Candy Darling

The candy is delicious. The women are sweet. The prices are good. The service unfortunately, was a bitter pill to swallow.
Initially, the woman I was working with was very kind. I placed an order of 60 chocolates to be picked up the day before our wedding, FOR our wedding reception. This was agreed upon over a week prior to the date I needed them by.
On the night before I was to pick them up (36 hours before my wedding) I get a call from that woman’s sister, who very matter-​of-​factly and with very little apology) stated that they would not be fulfilling my order due to the fact that an unforseen event had occurred on SUNDAY (like 4 days before I heard from them about it).
Look, I know stuff happens. I support small, local businesses. I PREFER them. If something happens on Sunday, and it jeopardizes my WEDDING ORDER, tell me 4 or 5 days in advance and I will make alternate arrangements and not hold any ill-​will. (Especially if you sound genuinely sorry about it.)
But don’t call me right before my wedding and tell me you have known for 4 days you couldn’t fulfill my order, and not even sound all that sorry about it.
They get 2 stars because their candy is good and their prices are good. I cannot recommend you placing any kind of ORDER with them. Only good as far as what you can walk out of the store with when you’re there.

Walking to Millennium for their annual Heirloom Tomato Dinner & saw Candy Darling… the lure of sugary deliciousness drew me in & I couldn’t resist
Sea Salt Caramel — it’s all that! Huge slab of soft yet chewy caramel w/​loads of salt to give it a sweet /​salty kick. Have to say this is probably 1 of my all-​time fav caramels
Milk Choc PB Cup — this was likewise awesome… creamy & super-​chocolatty choc cup enveloped the PB & while there could have been just a bit more peanut butter, I thought this baby was outrageously delish
Owners were nice as could be & I left there already scheming for when I could come back!

I LOVE Candy Darling. Handmade Caramel, Turtles, and English Toffee for $ 2? What a bargain, and the best part is that it’s absolutely delicious. The mother-​daughter duo that also own and operate the place are also the nicest people. You can tell they really love what they do and even with the cheap prices they tend to give you a free sample to take home.
I’ve bought boxes of thier goods for parties and to share at work and what a great response I get. It’s really wonderful candy and I try and stop by any chance I get.

This place is great and the candy is delish. I also felt the prices were low for homemade candy.
Of course I want a little old lady making my candy.

I’m totally bummed! After reading all these positive reviews, I decided this would be THE perfect place to get my mom her Mother’s Day gift. I walked over this morning at 11am to get the freshest candy possible, only to find the store closed! Their voicemail says they open at 10am M-​S, so I’m rather confused why they weren’t open. Did they change their store hours and forget to update their message machine? Blah. Now I have to figure out somewhere else to go to get her fancy candy.
UPDATE, same day: Turns out, they DID change their hours, so just be warned: don’t listen to their answer machine message! I called them again around 1pm and they answered. My guess is they opened at 12pm but I forgot to ask for their actual hours when I went to get candy.
Everything in their case was $ 2, a fair price in my opinion. I was a little surprised at how big the store was and how empty the space was in comparison, and their case seemed empty as well. But alas, they are not Godiva or See’s, so I cut them some slack and bought pretty much one of everything. Can’t really say how good it all was since 99% of the candy I bought went into a box for my mom, but I did try their chocolate truffle for myself. It was DELICIOUS. If all their chocolates are that good, then my mom will be in heaven.

My boyfriend did some work for Candy Darling on Friday and Carla was very kind and gave him a little bag of treats. We just tried their Rocky Road, and OMG! it is absolutely heaven. The marshmallow was light and airy, soft and very fresh. It had a good combination of chocolate, nuts and marshmallow so you get a little of everything in every bite.
We look forward to trying the toffee, cups and what I think is a Turtle in the coming days.
Thank you Carla for the samples — you have gained two new fans and we will be patrons in the very near future.

I came for the toffee.
When I entered, it was just this little old lady working there all alone. She greeted me with a smile. It’s a very barebones little confectionery, but very clean. I first bought one piece of almond butter toffee (about 3in x 3in) to try it out. The lady searched among the toffees on the rack and tried to find me a «good one,» as she put it. It was absolutely delicious. Very crunchy with just the right amount of salt. I decided to get two more squares of toffee as well as two bars of caramel (one vanilla and one sea salt).
She boxed up the candy very neatly and tied a ribbon around it with great care.
When it was time to pay she swiped my card and the machine asked for the pin. She looked kind of confused, and because the machine was so far behind the glass case I was standing in front of, she verbally asked me for my pin. No one was around, so I told her. She tried punching it into the main machine, but it didn’t work. In a low murmur she mentioned that the system had changed a few days back and that now when she wanted to run payment cards, the process was different. She ran my card again, and when it asked for the pin I mentioned that the pin might need to be entered into the corded keypad that was lying facedown behind the main machine. Clearly not knowing what I was talking about, she signaled for me to come back behind the counter and show her. I went back around the counter and showed her the pad and punched my pin into it. It worked just fine. Rolling her eyes, she gave me kind of a «duh!» look as I turned to go back around the counter. I could tell she was kind of embarrassed. Such a sweet old lady. Hopefully she won’t run into that problem again with anyone else.
You could always just do her a favor and show up with cash.

Forget Godiva (and, you will!)
Candy Darling is about two blocks from me, I gotta watch it big time. Their truffles are big and luscious, dense chocolate outside, thick and creamy inside, with complex flavors.
The owners are wonderful, and sweet as their sweets. I want to take the elderly grandmother home and buy her bunny slippers. The others are always ready to help with a smile.
Yes, being a kitchen where the chocolates are concocted from scratch, it’s a rather sterile and sparse environment that could use a decorator’s touch, but not a lot of hoopla, just perfect candy.
What I don’t understand, is why there isn’t a constant line around the block to get in and splurge. It’s really a much higher quality than the big «popular brands,» and most pieces are like just two-​bucks, which is cheap for high class large truffles!
If you want your lover to love you back, get over there and buy your hun some of this stuff. Maybe I shouldn’t let this secret out, and keep all the goodies for myself, but then again I want them to say open for a long, long time.

The windows aRE READY FOR vALENTIne’s Day!
SO CUTE!!!
*kiss*kiss*

This fantastic shop was recommended to me after the handsome man and I attended a timeshare sales pitch down the street. Well the sales pitch was long but this find make it worth it.
I got a dark chocolate peanut butter cup that was delicious! It must and been made with crunchy peanut butter which just took it over the top, it was very good.
The handsome man got the sea salt caramel which was sweet, buttery and accented with just the right amount of saltiness!
The woman who runs that shop was just as sweet at her confections and even gave us a free sample to take home.
We will certainly be back!

A great selection of sweet treats, but good lord, who knew that candy could be so goddamned depressing?
Despite the colorful candy-​filled jars, this place has an antiseptic feel — and while, granted, that’s certainly something you *want* in a candy-​producing kitchen, I feel strongly that candy should be about FUN. Candy Darling, who stole your joy?
Sidebar: the salted caramel is DEE-​RICIOUS.

Luckily, I’m poor, rarely having a spare couple bucks to spend on luxuries such as sweets; otherwise, living this close to Candy Darling would be a serious problem for my waistline.
Their sea salt caramel is the best. Best. I don’t even usually like caramel, but this stuff is just amazing.
Honestly, the chocolate isn’t anything special (not bad, just… normal), but it’s not the focus here. Paired with the caramel or toffee though? Oh my.
The woman who runs the shop is very nice, too. Seems a bit shy but happy to answer any questions etc. Prices are also very reasonable for the huge pieces you get.

My husband and I went in for our own chocolate tour of San Francisco and Candy Darling was our first stop.
I am a milk chocolate fan, and I like chocolates by Sprungli, Cocoa Bella, and Milka and the best milk chocolates I ever tasted were in Bruges, Belgium.
Ever since my trip to Belgium, I am searching for the same kind of heavenly chocolate in San Francisco. No luck (except for Cocoa Bella).
The Candy Darling was a major disappointment. The selection was small (because it was made fresh daily?), but most importantly, the chocolate did not even taste good. It did remind me of the candy stores sprinkled all over America that sell mediocre fudge and chocolate turtles.
The presentation was nice, the store looked nice and clean. But the recipe needs to change.
I am European. Perhaps there is a difference in what American folks prefer and what Europeans prefer. Most of my European friends who visit US or live here do not like most chocolates in the US. Most of my American friends who visited Europe do like European chocolates. Perhaps that’s a sign that something needs to change in the way Americans make chocolate.
I wonder what is the difference in the recipe that makes Europeans not care about majority of the American chocolates.
My husband is American. He grew up on fudge and toffee, but spat out the chocolate truffle we bought at Candy Darling. He said the toffee was ok because it brought back his childhood memories. When I asked if it actually tasted great, he said «it was just ok».

OMG! (Unfortunately, the Akon and Usher song is still stuck in my head from last night’s debaucheries)
I must repeat. OMG! The sea salt caramel is to die for. I ate it ALL within a couple hours time. My teeth aren’t thanking for me, but my taste buds sure were.
I also got the peanut brittle and milk chocolate turtles, but have yet tried them. Everything for $ 8 was not bad. The service was very friendly. Writing this is taking longer than usual because I keep thinking how great it would be if I had more caramel to stuff into my mouth. See you soon, very soon, Candy Darling.

The sea salt caramels are stupendous, and I don’t spell that word lightly. The toffees are the best I’ve ever had, and there’s toffee in my family tree, so I would know.
The older lady behind the counter is the nicest, most gracious person ever to exist, anywhere. If she had herself cloned, she could lead an army of niceness that could take over the world in the service of all mankind. Seriously.
The prices are super-​reasonable. If you have any taste at all for the sweeter things in life, Candy Darling should be near the top of your list of regular stops.

Candy Darling has become my go-​to place for gifts of chocolates and candies. Every time I have given out their rocky road clusters, turtles, and sea salt caramels, I have received rave reviews about the amazing taste and quality of their handmade candies.
This past holiday season, I decided to give out chocolates from Candy Darling to my colleagues. When I got to the shop, they did not have enough turtles and rocky road pieces to fulfill my order. They offered to do a custom order, gift wrap the pieces, and have it ready on Monday morning, which was the day of my team dinner.
When I arrived on Monday morning, I was quite surprised when I discovered my order had not been completed. I offered to wait while they packaged the items but the owner Maria insisted on delivering the gift-​wrapped chocolates to my office downtown. I tried to decline since it was too much of an inconvenience for her to make the delivery, but she insisted that I allow her to make it up to me as she was very embarrassed that her business had not met my expectations. Maria soon arrived at my building with the order and wouldn’t even accept the full payment for the chocolates.
I am so impressed with Candy Darling! They have been in the candy business for decades and their excellent customer service proves they understand what it takes to develop a loyal client base.

Here are the highlights (see my photos):
— dark chocolate rocky road: excellent. Better than See’s.
— toffee: good.
— divinity bar: very good. It’s not too sweet or too gritty or too soft like so many bars: It has a really good chewy texture.
— The marshmallows: they come in plain and lemon flavor (See my photo). They have a «smooth, creamy texture,» which is OK but sort of boring. I prefer them a bit stale: leave them exposed to the air for a few days. In contrast, Satura Cakes in Palo Alto has marshmallows that are «frothy» like a soufflé, and more interesting. During the holiday season, Whole Foods often sells peppermint marshmallows that are «tough and springy.» I have to say that I prefer the latter two.
— The dark chocolate dipped candied ginger: very good. The dark chocolate and the ginger get consumed equally in the mouth, and the flavors go well together. They obviously make their own candied ginger from scratch: it tasted super fresh.

I arrived at the store just as the owners were getting ready to close up shop, and even so the older lady was so accommodating that she set aside her coat and delayed leaving the store just to tell me about the chocolates and the relatively new candy shop.
Previous reviewers were correct in pointing out that the lights were turned off. It was already a gray afternoon outside so I found the lack of lighting really didn’t help to highlight anything they were selling.
Of the homemade chocolates there was three types of truffles (dark chocolate, milk chocolate and milk chocolate with peanuts) on display along with two types of caramels, bags of peanut brittle, dark chocolate dipped candied ginger and white chocolate dipped dried apricots.
I really felt uncomfortable keeping the ladies from closing up shop so I made a quick decision to purchase one of each of the milk chocolate and dark chocolate truffles. At $ 1.50 each I only spent $ 3.00 yet the sweet lady whom spoke quite softly threw in a soft vanilla caramel and a dark chocolate dipped candied ginger into my little plastic bag at no extra charge.
Of the two truffles I purchased I liked the dark chocolate truffle (
) more for its semi sweet outer shell and its filling which was super smooth and just a tad sweeter than the outer shell. The milk chocolate truffle (
) was much sweeter and tasted richer than the dark chocolate. I didn’t enjoy its center as much because despite being super smooth I actually tasted a bit of the saltiness of the butter within the filling.
The soft vanilla caramel (
) was nice and chewy with a bit of a buttery taste. I allowed it to just sit on my tongue as it melted slowly. The dark chocolate dipped candied ginger (
) was, perhaps, my favorite of the four samples I had. In order to taste the actual ginger you’ll need to just let the piece settle on your tongue so that the thick coating of crystallized sugar melts away first. The dark semi-​sweet chocolate helped to tone down the sweetness from the crystallized sugar. Once the sugar has melted away will you be able to truly taste the fiery ginger within.
I plan to return on another day when the owners aren’t getting ready to close up shop.

It’s not your typical candy store because they make their own candy; it’s more of an old fashioned candy kitchen where flavors are straightforward and ample butter is used. The selection of housemade candy is rather small at the moment: peanut brittle, 4 or 5 types of truffles, caramels (vanilla or chocolate), chocolate dipped fruit, and English toffee squares.
* English toffee: Mmm, fresh crunchy toffee with roasted almonds covered by a thin layer of dark chocolate and topped with chopped roasted almonds.
* White chocolate truffle: Very buttery, soft, rich interior, too buttery for me personally
* Vanilla caramel: Soft but not too soft, melt in your mouth, not too sticky, melt in your mouth buttery goodness
In addition to their homemade candy, they sell bulk candy, $ 10/​pound, from bins containing gummy candy (worms, Apple Os, Sour Patch Kids, delicious sour trout), Jelly Bellies, caramels, licorice, chocolate covered treats and Perugina Italian hard fruit candies.
They had a good assortment of Valentine’s gummy candies:
* Sweet small white and red hearts: Too soft
* Sour red & white XOs: Too firm
* Sour large lips in pink and red: Just right, not too soft, not too hard, a little chewy, more flavorful than the XOs and hearts
The ladies who run the place are sweet (they gave me a free caramel and the caramels are huge; they also encouraged me to sample the candy before buying it) but they don’t come across has having much of a retail background. I stopped by the store twice this week when it was supposed to be open and didn’t see anyone inside (what can I say? I love candy). The lights were off too. Apparently they were in the back with the lights off. Huh? Anyhow, if this happens to you, knock on the door. I didn’t see any store hours posted but they haven’t decided on them yet (the hours are 9 to 5 right now but they stay open later some days). An open/​closed sign would help but turning the lights off is a strange practice.
Their homemade candies weren’t labeled and most were behind the counter rather than in the display case. I love the idea of homemade candy but they need to improve their merchandising.
(1) Create an attractive window display to draw people in, use your display case too
(2) Prepackage some items for convenience and put prices on the packages
(3) Put labels on everything, I don’t mind asking once or twice but I don’t want to ask about every single item
(4) Create seasonal offerings, like strawberry truffles or chocolate bark with dried cherries for Valentine’s Day
(5) Offer gift basket services, party services and perhaps mail order
(6) Put your store name on all packaging — all you need are some stickers
(7) Sell Candy Darling t-​shirts (people love the name of the shop)
(8) Launch a website

…I just had a wonderful lunch on Sutter street and was making my way back home walking with my best friend Aura…
So, for months, I have been seeing this «Candy Darling» sign as I walk down Sutter…
Always knew something fun and serendipitous would go in there…
Well low and behold; Candy Darling is now in its opening stages. Aura & I walked in there only to be met by Maria (owner) and her husband.
To encapsulate the whole experience; the dark chocolate truffle and the brittle were, to be blunt– on a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being exceptional & exquisite; my overall rating is an 11 ! :-)
Aura and I both fell in love with Maria and her new shop. We will definitely keep Candy Darling in business and help it to become a success here in SF.
Thank you Candy Darling for being a little bit of serendipity on an otherwise gray Saturday San Francisco afternoon.
we love you,
Patrick & Aura :)