure! Have sent it as a gift and plan to get more as a gift on a future trip. Their chocolate does not disappoint. I adore!

They have vegan chocolates So far I've just tried the…read moreespresso vegan chocolate & I can't wait to share with my kiddo.

I walked into the Lucky Penny and told the gal working there, "I want to move into this store" I…read morelove this shop!! Every sweet gift, super cute sweaters and the nicest gal running the shop. I can't wait to take a class or two here! It's all about the community here, and bringing people together. I love this Lucky Penny!

This very cute store, just off of the Third Street Promenade, is absolutely the kind of gift shop…read moreto find the perfect present for that special someone. While there are certainly the staples of gift shops here: cards, jewelry, small ceramics and the like, this place is extremely well-curated. And also has some unique features. For example, you can get a custom charm-bracelet made in store. I really enjoyed looking at the assortment of housewares and trinkets. And this was the place that I found the absolutely perfect card for Mother's Day. Prices here were very reasonable and the staff was both friendly and helpful. While I don't live in Santa Monica, the next time I'm there I will most likely swing by.

Whenever I have a chance to come to Santa Monica, I tried to visit cookie good my favorite cookie…read moreis the one that has pretzels toffee chocolate chips in them. It is best that you comes early to get your selection since they run out of the favorites Services quick it's a small shop so I can't see much for the ambience since there's no place to dine in. They started off as a small business, selling their cookies at other businesses before getting a brick and mortar location of their own fantastic cookies a bit pricey but still very delicious.

My friend was very nice and went out of her way to get my kids these interesting cookies and…read morepopcorn. We came back to Chelsea for dinner and it was walkable to Cookie Good. It was started by Ross and Melanie Canter, a couple who was passionate about baking. I quite like the origin story, Ross is a writer who found the most joy baking cookies when he had writer's block and I'm glad they decided to open this brick and mortar. Cheetos Cookie: I told my friend to not order this, not because it sounded weird, that's normally the kind of stuff I like to try, but because we were already full and I didn't want her doordashing cookies and wasting her money. Luckily she ignored me and we were able to try these cookies. You get a little bit of Cheeto flavor along with sweet and it was not as odd tasting as it sounds, not sure if I would repeat though. Cheetos Popcorn: Same combo of salty, cheesy, and sweet. My kids loved this and we finished it easily.

On our way out of the Westfield Century City Mall, I couldn't help myself, but to take a peek…read moreinside K. Minamoto store. My eldest daughter didn't want me to, but when I want to do something, I do it. Time is now LOL. Shop was very clean and organized with so many Japanese sweets and treats displayed in elegance and pose. Super high end brand! I didn't want to leave without buying something. I know I can't help myself to buy. Lady staff behind the counter was super nice and friendly. I asked for her recommendations. She gave me a few. Thank you Miss! I love sakura so I got one Sakura Mochi and one Sakura Jelly. Saw Chocolate Mikasa and said why not. Three small treats cost me over $16. We gotta splurge sometimes. It was that time. Sakura Mochi had a red bean paste in it. I didn't care for it much for some reason. Don't get me wrong. I love red bean, but this one didn't resonate with me. As for the Sakura Jelly, this one was much better... quite refreshing in flavor and taste. The gelatin texture was nice, too. The Chocolate Mikasa was a bit dry. I didn't care for it either. One good out of three is not great IMHO. Hence, 3 stars! I don't know if I would return here. Maybe if they gave out free samples of their best sellers, I may give them another shot for me to entertain their other delectable sweets and treats. Good luck K. Minamoto!

K Minamoto is located within the Century City Mall. It has assortments of boxed and ready to be…read moregifted Japanese sweets. They are meant to be brought over to people's homes or just have one on standby for tea time. Every items are individually wrapped to ensure freshness and given out in small quantities without the items going stale. With that being said, I couldn't find what I was looking for. A plain old castella cake without extras. Something rather austere and classic. My mom's favorite. Not mine! Perhaps the next time I am swinging by, I will try out their other items for gifts.

I love this Japanese market!! I've been coming here from 2023 nonstop, my favorite from this market…read moreis the spicy tuna hand-roll with seaweed wrap, the salmon sushi and eel sushi platters. Whenever my mom and I want some Japanese food like Soba or something else then we would come here since we live close to Sawtelle, like 10 to 15 minutes away (; The meats are so fresh, soft and tender too, I am picky about the beef texture fyi The packaged foods are perfect for hassle-less meals whenever you don't want to cook in the extreme heat but it's a life saver lol Some of the cashiers are nice, as well because they ask if you want any utensils like chopsticks and napkins. Big brownie bonus points for the well functioning air conditioner inside; battling the summer heat because it's been soooooo hot, omg We will be back soon!!

Nijiya is a Japanese supermarket on Sawtelle - a much fitting and much needed spot. Parking might…read morebe tough in this small plaza, but if you're already in Sawtelle, then this is an easy place to stop by for groceries. The produce here is always very nice and fresh, though the prices will reflect that quality, too. If you come late at night, there are also some discounted bentos and bites. I had one of their fruit tarts, and it was fairly watery and mushy on the bottom, so I unfortunately can't recommend that one. Outside of groceries, it's also a good local market for common Japanese products (eg shampoo, cosmetics, kitchenware). It definitely sports those narrow aisles, though, so be prepared to maneuver around both for parking and for shopping... but hey, that's part of the experience!