Menchaca Chocolates is truly a chocolate lover's dream. A hidden gem located at the Mercado on upper state. From rich dark chocolate to creamy oat milk and white chocolate, Menchaca Chocolates crafts every bite with care. They also offer sampler boxes. On my visit, I picked up the chocolate covered spicy mangos. Who knew dark chocolate covered mangos would be so addictive. Highly recommend! The habanero sea salt is what gives it a little kick, but it's not too spicy where it burns your mouth. I also bought a chocolate bar covered in toffee. They offer chocolate and art workshops; where you can emerse your senses in cacao beans grinding, nibs roasting, fluid chocolate hardening, and create your own chocolate bar! The choices of chocolate are dark, oat milk and white chocolate. With over 40 toppings to choose from and customize your own chocolate bar. I'm looking forward to taking a class here soon! read more

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I think my biggest issue here was just in the way the chocolate workshop is described as a "make your own chocolate bar." I've done chocolate workshops where we literally got cacao beans from bods, roasted and dried them, them mixed with other ingredients to make chocolate, this is not that. This is really an arts and crafts project where you just happen to take home some chocolate at the end. That being said, the chocolate base is quite good, from the dark chocolate (which I normally don't like), through the milk chocolate, and the white chocolate. Each of the base is already made, then they give you a ton of toppings to customize your own bar. I will say I wish they would have suggested us to push in the topping a bit more into the mold, as much of the toppings came off when we ate them later. After this 10 min process of customizing your bar, the rest of the time is spent just decorating your box. They do have an extensive collection of art materials, it was just a bit of a let down that it felt like 90% crafts. Beyond that, the service could have been better. It was very stand off-ish. We ended up decorating our box for what felt like an hr cause no one came to tell us our chocolate was ready. And it just really felt like we had no idea what was going on throughout the process. Staff was nice, just not very informative. read more

Sip n dip special popup nights are a must for the season. Sip n dip chocolate and waffles were amazing! With Jo and Av's creative desserts, you will wish you could have this treat every day! Thanks for the wonderful desserts! read more

5/5 dried raspberry (60% cacao) - This was really good, my fave by far. The raspberry was sour, loved it. 3/5 cherry & almonds (60% cacao) - decent, wish it had pistachio instead. Pistachio is the king of nuts imo. Ain't no flavor like pistachio. 4/5 cranberry & hazelnut: Hazelnuts over almonds imo. Thus, the higher rating. read more

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The chocolate was so tasty. We had the milk chocolate, 60% dark, peanut butter cups, and chocolate with raspberries. I wish them continued success! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Front counter and an assortment of chocolate. - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

These truffles are amazing! They have so many neat events here and are always so creative with the flavors. The staff is incredibly sweet and gave us a discount! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Truffles, dried spicy mangos and almonds and sea salt! - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

We've visited Menchaca the past two weeks to try their Thursday night hot chocolate, and it's become our new favorite tradition! The hot chocolate is hands down the best I've ever had, and I love that the flavor changes week to week. So far, my favorite has been the cardamom hot chocolate--it was absolutely delicious. They also have a great selection of games and outdoor seating, which makes it the perfect spot to enjoy a cozy drink and some fun. The churros are amazing and naturally gluten-free. Plus, the staff is always so friendly and welcoming. We can't wait to come back! read more

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Amazing experience! If you love to get creative and need a space to get the creative juices flowing, this is your spot! I took my 10 year old son here and we had a wonderful time making our chocolate and decorating our boxes, we spent 2.5 hours there and the time flew and felt well spent, both my son and I are excited to come back with more family and friends(any excuse to come back in order to make more chocolate and boxes together)! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Our finished medium sized boxes with 4 custom made chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Had an amazing date at Menchaca! The owners are super nice and the chocolate workshop was a perfect evening date

THIS IS A MUST DO!! REPEAT....THIS IS A MUST DO!!! Not only is the chocolate bar making so unique and fun - but the decorating of the boxes that you can put them in is so unique and just SO MUCH FUN!! We went here as a recommendation from a friend and we are SO HAPPY that we came here. The people here are NICE beyond nice ....so friendly and warm and they will answer your 10,000 questions with a smile. The chocolate is delicious (I bought about 10 bars after making 3...no joke!) and we stayed about 2.5 hours to decorate our box. The amount of materials they provide to decorate your box is just hitting it out of the ballpark...so great! I think this would be good for ALL ages! HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND and we will be back the next time we come visit this area. THANK YOU!! read more

This place has delicious chocolate! I had dark chocolate: the rich chocolate flavor you get from dark chocolate and no bitterness. I normally don't like white chocolate too much, but theirs is super creamy and not too sweet. Theo oat milk chocolate is also very smooth, not too sweet and so delicious. I did the chocolate and art workshop and it was so fun! You get to decorate a box with paints, stencils, stamps, appliqués and so much more. Then you get to choose your chocolate for your custom bars. They pour you chocolate choices and you can add nuts, fruits, rice crispies, chips, marshmallows, candies and too many other things to top them as you wish. Then you can add all kinds of granular sprinkles like sea salt, cayenne, tajin, coconut , nutmeg, cinnamon and other sweet and savory flavors. So much to choose from. You put in as much or as little as you want. Then finally they cool your chocolate for about 15 minutes and you get to wrap and package your bars into the box you decorated before. It was fun and delicious. I highly recommend that experience. Other great stuff: they hot chocolate was so creamy and smooth, rich but not too sweet. And they dried mangoes dipped in chocolate. So good. I was visiting from San Diego and I am so glad I found this place. read more

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I was looking for choclatieres in Santa Barbara. I found Menchaca Chocolates. Unfortunately, by the time I found Menchaca, it was closed. They close @6pm and they open only 3 days a week; Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But I was lucky, because I found out they had a booth on Sunday at the local farmer market. The owner was a very nice lady. She told us that they offer the opportunity for customers to design their own bars, barks, and boxes  on Friday and Saturday  at their shop which is very cool. The logo of Menchaca Chocolates  is an amorous couple embracing a glowing cacao bean in a tropical locale. I purchased many bars. I loved the dried raspberry one with 60% cocoa and the mango chocolate.The chocolate is decadent, rich and delicious. I was really glad that I tried their chocolates. Next time, I will go to their shop to have fun designing my own chocolate bar read more

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The only thing I didn't love about this place is that I can't give it more than five stars. Do not wait, run. They have the cutest workshop on Fridays and Saturdays where you can create your own chocolate bars and decorate your own box for it. Whether this is a date, or just a cute activity to do by yourself, it is 110% worth it. Leanne and Pete are incredible. They pour their love into their chocolate and you can taste it in each flavor. They have incredible samples that are limitless, a tea infused with cacao that tastes like it was made by the gods. Honestly, they were so incredible and this was more than just a workshop. I'm definitely coming back... And I would even just order their chocolates because the flavors are incredible. read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Chocolate decorating station - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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As a holiday gift (so creative!), our daughter gave us a Menchaca class gift certificate. So, during a family visit to Santa Barbara in February, we decided to attend one of the classes. It was wonderful and we all highly recommend a Menchaca experience. As many people have shared, you get a brief orientation from their friendly staff and then have a seat on their outdoor, covered patio. We selected small boxes to decorate and three chocolate bars to customize. All of us truly enjoyed making use of all the MANY art supplies and pens that are on three big tables on the patio. We all spent at least an hour decorating our boxes and then it was time to head into the shop and make our customized bars. There are so many options when you create a chocolate bar. There were strawberry flavored, light, and dark chocolate options on that day. There have to be at least 40 delicious options for customizing your, including salty, sweet, spicy, fruits, nuts, etc. The staff are really friendly, approachable, and continued to check in with us. Even the music they played on their patio was great. The afternoon/evening was one of the highlights of our family vacation and we all highly recommend a trip to Menchaca. Thanks to their staff and owners! read more

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We had such a great time making our own custom chocolate bars and decorating the boxes. It was a fun activity with something really special to show for it. They had all the supplies to do absolutely anything you wanted & were super nice and organized. read more

Such a great experience! Great for families, couples or friends. We visited Santa Barbara and were looking for something fun and different to do. We would highly recommend this! read more

Fun times ahead at Menchaca. Teens, kids, and adults have a fun and creative time. We made awesome boxes to put our special chocolates inside, wrapped in foil no less. in the photos, you can see our smiles and delicious chocolates. read more

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Super nice people and amazing chocolate. The mango one is amazing if you're looking for a good option

Came here yesterday and my mom cannot stop saying how much she enjoyed it. My tween daughter and I had so much fun. She's artsy and this was right up her alley...art and chocolate. Next time we will do the box, I just knew she'd need lots of time to complete hers and we were hungry. If you are in the area and want a nice fun relaxing afternoon with art and chocolate this is a must! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Making chocolate bars - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

The Bling Queens of Lompoc Chapter of RHS.. We came had the most awesome time here. Very nice place, great owners, friendly staff and so clean. We loved it. Thank you so much Queen Golden Honey Bee read more

We had the absolute best time at Menchaca Chocolates! Pete and Leanne were incredibly kind and helpful and run such a sweet, personal experience. Our experience started with making a box with three chocolate bars. We got to pick from such fun ingredients and add-ins for our dark and milk chocolate. Afterwards, we got to decorate our boxes with an array of craft supplies. It was a great date for me and my husband! To top it all off, they so kindly let us pick up an extra treat for my birthday. This place had amazing service, fun ambiance, and most important -- decadent chocolate! P.S. This place is amazing for lactose intolerant/vegan people! My husband is lactose intolerant so it was so fun that he also got to enjoy this experience. They even have vegan white chocolate which is extremely rare to find. Can't recommend this place enough! read more

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I received a chocolate making session for a gift and it's easily one of the best gifts I've ever received! The proprietors were kind and encouraging and the chocolate is amazing! Although I'm not an artist, I had a blast decorating the box for my chocolates. What a great gift! I hope to make this an annual tradition! read more

Our work team had a fantastic team building experience last night. We decorated our wooden boxes for our chocolate bars. We were able to all select from milk, dark and strawberry chocolate and add our toppings to our bars. Such a fun event and would highly recommend it! Thank you! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Our finished product! - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I went to the Build a Chocolate bar workshop in February. As an out of towner, I really wanted to find a unique activity that I wouldn't get back home. I came across Menchaca on Google and decided to try this on the whim. I'm so glad I did, it was a staple of my experience in Santa Barbara to try and they came out so well! As someone who isn't large a big chocolate fan they taste amazing and their cacao husk tea was very yummy. Will definitely take this workshop again when I visit! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Chocolate bars - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

What a fantastic shop and experience we had!!! We loved our chocolate party and am sooo happy we were able to arrange it. I HIGHLY recommend the chocolate -and if you have e the time, arrange the chocolate making event!!! read more

This place is AWESOME!!! Altogether a fun experience; you get to make specialty chocolate bars and decorate a box to keep them in. Great location, the owners are wonderful, and it's not rushed at all even when they're busy. Definitely worth a visit!!! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Decorated wooden box with custom chocolate bars. - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Did the chocolate making class and had a lot of fun, would recommend it to all ages and will definitely do it again!

the chocolate workshop here is such a lovely experience!! i loved making my own chocolate and decorating the box. they had a perfect array of craft supplies. i'm so glad this place exists and i will definitely come back. read more

The chocolate is amazing! There were so many flavors and all of them were delicious! I would definitely recommend the dried mangos hand dipped in dark chocolate!! The owner was so nice. He was enthusiastic and we had a great experience. Definitely recommend checking out the place if you're in town. read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Dried mango dipped in dark chocolate - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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So excited to see this cute little local chocolate shop open right off state and the 154! Customer service was excellent and the products and packaging are so unique. A great place to get a special handmade chocolate for yourself or a gift for any occasion. I highly recommend popping in to get a tastey treat and say hello to the awesome owners, Pete and Ann. read more

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My daughter, granddaughter and myself had a great time. Decorated our candy boxes, created our own candy bars and bought some that they made. Chocolate dipped dried mango. So delicious. The owners were absolutely the best hosts. read more

we made chocolate bars here and we decorated a little box for the chocolates. let me just say the couple running menchaca chocolates are so nice. they made the experience for my family and i super fun. i loved how we were able to use our creative skills in making the boxes and the chocolate bars. they had three chocolate types to choose from and i loved how they were all dairy free! this was very helpful for my mom who is lactose intolerant. i also loved how they had a variety of different art supplies, and not just the typical crayons and markers. the music playing and all the friendly people really allowed me to get my creative juices flowing. i think these types of places also are a magnet for really nice people too because when my family and i went, everyone there were also super nice. it was so amazing to be in such a happy and welcoming environment as this one. thank you so much for this amazing experience! read more

Menchaca Chocolates - Chocolatiers & Shops Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

We had the absolute best time with 8 of us making boxes and chocolates as a team and enjoyed LeAnne and Pete so much too! This was a great, relaxing activity for a team. We feel like LeAnne and Pete are now our friends too! read more

What a great experience. It was so much fun making our own chocolate and decorating our boxes. We took our son and his fiance, and we all had a great time. The staff is super friendly, and they have a killer playlist. read more

Awesome place, awesome idea, awesome vibes, delicious chocolate. I highly recommend. I spent the day there with my wife to celebrate her birthday and we had a such a great time. Decorating the boxes was creative, fun and therapeutic. They were super hospitable and the music was great too! I love the box I got to take home and I'm eating the chocolate little by little.. read more

This was the most wonderful experience we've had in a while!!! My husband and I visited on 8/24/24 during a weekend visit to Santa Barbara. I found the place the night before while scrolling through the SB travel websites. The chocolates are delicious (I couldn't stop eating the spicy chocolate-covered mangoes), but it's the entire experience that is just fantastic! I cannot remember ever seeing my husband color or design anything, and he was totally immersed! Thank you for the friendly, fun, and memorable experience! We will be back and HIGHLY RECOMMEND this to everyone!!! read more

We celebrated my birthday here with a make our own chocolate flavor and design our own chocolate box. It was such an incredible time!! the owners are very friendly and welcoming, the chocolates are delicious!! can't wait to be back again! read more

This was really fun! My son and I had a good time building our own chocolates and painting our chocolate boxes. The owners are super nice and engaging. We will definitely go back when I'm in town. read more

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This was such a hidden gem! It is an incredibly charming little place run by even more charming people. Combine that with the amazing chocolate they create and allow you to create as well and you have an amazing little business. It is such fun to create your own chocolate bars. But even if you don't do that, what they have on the shelf are amazing. Cannot recommend this place enough. read more

We took our granddaughter to Menchaca for her 9th birthdayl She painted/decorated a box and made some fun chocolate. It was such a special time. LeeAnn and Pete were wonderful hosts. They take pride in their business and it shows. On the way home our granddaughter said "everything we did today made me so happy!" Mission accomplished. Thank you Menchaca. read more