Chocolate Perks

I stopped in after their grand opening and name change for a ham, egg and cheese biscuit and a hazelnut latte. The biscuit was large and delicious. The latte however was disappointing. It was scalding hot and bitter. Even after adding sweetener I could not really taste the hazelnut at all. This wouldn’t be a big deal, except the place states it is a coffee house. I would have added a half star to make this a three, but the people didn’t pay careful enough attention and gave us paper cups instead of the mugs we indicated. Thus, I so relegate this location to the land of two stars.
Becausei try to be fair, I will try this place one more time. Maybe we’ll go for those bonus points and get a four star… just try and contain your excitement until then.

I stopped by here a couple of Saturdays ago for a coffee with my girlfriend while we had some time to kill before heading to our dinner reservations. We actually missed this place the first time that we walked down the main street since there was not much of a sign outside. However as we were walking back to our car we saw it and decided to stop. The inside of this place is actually much more spacious than I would have guessed from the outside with the usual coffee shop décor of tables and area with couches and books. Since I was feeling a little tired but it was also hot outside I decided to get an iced Americano which I had never had before. While the barista was making my drink he started talking to us about the restaurant explaining that it was going through a name change and also that they were changing pretty much everything about the place. I am guessing that was the cause for the lack of a sign but did not ask. He also mentioned that if we were around later that night that they would be having some live music as well. Whenever I received the coffee I was extremely disappointed by the taste as it was extremely bitter, much more so than any other americano I have ever had. I still drank it but I wondered if that had to do with me getting iced instead of hot as usual.
The bottom line for me is that I would probably stop by this place again to give it another chance. While I actively did not like my coffee, I thought that the worker was nice and also liked the space as well as the idea of live music.

What a cute little place in a great location of Duluth. Chocolate Perks is across from the Duluth Town Green. I’d imagine a really nice place to sit outside or walk around with your coffee.
The inside is cute. typical. Feels creative, energizing and relaxing atmosphere at the same time. The music was good. The dudes behind the counter were young-​ish but not kids. I had a regular, plain ol’ coffee. Nothing fancy, but it was good coffee.
The tables are a little cramped along the window. It felt a little more like a lunch time squeeze with someone else’s chair butted up to the back of mine.
When I left, they yelled goodbye. Really this place is A-​OK just for average-​ness — so, maybe a 3.5 — but the location is so cool, I’m bumpin’ em up!

Yesterday was my first visit to CP. I’ve been in the area a lot lately and was having a hard time finding a good non chain coffee shop. So, I did the obvious and checked out Unilocal for positive reviews and came across CP.
It is located in downtown Duluth in a nice shopping strip across the street from a park. When I entered it was a lot to take in, but in a good way. The cases were filled with scones, cheesecake, truffles and ice cream. The furniture consisted of several two top, three top and four top dark wood tables/​chairs. There were also a few couches that I noticed a few people had taken advantage of. I chose a two top by a window.
Sam (the barista) was very polite and made a great cappuccino topped off with a rosetta. I ended up staying a couple of hours getting work done and thoroughly enjoying my cappuccino.
After checking in on Foursquare I noticed a check in special for those checking in between 7am — 10 am, buy one latte get one free. I’m not a morning person but that deal inspsired me to get there at 8:30 today to check out the deal. I also ordered the breakfast egg and cheese on sourdough. Both were great items and I left a happy customer. They also have a nice lunch menu with several options.

Very disappointing. Chocolate has no real flavor or depth. Almost akin to Hersheys (gasp).

Great place to hang out and enjoy a beautiful day. They have great coffee and drinks at reasonable prices. The food which is mainly a lot of wraps and salads are all tasty, but a little on the pricey side. I always enjoy this place!

I absolutely love Chocolate Perks. The atmosphere is very relaxed imagine low lighting, comfy couches, delicious food and really good coffee all nestled into this quiet little coffee house. It has a very small town feel after visiting a few times I was treated like family. The staff recognizes me and make a point to greet me warmly when I come in and always remember my order. I wish I worked closer to this place but on the days I do get to go in I treat myself to a Caesar salad with chicken (a must try if you enjoy salads) the romaine lettuce is fresh and crisp and they have a to die for Caesar and tasty croutons! I usually pair this with the iced chai tea latte which is the perfect drink for these hot summer days. They actually have a very large food menu and they also serve wine and beer if you’re in the mood for that. They have wine and dessert tastings as well I think those are held on Thursday Nights (check the website before you head out just in case :) They also have live music some nights as well which is really nice. If you’re in the area definitely check out this adorable petite coffee house.

Came here with a friend to enjoy the weather 2 weeks ago at Duluth City Park.
Unfortunately they are 2 – 3 stars at best. They are quite cute café, but they definitely don’t cater toward tea drinkers. two teas I chose out of their limited selection were all out and I had to settle with tea that I didn’t really care for. Also, maybe it’s be just used to walking into little cafes that serve loose leaf teas, but they used bag tea. Why so expensive then? How disappointing.
I also had their chocolate chip chunk cookie. They heat it up for me and it was nice, but it was a little too sugary for me. Also, I don’t mind chocolate, but their chocolate chunks were soo clumped together certain parts were nothing but chocolate instead of the mixture of chocolate and cookie dough in each bite.
My friend had a milkshake. You get to choose the icecream to make a milkshake with. She was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t thick enough.
Eh, overall, it’s A-​Ok. I think I like them a little more than 2 stars because of location. Food and drinks were meh, but can’t vouch for coffee. Think it’s nice to sit there and enjoy the breeze and warm sunlight on your face.

Loved this spot, the Friday night music was great and the local artisans added to the experience. Good was great.

I met friends here for lunch while visiting over Christmas. I was super excited to try a new café in Downtown Duluth, but I was quite disappointed and do not plan to come back on future visits due to low quality and high prices. I ordered the hummus italia (with a cheese substitution that never materialized), which is supposed to come on grilled sourdough. I’m pretty sure they use «grilled» white bread, because there wasn’t even a hint of sourdough flavor. After ordering my sandwich, the girl behind the register asked if I wanted chips or a salad as though it came with the sandwich. I asked for a salad, but had no idea it would be $ 2.50 worth of flavorless iceberg and cheese! On the plus side, the hot tea I ordered was decent.

Absolutely love this place. Met a friend here for coffee today. I had coffee & a white chocolate chip & macadamia nut coffee while my friend had some kind of panini. The coffee was great and my friend appeared to enjoy her sandwich. The staff are friendly and never rushed us (we were in there for three hours!) and answered any questions we had.
They have two comfy couches and a selection of tables and chairs inside — they also have outside seating.
They also sell cakes, pastries, ice cream and have a case of some gorgeous looking chocolate as well as having a food menu (mostly sandwiches, soups and such). Oh, they also have a beer and wine list and free Wi-​Fi!
I’ll be back here soon with the girls!

I love the idea and the setting, however, the service we received today was abysmal! My son and I waited 40 minutes for our food (for a PB & J for him and a cold chicken salad sandwich for me)…and a couple of the staff and patrons had the nerve to give my son the «stink eye» when he got a bit fussy after the first 30 minutes, during which he played nicely at our table. The reason they gave us for the slow service was that they had too many pre-​placed to-​go orders. This is not acceptable to me. If you don’t have the manpower to take call-​ahead orders, then don’t take ‘em!
I’d love to try this place again because my sandwich was tasty, however, I will never go again during a typical mealtime… perhaps I’ll just pop in at an odd time for a coffee drink and dessert. Again, this is a shame since it’s a great location and would make a great lunch stop for my son and I.

I need to come to downtown Duluth more often because this place was great! My mom and I stumbled across this place while checking out the Barefoot in the Park art festival. I had a Coke Float and my mom had a Frappé. I will definitely be going back to check out some of the food items on the menu that looked delicious!

Great food, drink, service, and entertainment. Make sure you try the Frozen Diesel (my recipe), which is a frozen hot chocolate with a couple of shots of espresso. Or have four shots and make it a Quad Frozen Diesel.

I give Chocolate Perks props for the cozy atmosphere. For me, a good coffee-​shop (especially in this kind of area) should serve two functions. Firstly the foodstuffs obviously should be good, but moreover it should provide a nice space for people to hang out. Coffee Perks clearly has this in mind. The result is a nice, warmly decorated space with cozy couches, board games, a piano… just a pleasant neighborhood joint that understands that sometimes people want to linger over their food, that a cup of coffee in certain contexts serves fundamentally as an accessory to good conversation.
Prices are a little bit high. I had a frozen hot chocolate, which was good and more or less on par with Starbucks prices for frappucinos. Overall, not bad. I wouldn’t come here for a meal, but it’s definitely a viable option, especially for local students.

Man, downtown Duluth has changed a ton since I grew up here. This place is super cute with its stained glass windows and comfy couches, and it’s nice to know I can get good local coffee nearby when I come to visit family. Yeah, the coffee here is quality stuff. Their flavored drinks run on the sweeter side (which I really liked), so stick with the non-​flavored options if you don’t have a sweet tooth.

This place serves GREAT coffee in a comfy café environment.
The desserts are the absolutely amazing. Some of them are a little expensive for a dessert, but because they are so good, they are ALWAYS worth sharing, which makes them much more affordable!
The «ooey-​goey» cupcakes are the best cupcakes I have had in years! They have several different truffles that are worth going back for as well.
I will say that at times the service can be a little slow, but since they are BRAND new, I can forgive them for that. I found the prices to be quite reasonable when compared to similar places. They are a serious savings (and much better) than the Starbuck’s nearby.
The soups are delicious and always fresh. I haven’t had a panini yet, but they look great, and smell delectable!

I really, really want to love this place. First of all, the place is beautiful. It is a cozy, elegant coffee house with tables on one side and a living room complete with a piano on the other. But today’s visit was painfully slow with my grilled cheese sandwich and cup of soup taking 20 minutes to prepare. Sandwiches are supposed to be fast food (literally).
Food-​wise, I was a bit disappointed — the sandwiches are normal deli sandwiches except that they are very expensive. My grilled cheese sandwich — with 2 slices of turkey deli meat, 2 slices of regular cheese, and 2 thin slices of tomatoes — was a ghastly $ 6 and I’m not talking about thick slices of house-​made bread; just your regular grocery-​store white bread. I mean, I can understand if they actually cooked what’s in the sandwich. But no, the filling came from a grocery! The small cup of soup was $ 4 although it was really tasty. But what was really disappointing was the canned sodas that were going for $ 1.75 each! Highway robbery!
They also had these mini-​cupcakes (maybe a third of a regular sized cupcake) that were $ 2.00 each that, to me, were also overpriced.
I think they must have mistaken Duluth for Downtown or Buckhead. And even at that, people nowadays are so food-​savvy that a tiny $ 6 deli sandwich made with grocery deli meat and grocery bread isn’t a good value. In any case, unless there are highly paid diners in downtown Duluth (last I checked, the only possible business they’re going to get are from the local police department and the hospital a couple of miles down the road), I don’t expect them to be in the sandwich business for very long.
Edited to add:
I came back a second time and had the Panini with Black Forest ham. It was a nice-​sized sandwich which was perfectly grilled. The bread was buttery and nicely toasted and the ham was substantial in quantity. This sandwich clearly justifies the $ 6 price tag. This can clearly be their signature sandwich.