Chicago Chocolate Tours

The Gold Coast tour is very enjoyable. Our guide, Heidi, was smart, brave (she wouldn't let a taxi move until Mom crossed the street) and all smiles. We liked walking around the historic and upscale neighborhood. Does anyone else get a kick out of Fred's located within Barney's? This is a fabulous way to spend an afternoon. And as for samples, I had plenty with no leftovers. I understand the Loop tour is a good time as well. Much success to you, Valerie, and friends.

Hi Valerie!


I wanted to thank you again for the excellent tour yesterday. Judy and I had a fantastic time! Hopefully we will get to see you again on some other route in the future.


All the best,
Ajay

Valerie,

I LOVED the tour. I was on the UIC tour last weekend and it was fantastic! So very interesting and I learned about hidden local wonders right here in Chicago that I would never have otherwise. What an awesome company. Thanks SO much!

Wes

What a great idea for a tour. My friend and I went on a very cold day and had a great time. Everyone involved with the tour staff was incredible and we got lots of delicious treats. The hot chocolate was especially welcome. I plan on going on more tours. Thanks for filling my head and palate with all things chocolate and introducing us to new places to visit in the loop.

Hi There,
What an amazing birthday gift this chocolate tour experience was to enjoy with my husband. Heidi was a great tour guide with the level of enthusiasm I would expect in a true chocolate lover like myself. My friends had told me about this tour, but it was that "and then some" in reality.
I can't wait to try another tour!

Thanks for providing an ultimate chocolatey experience for a true chocolate lover. It was exactly what I needed!

Kanika

thank you so very much for a marvelous tour!!

we enjoyed it especially the fascinating facts and the new shops that are just so professional, creative (and Delicious!)

We will share your tour with friends who visit Chicago :)

Hi Valerie,

I wanted to thank you and your staff for a great tour - I was at the Lakeview tour this past Saturday, January 2, and thoroughly enjoyed myself (as did my friend).

Thanks, and have a great new year!

Valerie and CatieLeigh-

Thank you so so much for such a fantastic tours. We all had a wonderful time and greatly appreciate it.

Kind regards,

Best Chicago Tour Ever! One of my favorite parts of my winter break...Thank You Chicago Chocolate Tours for making my day (and month!).

We used the December 29th South Loop Chocolate Tour for our annual girls' get-together, and it couldn't have been better. We loved being introduced to so many wonderful shops, having fun walking around a part of the city we were not very familiar with - and impressed with it's development. Plus, we loved the treats! We all plan to go back to the merchants in the future...an maybe go on another tour in a different part of the city! Thanks so much for this tour, one and all at Chicago Chocolate Tours! Marsha

Thank you for a wonderful tour!!! The weather was perfect and our tour guide was full of information and energy.

We will be sure to spread the word!

Looking forward to taking the tour again.

Thank you so much for the wonderful tour. I just finished the last of the chocolates that we bought. The Saturday weather couldn't have been more perfect. I really enjoyed the picutres you sent. I loved your teaching style of the tour and would gladly recommend you - and the tour- to my friends.

thank you very much we had a wonderful time and our tour guide was great

Just wanted to say thanks for a great evening on the Lincoln Park chocolate tour! My wife and I had so much fun learning, and of course eating, all about the chocolate in the area. It was a totally original evening thanks to you and next time we're in the area we will definitely be looking into some of your other tours!

Dear Kelly,

Thank you for a lovely morning. You are an amazing tour guide. We truly enjoyed every minute. Thank you for the extra treat...photos!

Sincerely,
Dan & Cathy

Hi - just wanted to say we had so much delicious cake and cupcakes and other chocolate goodys to eat on the Lincoln Park chocolate tour that we had to pack some up and take it home! We also very much enjoyed the information and learning about the story of chocolate and its development! I always knew it was health food!!

Hi! Thanks to Kelly for such an energetic, informative and overall fun tour on the Magnifcient Mile!
The only disappointment we had was the chocolate samples. I had heard the words "tons of chocolate " several times before the tour started, so I was surprised to receive such small samples on the tour (6 total pieces at 5 stops). I expected "so much chocolate you can't finish it all" instead of one small piece at each location ( except Sarah's where there were two). I also think each location should offer tour participants discounts on the chocolate purchased that day, since most of us purchased at each location and your tour obviously brings them ALOT of business!
The tour was pricey for the value received. Diana

Note from the Founder:

Hi, Diana -

Thanks for writing!

I'm really sorry you were disappointed with the amount of chocolate on the tour. We're actually revamping our Magnificent Mile route and were just talking about this today. Due to a store closing and a couple of other things, there isn't as much chocolate on this route anymore as there used to be, or as there is on our other routes. We're sending you gift certificates to come back and try another route while we're working on the Mag Mile route. No one finishes all of the chocolate on the other routes, that's for sure. The Downtown Loop, South Loop, and Lincoln Park routes of Chicago Chocolate Tours all involve people taking home the cupcakes or other chocolatey items they just couldn't finish.

Thanks too for the idea about having the stores offer discounts to tour participants. Teuscher on our Mag Mile route offers a 10% discount; I'm not sure if they mentioned it the day you were on the tour, or gave you their coupon?

Thanks again for your comments and ideas; I really appreciate your taking the time to share. And thanks for your kind words about Kelly!

All the best!
Valerie


Another note from the Founder:

Good news: our route that had been suffering from not enough chocolate - this was the Magnificent Mile route; all of the other routes have remained very chocolatey - has received a new infusion of chocolate and is due to receive yet more chocolate soon.

Short version: we've added a "virtual stop," which features a new type of chocolate bar called chocri. It's from Germany, and it's so new it doesn't even launch in the US until January 2010, but you get to try it here first on a Chicago Chocolate Tour! The virtual stop involves sampling one of their bars on the Mag Mile route, and getting a full size bar to take home. And, Belgian chocolate shop Leonidas is opening soon in the Gold Coast and is as excited to join the Mag Mile tour as we are to have them!

Longer version: in addition to the above, what happened was that one store on the route closed; it was Lindt, who had always been very generous in sampling their chocolate to our groups. And, another store on the route decided to work with us in a different way, sharing 1 sample instead of 2. It broke my heart when I realized customers weren't receiving enough chocolate. I'm a chocolate lover, and the tours are supposed to welcome other chocolate lovers with lots of chocolate! I looked around the neighborhood for other potential stops, but none of the options was a good fit. I didn't want to add just any store; the quality and customer service have to be first-class. So, the addition of chocri and the soon-to-be addition of Leonidas are bringing more chocolate back to the Mag Mile route.

I'm truly sorry for the interim lack of chocolate, and if anyone reading this was on a Mag Mile tour during that time that didn't have enough chocolate, please let me know so I can send you a little something and help make it right.

Big thanks as my team and I continue working to fulfill our #1 priority: top-notch customer service.

Uplift through chocolate!

Best,
Valerie

I ran across this website recently and found that it is more intertwined with my life than I expected: I love Molly's Cupcakes on Clark, I work very closely to a chocolate factory downtown, I love chocolate... and this is featured in CRAVE Chicago, which I am a huge fan and supporter of.

Once we get a break from this dreadful early-winter weather, I am going to schedule a tour for myself a couple of other friends! I am looking forward to it!

Thank you, as it was great!!!! We enjoyed.
Sincerly..Carol

Thanks for the photo gallery link, Kelly -- and the wonderful experience last Friday. We loved it! (And we're continuing to love all the chocolate we bought. Mmmm.) :)

I blogged about the tour -- and your great communications skills -- in my blog, Beyond Talk. Check it out if you get the chance!
Best,
Kealah (& Christian)