Here's a follow up to my previous review. The seller sent the chocolate I ordered through the…read morepostal service (USPS). Why would any business use USPS to ship a perishable product? Then, when the product was returned as undeliverable by the postal service, the seller claimed no responsibility for the delivery at all. No refund. Once we ship the product through a questionable method, we have no responsibility. I got a personal email from the owner telling me his reasoning - tough luck "you can pick up the (unsellable) product at the store." Thanks.

Chocolatier that roast their own beans and make their own chocolates in house…read more Bonbon shop. Samples available for the bars. Single origin bars. No drinks. Other chocolate products available: drinking chocolate, chocolate covered orange slices, chocolate covered espresso beans, etc. Lady who helped us was awesome. Spacious and beautiful space.

This is a special chocolate shop. It's small but brings in the world of chocolate. There's all…read moretypes represented from all over. Dark, milk, truffles, ganache (my gosh good) etc. each piece I tried was full of flavor. They also have chocolate bars and sipping chocolate. And they even featured hand painted greeting cards by a local artist! Lovely. Whenever I was in SB I tried to swing by because Chocolate Maya is a neat place to pick up a chocolate treat!

Some of the most delicious chocolates I have ever tasted. This adorable shop has knowledgeable…read morestaff and makes quality and ethically sourced chocolates. Each one is unique and flavorful. Parking is available at paid lot across the street.

We stopped in for truffles, with a preference for the real thing: dark, creamy and not overly…read moresweet. Score! We received a sampling of four of their seven or so dark ones, and they were smooth and wonderful. The flavored ones, such as Ginger / Lemon and Curry / Coconut, really popped - strong flavor that complimented the chocolate very nicely. Love it!

As someone who has traveled to Europe many times and tried a variety of local chocolatiers there,…read morethe huge stream of 5-star reviews (and finding out the owners were French) had me ecstatic. However, my experience was disappointing. The two girls in the shop were almost asleep. One was barely conscious, the other was trying to make up for her. The chocolates looked very interesting, but they were rather dull-looking and often hard to differentiate because the display case had no lights. Add to this the already dim lighting of the store and that it was an overcast day outside, and it felt like trying to buy chocolates in an old library. As for the chocolates themselves, they did not taste like French/European chocolates at all; they had the very standard American chocolate taste-that is, Hershey-like and with no deep resounding real cacao flavor that is like bass from a speaker on your tongue. That's what real European chocolate tastes like. This was just sugar, sugar, sugar, and cute designs. Maybe they are using cheaper American ingredients rather than importing higher quality ones? No point in having the Eiffel Tower on your logo if you wouldn't be able to keep this store open in France. But the best part: the girl at the counter didn't let me try anything other than the three pre-selected types of bon bons on the sample tray! How cheap can you get? I've never had any chocolatier deny a sample of a simple truffle, especially not one with the gall to charge $3 per chocolate in a tiny town like Carp! $35 for a dozen, just to not even be able to try what you are putting in the box? You must be joking. Anyways, onto trying to find another good chocolatier in the 805...

Menchaca Chocolates is truly a chocolate lover's dream. A hidden gem located at the Mercado on…read moreupper 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!

I think my biggest issue here was just in the way the chocolate workshop is described as a "make…read moreyour 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.

Absolutely love the fact that everything here is gluten-free and you wouldn't even know it! Their…read morebreakfast/brunch items (especially the vegetarian quiche) and their bakery items are absolutely delicious. I can't even say oh they're so good for being gf. They re so so good that they can compete for the crown against any regular flour bakery. The inside is so cute - charming like a French patisserie. The staff is attentive and helpful.

Bland food, grumpy dude at the counter and poor service (except for one server lady with long black…read morehair who was nice and smoky )! We won't be back ...

Discovered this wonderful Santa Barbara maker of gourmet truffles and other chocolates just in time…read morefor the holiday season--YUM! Oh.My.Word. The gingerbread and coconut-enrobed peppermint truffles were absolutely outstanding, and my cadre of foodie recipients were both delighted and impressed. Even more outstanding was the sample of the white chocolate-chai-turmeric truffles; they are to die for. Unusual and completely wonderful, creamy, with a subtle blend of ingredients I'd never think of (but which worked to perfection). Owner Michelle is herself delightful, boxing up a fairly large special order promptly and quite prettily. Not only is she eager to accommodate her customers, but she even offered to deliver when circumstances put us in a bit of a bind. Highly recommended--Five Stars!

The best Turkish delight I've evereaten . Irecommend it to those who love Tutkish delightread more

This place is amazing! There are wonderful teas and desserts to choose from. They are so delicious…read more Everyone is super nice and friendly. They can help you with anything and any questions that you may have. The store is beautifully decorated. There are many gift options as well.

We decided to try Alessia for some pastries with my latte. Cute decor with indoor and outdoor…read moreseating. The weather was nice so all the seats outdoors were occupied so we decided to sit inside to enjoy our pastries and lattes. Luckily there wasn't a long line when we got there. We ordered lattes, pastries, and cookie at the counter. Alessia also served hot items if you are hungry for something more. I asked them to warm up the croissants. The croissants and lattes are brought to the table when they are ready. There's also a section for you grab your own utensils and water by the counter. Lattes were surprisingly delicious, but pastries though were scrumptious and YUMMMMMM!! Great and friendly service. I definitely recommend this place if you are in SB. Pro Tips: Only Streets parking, be ready to circle the blocks a few times. But it's worth the effort!!

I'm so glad I found Alessia Patisserie & Cafe on Yelp. We stopped by here on our last day in SB for…read morebreakfast. They had a line out the door for the side to order pastries and coffees. We chose to eat here and were seated inside the cafe. The breakfast menu isn't too large, but offers a variety of different eats such as omelettes, quiche, croque monsieur, sandwiches, hash, crepes, french toast, granola bowl, toasts, or salmon board. The lunch menu has a few of the same items as breakfast with the addition of salads and sandwiches. // FOOD // BREAKFAST SANDWICH: Brioche bread, bacon, sautéed mushrooms, tomato, gruyere, onion jam, garlic aioli, fried egg. One of the best breakfast sandwiches I've ever had! If I lived close to Alessia I would probably get this a couple of times a week. Thick cut brioche toasted to perfection, the onion jam and sautéed mushrooms were so flavorful, nice salt from the bacon and creaminess from the gruyere and garlic aioli, all topped with the runny fried egg. 5/5 DUCK CONFIT HASH: Crispy potato, hollandaise, pickled fresno chile, cilantro, poached egg. The potatoes were crisp and the poached egg was delicious. The duck was a little on the gamier side, but I didn't mind it. 3.5/5 Overall, I thought Alessia Patisserie & Cafe was a great spot to stop by for breakfast, lunch, or just to try some pastries. I ordered a few different pastries for the road such as the pistachio croissant, ham & cheese croissant, and a "French Onion" soup danish. All of them were so buttery, flaky, and delicious! I can't wait to come back here.

This bakery was amazing. Everything tasted incredibly fresh and high quality. The banana bread and…read morebran muffin were both delicious, super soft and moist without feeling heavy, and clearly made with care. The service was also really friendly, which made the whole experience even better. You can tell they take pride in what they make. Definitely coming back.

People love Deux Bakery, but I don't know. Somehow, it was a miss for me. We tried one of their…read morefrequently reviewed and loved cinnamon buns, along with a piece of coffee cake and a chocolate chip cookie. The cinnamon bun, I'm sorry to say, was just okay. The bun was fresh, soft, loaded with icing, but it just didn't wow me. It wasn't bad, but I wanted amazing, and it just wasn't. So far, nobody or nothing can compare with my high ideals for a cinnamon bun/roll, but that's okay. I keep searching. As for the coffee cake, that was just weird. It was more like a cookie base, a layer of nuts mixed with brown sugar and other ingredients, and then a layer of cake... but it didn't have any noticeable flavor profile, and it was kind of dry. It didn't work for me. Kinda boring. As for the chocolate chip cookie, it was good, but again, nothing great. I've definitely had better. Maybe we should have tried a loaf of bread, but we didn't. I don't think it's worth a return here to find out, though. They seem to be doing well enough without me, so that is how it'll remain. Oh well.

I love olive oil stores, especially the ones in California have wonderful products. Viva Oil on…read moreState Street in the heart of Santa Barbara didn't disappoint! The store has a nice decor, airy, it's welcoming, has a wide variety of olive oils and balsamic vinegars with nice flavors (some fruit based - fig anyone?), nice staff and reasonable prices. Great place to shop at, you can get a set for a nice gift or a couple of bottles for dipping and salads at home!

I absolutely adore this shop!! The vibe is very charming, intimate, and warm. I have never seen so…read moremany different infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars before. I really appreciate that you can taste the products. I found so many I loved and tasting the notes helped me better envision what I could use each one for and how it fit into my cooking style. I also like how they offer each product in two sizes. The people here are so warm, friendly, and knowledgeable as well. They were so ready to help and give information about their store and their products.