Looks can be deceiving. At first glance one might think that Fran's is a snotty chocolate boutique because of it's minimalistic look. Once you venture inside, I think all types of chocolate lovers will be pleasantly surprised. The simplicity of the place keeps it classy and cozy. The staff is extremely friendly. And when it comes to the chocolate (and really, it's all about the chocolate) Fran's can't be beat. Grey salt caramels melt in your mouth, and the double chocolate fig is too good for words. You must try this place! read more

Chocolates here are very intense, smooth and pure. Even in milk chocolates, the original chocolate flavor is not overwhelmed by milk. That being said, they are still smooth and not bitter at all. Very good for those who like pure chocolate flavor. read more

At 6:15am each day, Jesus comes down from Heaven, waves his hand over the lines of dark chocolate truffles at Fran's shop, grabs a sample box, and levitates back to his throne. read more

Stopped in here after a visit to the art museum across the street. I wanted to get some treats for my friend who loves chocolate. I could not believe how REALLY super-tiny the pieces were for the prices they charge. I got four itty-bitty tiny things, barely bigger than a dice and it cost me over $9! We are talking about 1.5" x 3" of chocolate for over $9! Ridiculous. I overheard a customer getting a AA discount so I asked if it was a AAA discount. Oh my, did I get a snotty attitude: "We do a million dollars a year with Japanese Airline AA, so they get a discount; not you". Fact is, I know plenty about fine chocolate and for my money the other local firms do a much better job: Dilettante & Theo produce fine foods without the 'tude. I think it's pretty much a touristy trap or for people who need to spend a LOT of money on fluff packaging to impress someone. read more

I went in to check out Fran's since it's so close to work and I love chocolate. I was not disappointed. The store is clean and spacious, and they have a number of gift box options sure to please everyone. I took home two small boxes of sea salt caramels for gifts, which were warmly received by my visiting family. read more

I stopped in to buy a box of chocolates for my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. Jeremy was so knowledgeable and helped me with a delicious assortment of salted caramels, almond clusters, and macadamia caramel chocolates to pair with different beers (a chocolate/beer pairing was the reason I stopped in, in the first place). He even gave me a sample of the macadamia caramel chocolate which was absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend that anyone who stops by Frans asks for Jeremy's help (although the rest of the staff was equally as helpful). I will definitely be back!! Thanks again! read more

I would say don't buy here. you can only buy 1 0r 2 of the truffles or caramels which are way over priced, if you want to try anything with fruit you have to spend about fifty dollars, not only do you have to spend extra to just try it but its not worth yor hard earned money. read more

My husband and I stumbled upon this place after parking and heading to Pike's Market. We stopped and studied the chocolate, getting a free sample (Easter weekend). We decided to try a few of the chocolates. A little pricey for individual pieces, but totally worth it. We got a raspberry chocolate, orange chocolate, bourbon chocolate, and a oolong tea chocolate. The flavors are quite rich and very surprising. Best chocolate that I've had in a long time. read more

I live in DC but come to Seattle on business fairly often. I finally wandered into this little gem today and was warmly greeted by Sarah ? who not only gave me a sample but offered tips on chocolate tasting/savoring, etc. as well as good info on how Fran's chocolates are sourced and made-which is important to me. The staff was fantastic-and I will definitely be back. Thank you for an excellent experience in chocolate land. And those dark chocolate salted caramels are the best . read more

Food stop 3 Seattle. Fran is an innovator. She created salted caramels way, way, way before anyone else even dreamed about it. Her smoked sea salt and grey salt caramels are still my Fran faves. This store is a testament to her artistry. Be sure check out the chocolate portrait done by a local artist to the right of the front door. The image pops out as you walk away from it. read more

Delicious chocolates - try the fig chocolate and thesalted caramel! Great seevice too! The employee saw that we were from out of town and asked if we were going to be in sunlight for the next few hours . Upon hearing yes he went and got us an ice bag! Very happy at theexcellent service! read more

Small but very good and pricey you can certainly find a treat to delight and the staff is pleasant and helpful so I would go back and recommend Fran's to you if your looking to eat something chocolate read more

Seriously...I LOVE this place! Everytime I go in the service is amazing. The staff always has smiles on their faces and greets me with a warm welcome. They also walk around asking if I need help and offering me to try samples of chocolates. They have an amazing knowledge of what chocolates go with what and how to pair them with certain foods/wines. The salted caramels are the absolute best I have ever had in my life. I also really love the chocolate covered apricots. I go here for when i need a small gift or even when hosting an event. The chocolates are hands down the best I have ever had!!! read more

Fran's has been my favorite for years. Now with the new chef it seems that inferior ingredients are making their way into the recipes, including allergens such as tapioca. Very sorry to see this! If you have allergies, double-check the ingredients because they've probably changed since the last time you looked. read more

Stopped by Fran's chocolates this afternoon to buy a couple of boxes of chocolates as gifts and there was only one person serving at the counter! Waited almost ten minutes for her to finish serving the customer before me and she then went on to serve some other people at the cash register who had arrived after me despite having told me twice that she would be with me soon. So I left without buying anything! Their loss! Terrible service for a company that sells a product that is supposed to make people happy! Z. read more

I mean it's expensive, you know that going in BUT it was delicious. Would I normally pay $2 for an undersized caramel chocolate? No... But once? Yes. And I'll buy a box as a gift for $30 which I think is reasonable read more

It was ok. I typically prefer chocolates with nuggets. But the GF seemed to like it alot.

When you take one sip of your drinking chocolate and begin desperately searching around for a tip jar to to throw all of your money into, you can be sure the product you are enjoying is of the upmost quality. Sadly, Fran's employees do not take tips, and so thusly I am writing this yelp review to express my gratitude and joy. If Fran's employees did take tips, they would be making multitudes more than Seattle's $15 minimum wage because everyone who entered the shop would be throwing money at them. At the door you are greeted by an employee caring a tray of chocolates that they invite you to try, and from there you can order a hot drink, any of a barrage of exquisite chocolates, or buy a bottle of champagne or port that compliments the many chocolates available. Frans employees are overwhelming kind and ready to help, and every experience I have here continues to get better as time goes on. The Obama's and myself sure have good taste in chocolate. read more

i love their chocolate.. seriously.. they are a bit pricy.. but damn.. their dark chocolate is ridiculously good.. my wife and i also got a chocolate stuffed fig.. and that was probably one of the better things i put in my mouth during our trip to seattle.. btw.. you can't go wrong with their salted caramels read more

delicious classy (and hence expensive) chocolates. i bought some of the salted caramels as a souvenir/gift for my sister (which i conveniently shared with her) and wow.. super smooth chocolate with awesome sweet/salty combination of flavors. i didn't buy the individual truffles but it looked so fun watching others create their own custom box of chocolates. unfortunately.. i still feel silly paying so much for such tiny but yummy chocolates. read more

very good salted caramel. it's the gold standard compared to many others I've tried. it's not too sweet with the perfecta amount of chew and salt. perfect little piece of heaven for after dinner or with coffee/tea read more

Love the caramels, but they're SOOOOO expensive. A small box of 24 is $25. Good thing I don't live in the state, otherwise I'd be very tempted to come here every week and I'd be an extra 10 lbs fatter. read more

What a fun place. It looks like you're entering a jewelry store, but it's a chocolate candy boutique. Way better than jewelry in my book. There are friendly people offering up their yummy products too. It's a bit expensive, but oh so good. read more

Tasty and super reasonable quality chocolate treats located in the lobby area of the Four Seasons Hotel. I highly recommend the smoky salted caramel and the single shot whiskey truffle. Smooth and silky caramel. read more

I have loved the salted caramels for a long time. A couple years ago, I spent about $100 in the store to be able to sample just about everything. I remember thinking that the truffles-n-such, while beautiful, weren't worth the price. Was just in the Seattle area again this past week and decided to give them another try. This time I went gaga over the beautiful bows on the boxes and bought several as gifts, and one for myself, spending close to $200. After sampling a few pieces, I came to the same conclusion: overall, not impressed. For one, the chocolates are so small it's difficult to make one last for two bites. To me, that's part of the pleasure of eating fine chocolates: taking a small bite, looking at the texture/color of the interior of the remaining morsel, letting what's in my mouth melt and flood the taste buds... One almost feels silly taking a tiny half bite of one of these. The second and most important factor influencing my rating is the price per ounce. I was in Paris a few months ago, where one can indulge in LOTS of fine chocolates. This trip, I particularly indulged in La Maison du Chocolat. Out of curiosity, after tasting my Fran's today, I decided to compare prices. Fran's are $1 MORE expensive per ounce than La Maison du Chocolat! Packaging: Beautiful Service: Friendly Choice/Options Available: lacking a bit Quality: Definitely there Looks: lovely chocolates (on par with the world's finest) Taste: good, to quite good...but Price: too high Still love the salted caramels, but I won't spend money on the truffles again. There are too many other options out there! read more

Kept seeing these chocolates everywhere so decided to try them out myself. My cousin and I went to the store at Four Seasons, and they gave us a sample of the salted chocolate caramel. It was so good. Texture was great, nice and smooth, soft caramel. The salt makes it extra tasty. We ended up buying 2 boxes each of the chocolates. I will definitely be making another trip here next time I'm in town. read more

An elderly lady introduced me to Fran's. We'd drive to the U District and she'd buy $300 worth of chocolate. I use the downtown store. I love the location, courteous service and pretty wrapped boxes of truffles or gray salted caramels. I also have a penchant for the oolong tea truffle. read more

Ridiculously good chocolate! Saw these guys on Unique Sweets and happened to be staying at the Four Seasons above it. It did not disappoint! The gray salt caramel (dark chocolate covered caramel with sea salt on top) may be the best chocolate treat I've ever had. Not cheap but after all they are the chocolatier to the White House (seriously)! read more

Their oolong tea truffle does not taste like tea nor does their whiskey ganache truffles taste like whiskey. This being said they made the best damn mocha I have ever had. I give it 3 stars, even though they have good chocolate, because they use corn syrup in their sauces and caramels. The truffles are reasonably prices ($1.50 each) but the rest of their confections are on the expensive side - even for artisan chocolate. read more

Let me preface this review with the fact that I am a life-long chocoholic. While visiting Seattle a dear friend had me try a Fran's salted caramel and I fell in love, so I insisted that she take me there to get some to take home. While there I picked up some of their truffles, expecting the quality to stand up to the salted caramels. Alas I was disappointed. First, the selection of truffle favors was sadly limited. I decided to go for the dark chocolate oolong tea, espresso, and single malt scotch truffles. The best of the three was by far the espresso. It had a strong espresso flavor and a strong chocolate flavor whciich fought for dominance in the best possible way. The single malt was also good, albeit more subtle. But the oolong (I'm also a big tea fanatic) was overpowered by the chocolate. Perhaps the milk chocolate variety would be better for this particular truffle. To be honest, I miss Rose's Chocolates in Pike Place for their flavor varieties. In summary: buy the salted caramels, they are truly unparralleled, and try the espresso truffle, but don't bother with the dark oolong. read more

Not the best I've ever had, and little in the way of creativity, but really solid.

The top chocolatier in Seattle. The chocolate-covered ginger is the best I've ever had: the candied ginger is moist, spicy-hot, covered with an incredible dark chocolate. The double chocolate stuffed figs are an incredibly luxurious treat and always a favorite with house guests, or for house gifts. read more