Dandelion Chocolate

Dandelion Chocolate is one of my favorite spots in SF. Their chocolate is amazing and I love gifting it to friends and family for special occasions. I highly recommend coming in for some hot chocolate and a baked good or two. My favorite is the dulce de leche bar. I always mean to try the other items on the menu, but can never commit because I love the dulce de leche bar so much. It’s fun to sit at the bar which overseas the production floor. Dandelion is special in that their store also doubles as a production facility. They are 100% transparent and have designed the space to allow customers to see first hand how and where all the magic happens.

What a fun spot to come to after dinner. We ate at Radish, around the corner and walked over. I heard about this shop from David Lebovitz. Love him!
When you walk in, you are hit with the smell of chocolate.
I bought a few of their dark chocolate bars and the hubs had a s’more that he deemed, «one of the best things he has ever had!»
There can be a long line and it doesn’t move that fast.
Worth coming over for a little traet.

After hearing so much about this place, I finally got to visit! I ordered their house hot chocolate and frozen hot chocolate. Did I mention I’m not really a big chocolate lover? Oops.
Their drinks are on the expensive side, and there was a huge line when I got there. The space is so airy and you get to see them making the chocolate if you want! There’s also a small table outside that sells their products so you don’t have to wait in a huge line inside. I’m a sucker for miniature things, so I really wanted to try their sampler, but my boyfriend convinced me away from it. Get your drinks for here so you can get them with a little spoon and in those cute cups! Each drink also comes with a tasty cookie, so that was a nice surprise.
The drinks are basically 100% chocolate, so I’d recommend sharing unless you’re a diehard chocolate fanatic because the taste gets overpowering after a while. Where this place really excels is the service. I accidentally knocked over my drink, and one of the employees came over, helped mop it up, and even made a new one for me. What an amazing human being.
Would recommend coming here at least once to give it a try! It’s a nice place to sip hot chocolate and lounge about.

Still delicious after 2 years later but be warned they sell out of those amazing s’mores so come early or end up disappointed like we were =(
However, it did prompt me to try their super rich hot chocolate which I am happy to report is chocolate bliss. It’s rich, indulgent, creamy nirvana
Overall Thoughts
I will be back for a S’more, you can count on that!

I love dark chocolate. But I wasn’t really a fan of these chocolates. The store itself is really nice. They are making the chocolate there so the place smells amazing. It s also a huge place with lots of seats. And plugs! Definitely a nice place to sit and do a little work.
They also have tons of desserts. I had the smore. It was good. Not great. They also give you a cookie with your coffee. Oh and they serve four barrels coffee which I think is great. Husband got the cold brew which had cacao in it and it was really good. They also have homemade marshmallows out for you to put in your coffee.
It was a little weird. Many employees were walking around eating. One person was walking around eating an apple. Another had a bowl of pasta.

Cute place with interesting chocolate drinks, desserts, and gifts. There’s some table seating inside but it gets filled up pretty quickly.
My friend and I both got the European drinking chocolate (~$ 5) which was really good. It comes in a small cup but the serving size is more than enough for one person since it’s so rich. It’s a lot thicker than the hot chocolate you get in stores. I like that there’s homemade marshmallows that you can serve yourself.

This is the first artisanal chocolate producer I’ve ever visited, and I had a great time. There was a little bit of a line during my visit (just up to the door), which was at around 1:15pm on a Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t anything too bad (I came back again at 4:30pm and the line was out the door!). I loved that there were shelves with chocolate samples that you could taste as you waited it line, and I was amazed by how good the chocolate from Madagascar was! I would definitely encourage buying a bar of chocolate either as a gift or as a rare splurge; I didn’t end up doing so because it was pretty pricey ($ 8) and I didn’t have anyone to give it to.
I ordered the canalé and the «Brownie Bite Flight», which was essentially three mini-​brownies made from different single-​origin cocoa beans. It was a brownie tasting plate of sorts, and tasting these brownies was a truly enjoyable and unique experience. Chocolate was always just chocolate for me, and it was amazing to me that these brownies could have such different flavour profiles. It’s analogous to coffee, I would say, except I could actually taste the differences between the brownies and I can honestly say that the «flavour notes» that are pointed out on the label can actually be tasted. And, again, I have no particular experience with chocolate.
The place can get a little bit noisy and crowded, so it’s not really a great space to work. The staff are all very helpful and friendly, the bathrooms are nicely designed and clean, and there is free WiFi.

I had this place bookmarked for awhile and since I was in the area I decided to swing by. While my friend and I were at a boutique store around the area, one of the workers also mentioned this place. We decided to order the s’more since he recommended it. Overall, I wasn’t a fan of it. The gram cracker was different than usual, which was fine. The chocolate was really rich, which was alright as well. I know having the burnt taste is good, but it was a bit too much for me. The marshmallow kind of killed it the most because it was really weird, it seemed plasticy. All in all, I’d rather make a simple s’more at home. It was about $ 4, which is meh. I would come back to try their other stuff though. The place is kinda cool & presentation is great

I’m not too crazy about dark chocolate, I’m more of a milk chocolate fan, so keep that in mind when reading this rating. They have 3 main types of chocolate, the only one I liked was Madagascar, the rest were too bitter for my taste. The chocolate is also pretty pricey ($ 8/bar)(-1 star)
We also got the sampler of the sweets, which was AMAZING. And I mean absolutely amazing. Each one was delicately crafted and delicious.
Service was good, wait wasn’t long.

We recently took a trip to Europe and I’ve been hunting for good thick drinking chocolate since we returned. I’ve been to several places around the city and this was the closest to what we had in Italy. It was nice and rich, thick and not too sweet! The store was super crowded when we went on Sunday but worth the wait!

Dandelion Chocolate has everything from hot chocolates to espresso drinks to drinking chocolate to pastries!
I sampled the drinking chocolate and thought it was pretty tasty! Just a bit rich and sweet for my taste. I had a scone with cocoa nibs and found it to be okay … My sister had the s’more and said the homemade marshmallow was very chewy. She asked to get it heated a bit more and they just torched it and it was just a little browner and still chewy …
The ambience is cool and hipster-​esque — a fun place to come hang out with friends. As far as the treats go, I wasn’t all that impressed. Maybe I was just not very hungry that day, but nothing was really «OH MAI GAWW» amazing.
I’m willing to give this place another try, if I’m ever in the area again!

We were craving something warm and sweet on a chilly night, so decided to pop in for some hot chocolate. However, I think we may have caught them on a bad night: the ovens were down (?!), so the cookies weren’t warm, and they ran out of marshmallows for the hot chocolate. Bummer. We shared a pot of the basic hot chocolate (btw, I LOVE that they serve hot chocolate by the pot! More places need to get behind that idea), and it was pretty good!
The place seemed promising enough that I’d be willing to give it another shot, though. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to get a warm, fresh cookie.
Also, there was a sign out front that referred to Greg, the «Chocolate Sourcerer» — which is basically the best job title ever, so they get points for that one! Made me laugh :-).

The Mission hipster’s fedora-​tip to large factory-​made chocolate. Instead of smelling like coffee as I so often do after emerging from a café, I was enveloped in a shroud of warm, chocolatey goodness.
I didn’t actually mind the short wait in line because — you know that bookshelf on the wall? Those bowls of chocolate are there for you to sample. Dark chocolate seems to be the specialty, and the one closest to the register is 100% bitter cocoa. The drink menu is on the same wall next to the cashier, and is a little hard to see from the entrance. There are beautiful, photoshoot worthy dessert taster sets on the other side of the cashier on the counter, and I was really tempted to get them, only my friend and I had just splurged at Craftsman next door. We chose the Mission Hot Chocolate, and Marocchino Mocha. (Their mochas use locally brewed Four Barrel Coffee!) The Mission Hot Chocolate is an even more spiced up version of your average Mexican hot chocolate — not for everyone — but a fitting holiday treat. The Marocchino is dark and bitter — until you remember to mix the thick chocolate sitting at the bottom of the mug. I couldn’t really taste the cocoa nib in the whipped cream, but it was good regardless. Both drinks came with a little shortbread cookie that balanced the drinks nicely, and complimentary house-​made marshmallows are available next to the water jugs at the counter.
Okay, lets talk bathrooms because the engineer in me is obsessed with theirs. Both bathrooms are opened by sliding doors using a pulley and counterweight system that fits seamlessly with the industrial design of the rest of the building. It’s clean and feels maybe a little cold, but hey, it IS part factory. The walk to and from the bathroom is interesting as well because you can watch the delicious magic at work and read about their cocoa beans on the chalkboards. Apparently there are also chocolate tasting sessions at the counter. I wouldn’t mind a flight of drinking chocolate myself!
Dandelion is a refreshing treat for those who don’t like their desserts too sweet, or for people looking to get some work done (free Wi-​fi!) without being overwhelmed with coffee aromas. There are plenty of gifting options for friends and family who want to support the business and small-​batch movement at large, but be prepared to spend a pretty penny for them.

Amazingly addictive venue that draws you off the street with the siren song, or scent, of freshly-​made gourmet chocolate. So addictive, in fact, that you’ll ignore some pretty steep prices just to get your hands, or your taste buds, on some of their offerings.
Take the liquid chocolate or the Mission hot chocolate — so soothing as a cup for one, so amazing to share with friends as a whole boiling pot’s worth. There’s also lots of chocolate bars to choose from — and plenty of scrumptious flavors at that — plus other desserty items like smores and macarons. Rest assured that everything you try will be amazingly knock-​your-​socks-​off *rich.* Just ignore the prices on everything and worry about them later.
Worth a detour from your other plans just to try at least once.

Pricey, yes.
Worth it, yes.
Why?
Because I can get European chocolate, and it’s legit. Yes, it tastes just like the hot chocolate I had with fresh churros in Madrid.
And…
They make a mean Mexican hot chocolate. Ask for it. Mission Hot Chocolate: foamy, tiny almond chunks, cocoa nibs, cayenne. Warms my soul every time. They make it with whole milk, so it’s thick, creamy, and I swear every Mexican gene I possess comes out clapping and dancing every time I have it.
They need more seating. That’s it. The rest is on point.
Choh-​col-​ah-​teh. So damn good.

Dandelion Chocolate is definitely worth a visit for any chocolate fans who are visiting or living in San Francisco. The chocolate is pure and delicious and the beverages are amazing. I’m a huge fan of the Mission Hot Chocolate and the dulce de leche is divine! However, the truly hidden gem is the tour.
To be honest, I did not fully develop an appreciation for Dandelion chocolate until I took a tour and learned all about their sourcing and production process. Prior to the tour, Dandelion just seemed like another overpriced shop in the Mission (seriously, their 2015 advent calendar is $ 150), but Karen walked us through the entire process from their single origin sourcing of beans to the in-​house production of bars and it totally advanced my understanding of the chocolate making process! Not only do they go out of their way to ethically source every ingredient (from the cocoa beans to the paper that wraps the final bar), the chocolate is incredibly pure and ruined mainstream dark chocolate for me forever!
Tickets for the tour aren’t very expensive, but they sell out a couple weeks in advance so be sure to plan ahead. I booked mine about a month before the tour and was fine.
I would love to attend events hosted by Dandelion in the future. In the meantime, I will certainly be back this winter for some more spiced hot chocolate. Mmmmmm!!!

Had the brownie flight and enjoyed it greatly. The three brownies were very distinct and delicious! My favorite was the Madagascar (i like the fruity after taste). It is always a plus to sample the other chocolates and try a raw cocoa bean!
Great ambience, perfect for sitting and catching up with friends. Staff is really friendly and generous in answering questions.
If you are a chocolate lover, you definitely need to check this place out!

If you love chocolate then this is the place to be! Visited this place on a Friday afternoon with my mom. It was not very crowded at the time. We decided to share the tasting flight with some hot mocha to go along with. Overall everything was really good and very rich. I took one star off because of the sweetness. But that might just be me.
Overall, nice modern place to enjoy some chocolate overload. I will definitely recommend.

In honor of Halloween, I’m going to give you a treat instead of a trick.
This treat comes in the form of a sampler of 5 chocolate delights that are far better than the candy corn, M&M’s, or other store bought chocolate that you’ll get in your trick r treating bag this year.
Treat 1: Cacao Spritzer: Think of a small chocolate soda and you have this one sip taste of chocolate from Venezula.
Treat 2: S’more: Well, mini s’more to be exact. This isn’t your cheap campfire s’mores that you made during camp or boyscouts, this is an honest to goodness gourmet s’more that any camper would gladly steal from your tent. Crunchy graham cracker, lightly toasted homemade marshmallow, and chocolate imported from Papua New Guinea. So campers, you can have your s’mores, and I’ll have mine.
Treat 3: Red Velvet Beet Cake: Yeah, you read that right, beet cake. This does have chocolate, and really doesn’t taste like beets, and if I had to choose my least favorite out of the 5, this would be the one.
Treat 4: PB&J cup: Who knew peanut butter and jelly cups could be so delicious. Too bad they only give you one, and a mini one at that.
Treat 5: Nib-​infused panna cotta: Creamy and sweet with a crunchy cacao crisp. Can we get a collective «yum!»
And this sampler also comes with itsy bits silverware. A fork and a spoon. I guess the knife ran away or something.
So there you have it folks, your trick r treating chocolate delights can all be found here at this locally made chocolate factory. There’s also a 3 course brownie bite sampler that’s oh so brownielicious. So for those of you who’d like something with a wow factor, get the sampler.
It’s seriously no trick and all treat!

I just OD’d on chocolate! I think I need another hit to recover. Minding my own business on Valencia, I caught a fragrance that drew me in like you see in the cartoons. You know where the smell just lifts the person off of their feet to the point of origin. Once inside the display of chocolate delights said BOOM! Yeah, we got you.
The gargantuan size of their chocolate chip cookie was irresistible! I took 2 of those and a frozen hot chocolate. Man! The smile on my face while continuing my stroll down Valencia was priceless. That was the best frozen hot chocolate I’ve never had before. I might have to get another today. It was dense, with a silky texture. Not overly sweet with just a dollop of whip cream. Heaven!
The shop is fairly large for the small menu selection. You can watch the cacao being processed into heavenly delights. There are a few baking books and cooking books along the shelves for purchase in front of the tables. Even if I bought a chocolate baking book, I don’t think I could master the perfect flavor of the cookie or frozen drink. I’ll leave that to the experts. I am on my way!!!

On pourrait appeler ça un café mais Dandelion est entièrement voué au chocolat sous toutes ses formes ! Délicieux chocolat glacé dégusté un chaud après-​midi d’été quand le besoin d’une pause dans la balade dans Mission se fait sentir.
Le style des lieux est similaire aux cafés à la mode du secteur genre Four Barrel ou Ritual (atelier ouvert, ambiance industrielle, hauts plafonds, bruyant…) mais l’originalité est dans le contenu de votre assiette, tasse ou verre… miam.
PS: né loupez pas le verre de marshmallows gratuits à droite de la caisse !

Une magnifique découverte et une très belle surprise.
Fondu de chocolat, j’avais entendu parler de chocolaterie artisanale aux États Unis avec des petites fournées de chocolat. Et je peux vous dire qu’elles déménages.
En gros du chocolat dans toute sa splendeur, rien a voir avec les amateurs de chocolat comptant plus de 2 voir 3 ingrédients. Ici on parle d’origine de chocolat, et pour ceux qui apprécie ou souhaite découvrir, ca change tout surtout quand il n’y a rien de plus que du chocolat et de sucre.
J’ai découvert aussi une chose qui rien que d’y pensé me rappel toutes les saveurs et émotions ressentie. C’était la fève de cacao torréfiée. On retire l’enveloppe, on déguste et on ce fait plaisir avec tous les arômes qui explosent en bouche.
Ils proposent d’autres choses autour du chocolat dans la boutique, a consommer sur place. Mais je n’ai pas eu la chance d’essayer par manqué de temps.
En gros, un endroit a découvrir si vous passer par San Francisco. Pour prendre la mesure du changement et des initiatives aux états unis.