17 California Chocolatiers Crafting Chocolate You Will Never Forget
California’s sunshine isn’t the only sweet thing the Golden State has to offer.
From San Francisco to San Diego, master chocolatiers are creating mind-blowing treats that will make your taste buds dance.
These artisans combine old-world techniques with innovative flavors, sourcing top-notch beans and transforming them into unforgettable chocolate experiences.
1. Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate: Eureka’s Woodworking Wizards
Former boat builders turned chocolate makers, these Eureka craftsmen apply their woodworking precision to bean-to-bar creations. Their distinctive geometric packaging houses chocolate with character and depth.
The Black Fig bar combines Madagascar chocolate with dried California figs for a flavor that’s both earthy and bright.
Each small-batch bar undergoes a 24-day production process—patience that pays off in every silky bite.
2. Dandelion Chocolate: San Francisco’s Bean-to-Bar Pioneers
Hidden in San Francisco’s Mission District, Dandelion’s factory café lets you watch chocolate magic happen while sipping their famously thick hot chocolate.
Founded by tech entrepreneurs with a sweet obsession, their two-ingredient bars highlight single-origin flavors.
Every wrapper tells you exactly where your beans came from – Madagascar, Ecuador, or Tanzania.
3. Seabreeze Craft Chocolates: San Diego’s Coastal Confections
Ocean breezes inspire this San Diego chocolatier’s laid-back approach to seriously sophisticated treats. Their sea salt caramels capture California’s coastal essence – sweet, salty, and impossible to eat just one.
What makes them special? Each batch incorporates local ingredients like Del Mar sea salt or San Diego craft beer.
Owner Maria’s background as a surfer shows in her wave-inspired designs that decorate each hand-painted bonbon.
4. Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates: Sacramento’s Royal Treatment
Sacramento’s chocolate queen Ginger Elizabeth Hahn trained at the Culinary Institute of America before bringing French techniques home to California’s capital.
Each seasonal bonbon collection tells California’s agricultural story – summer peaches, fall pumpkins, winter citrus – all enrobed in perfectly tempered chocolate shells.
5. andSons Chocolatiers: Beverly Hills Luxury Reimagined
Second-generation chocolatiers blend their mother’s European training with California innovation at this Beverly Hills gem.
Their striking modern bonbons look like edible art – geometric shapes in vibrant colors that taste even better than they look.
The honey lavender ganache showcases local flowers, while the yuzu combines Japanese citrus with white chocolate for a California-meets-Asia experience.
Don’t miss their Breakfast in Bed collection featuring maple bacon and coffee flavors in chocolate form.
6. Kollar Chocolates: Napa Valley’s Wine Country Wonder
Nestled in Yountville between famous wineries, Chef Chris Kollar creates chocolate with the same attention vintners give their grapes.
His fennel pollen truffles won international awards, combining unexpected savory notes with sweet chocolate.
Visitors to the glass-walled shop can watch chocolate being hand-tempered on marble slabs.
The truffle collection includes wine-infused ganaches that perfectly complement Napa’s famous Cabernets – a wine tasting and chocolate pairing in one delicious bite.
7. VOLO Chocolate: Sonoma County’s Farm-Fresh Philosophy
Former organic farmers Jeff and Susan Mall traded vegetables for cacao when they founded VOLO after falling in love with Mexican chocolate traditions.
Their Healdsburg workshop creates rustic, intensely flavored bars using direct-trade beans.
The Vanilla Bean & Cacao Nib bar combines Madagascar vanilla with crunchy nibs for textural contrast.
Each wrapper features hand-drawn illustrations celebrating cacao’s journey from tree to bar – educational chocolate that expands both mind and palate.
8. Marsatta Chocolate: Torrance’s Hidden Treasure
In an unassuming Torrance industrial park, Jeffray Gardner crafts some of Southern California’s most authentic bean-to-bar chocolate.
His tiny factory tour offers a rare glimpse into every step of chocolate making – from sorting beans to wrapping bars. The 80% Dark Nicaragua delivers fruity notes without bitterness.
Marsatta’s hot chocolate mix makes the richest cup imaginable, using the same high-quality beans as their award-winning bars – no cheap cocoa powder shortcuts here.
9. The Xocolate Bar: Berkeley’s Artistic Expression
Former artists Malena Lopez-Maggi and Clive Brown create edible masterpieces at their Berkeley shop.
Each chocolate resembles a tiny sculpture – dragons, Buddhas, and anatomically correct hearts painted in colorful cocoa butter.
Their Berkeley Bar blends dark chocolate with locally roasted coffee and almond bits.
Environmental consciousness guides their choices, from compostable packaging to ethically-sourced ingredients, proving chocolate can be both beautiful and responsible.
10. TCHO: Berkeley’s Tech-Meets-Chocolate Innovation
Founded by a NASA scientist and a chocolate industry veteran, TCHO revolutionized chocolate with a tech company approach.
Their flavor wheel categorizes chocolate by taste notes – nutty, fruity, chocolatey – rather than cacao percentage.
The factory uses custom-built machinery with digital controls for precision fermentation.
Recently going 100% plant-based, their new oat milk chocolate tastes so creamy that dairy-lovers can’t tell the difference – Silicon Valley disruption in delicious form.
11. CAR Artisan Chocolate: Los Angeles’ Flavor Alchemist
Chef Chris Rodriguez transforms downtown LA’s chocolate scene with experimental flavors that shouldn’t work but somehow do.
His ghost pepper dark chocolate delivers heat that builds slowly without overwhelming the fruity cacao notes.
The shop’s signature tasting flights pair chocolate with unexpected accompaniments like cheese or mezcal.
Each small-batch creation combines global inspiration with California ingredients – Japanese matcha meets Ojai lavender in bonbons that cross cultural boundaries.
12. Woodhouse Chocolate: Napa Valley’s Jewelry Box Treats
Former jewelry designers John and Tracy Wood Anderson apply their eye for beauty to chocolate in their St. Helena boutique.
The shop resembles an elegant jewelry store with chocolate displayed in glass cases like precious gems.
Their champagne truffles incorporate actual French bubbly in a ganache so smooth it practically floats.
Each piece comes perfectly packaged in robin’s-egg blue boxes – making Woodhouse the Tiffany’s of Napa Valley chocolate and a mandatory stop on wine country tours.
13. Scharffen Berger: Berkeley’s Chocolate Revolution
Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger – a doctor and winemaker – launched America’s craft chocolate movement from Berkeley in 1997.
Though now owned by a larger company, their original factory transformed how Americans think about chocolate.
The 70% Bittersweet remains a benchmark for intense flavor without harshness.
Their cacao sourcing from multiple origins creates complex, balanced bars with wine-like depth. Bakers swear by their high-fat cocoa powder for creating the richest brownies imaginable.
14. See’s Candies: California’s Sweet Heritage
Mary See’s recipes from 1921 continue delighting chocolate lovers at this California institution with black-and-white checkered shops statewide.
Their Bordeaux fudge – brown sugar buttercream covered in chocolate sprinkles – creates nostalgia with every bite.
Though not artisanal by modern standards, See’s represents California chocolate history. Warren Buffett loved the business model so much he bought the company, calling it his “dream investment.”
15. Kahkow USA: Dominican Roots with California Flair
The first American outpost of Dominican Republic’s largest cacao producer brings bean-to-bar production directly from origin to California.
Their interactive factory experience lets visitors make their own chocolate bars from freshly ground cacao.
Single-estate bars showcase the distinctive terroir of specific Dominican farms. The Zorzal Reserve bar supports bird sanctuary conservation while delivering bright citrus notes.
Try their cacao fruit smoothie – a refreshing drink made from the pulp usually discarded during chocolate production.
16. Map Chocolate Co.: California’s Micro-Batch Marvel
Mackenzie Rivers creates just 15 pounds of chocolate per batch in her Northern California micro-factory, making Map Chocolate one of the state’s most exclusive treats.
The Nightswimming bar combines 75% dark chocolate with house-made almond butter and sea salt.
Seasonal specials sell out within hours of release – like the coveted Meyer Lemon bar available only during California’s brief winter citrus season.
17. Guittard Chocolate: Burlingame’s Historic Heritage
Five generations of the Guittard family have crafted chocolate in the Bay Area since 1868, making them America’s oldest continuously family-owned chocolate company.
Their Burlingame factory supplies professional pastry chefs nationwide.
The Collection Etienne line offers single-origin bars for serious chocolate lovers.
Sustainability initiatives include direct farmer relationships spanning decades. Home bakers treasure their chocolate chips – especially the E. Guittard 38% milk chocolate wafers that melt perfectly into cookies.
