This cheerful little shop boasts a few high-top tables and pop music playing overhead. A glass case displays around two-dozen flavors of chocolates from which you can create an “artist’s collection” of 6, 15, or 35 chocolates. They also offer prepackaged assortments as well as other sweet treats.
How the Chocolates Looked
The hand-painted chocolates are almost too pretty to eat, and the chic packaging makes it instantly giftable.
How the Chocolates Tasted
Delicious. The chocolate was creamy and smooth and the flavors subtle. Despite some initial skepticism over descriptions like lavender apricot and truffle honey, even our most traditional tasters had to admit these were top-notch.
Price
$16.24 for 6
Pros
A modern box of chocolates that’s beautiful inside and out.
Cons
At around $2.70 per bonbon (including tax), these add up quickly.
See’s Candies
The Shop
This grab-and-go shop is located on the second floor of NorthPark Center near the food court. While perusing the selection of gift boxes, a sales girl shoved a sample into our tester’s hands. She chose an assorted silver box filled with half a pound’s worth of chocolates inside, but you can opt to put your own box together if you prefer.
How the Chocolates Looked
No décor, fancy shapes, or bells and whistles of any kind here—just straightforward squares, domes, and rectangles of varying shades of brown.
How the Chocolates Tasted
An even split between milk and dark chocolate, with no identification of flavors. The fillings are traditional—heavy on caramel, nuts, and coconut. The chocolate was thick and the fillings dense and chewy, bordering on tough.
Price
$11.91 for a half-pound (about 13 pieces)
Pros
Simple, straightforward chocolate at a cheap price point. The variety of prepackaged boxes makes it easy to get something quick. Cons
Lackluster look and flavor.
Chocolate Secrets
The Shop
This cozy café offers nearly every type of sugary treat and invites you to stay awhile with ample seating and evening entertainment. Around two-dozen flavors of bonbons and just as many varieties of truffles are on display, from which you can assemble a box of nearly any quantity or choose from pre-selected assortments.
How the Chocolates Looked
The hand-painted bonbons rivaled Kate Weiser in beauty and came in a fun variety of shapes, including a pair of raspberry-red lips.
How the Chocolates Tasted
There was a nice variety of chocolate types and filling flavors, though some had a grainy consistency. Overall, the flavors were nice but—as we weren’t given any kind of identification guide—a bit mysterious.
Price
$28.15 for 9
Pros
The bonbons are undeniably pretty and taste nice, too. Plus the romantic setting of the shop makes for a great date.
Cons
With tax, these bonbons came out to more than $3 each, making them the most expensive of the ones we tried.
Dude, Sweet Chocolate
The Shop
This hip Bishop Arts take on a chocolate shop is packed with unusual ways to get your chocolate fix, from chocolate-covered granola to cocoa-infused olive oil. Though the selection here screams more “friend-zone” than “be mine,” the kind employee directed us to one box of assorted chocolates that fit the bill.
How the Chocolates Looked
A dozen small chocolate cubes, each bearing a different color on top to correspond with a matching flavor guide, inside a craft-colored box.
How the Chocolates Tasted
These are some seriously unusual flavors—shroom, beet, carrot, and rhubarb among them. If you’ve got a bold palette, this is your place. Fortunately for the less adventurous, the dark-chocolate shells overpowered most of the filling flavor.
Price
$23.82 for 12
Pros
Good for foodies who want something outside the box. The masculine flavors and packaging make this a “dude”-approved choice.
Cons
If you’re trying to set the mood this Valentine’s Day, a fennel-flavored treat might not do the trick.
CocoAndre Chocolatier
The Shop
The shelves in this family-owned Oak Cliff shop are filled primarily with chocolate molds in a variety of shapes. The friendly employee offered a few samples to our tester, who chose one of several sizes of pre-assorted boxes of truffles. There didn’t seem to be an option to create your own box, but they do offer custom molds.
How the Chocolates Looked
Our assortment contained mostly round chocolates, with some bearing a decorative drizzle or dusting. Pretty without being precious.
How the Chocolates Tasted
Most of the truffles we tried had intense fruity flavors or liqueur inside. Even for someone who likes lemon desserts, the lemon chiffon was extremely tart. If given a choice in flavor, we might’ve chosen differently.
Price
$19.48 for 9
Pros
The store has a wide variety of gift-ready goods. The chocolate molds are especially unique.
Cons
The flavors weren’t our favorite.
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