Viva Chocolato

Lo! I am filled with sadness this place is gone. I went here twice with a Groupon? Livingsocial? and got filled to the brim with delicious gelato and imported chocolate bars and truffles. Ermahgerd the truffles. I think it was just as fun shopping for them as it was nomming them. I don’t remember much about them as I went so long ago, but it was pretty cozy inside and it looked like they had had music on some nights.
It was expensive but I had a deal both times, so was super reasonable for the quality and sheer quantity of chocolatey goodness I wound up with.
Really wished I liked wine back then, bet this place would’ve been perfect for that. Sad panda.

Viva chocolato has my favorite gelato in Austin, when they have the consistency right. I have eaten it here where it is way too soft. The 4 stars is for the gelato only, nothing else. I will elaborate later. The flavor with the fudge in it is so good, and I am not a huge fudge fan. The coconut is also tasty. Most of the flavors are bold and good.
Now for the rest of the stuff, I would say it is a skip it. The cakes are awful. I have tried 3 different cakes and did not bother to have a 2^nd bite. My friend ordered chocolates, but after the cake I passed.
The cheese plate is fine for a meal and the crepes are okay. I would pretty much skip everything, but the gelato and the chai latte.

Gee whiz…
I don’t care what many of you think– to me this is one of the oh so few excellent chocolatiers in TX. And we let them collapse– now they are closing shop, this is a disaster. To those that complained about price. Well, there is a price tag to excellence. But although higher than the price of chocolate at HEB, it is also quite a bit more sophisticated taste. It is a huge problem that we let this high-​end chocolate place go away. Try to find really good chocolate in Austin now… Do I hear Whole foods? Is that the only place we are willing to support? The chocolate there is not bad– but it is like comparing confection to haute couture! :)
Sorry Austin… Sad day. RIP Viva Chocolato!

I have not had any of their truffles, so this review is only for their crêpe. It was BEAUTIFUL (as evidenced by the photo I uploaded), but it tasted like CREPE (pronounced like CRAP). The peanut butter was too salty, the chocolate was meh, and it was COLD. WTF?
I do have to say, they had quite the cool thing there: a guy playing a harp and singing.
Will I go there again to try a truffle? Yes. Will I have a crêpe again? No.

This is the rich girl’s candy store. Daddy Warbucks would take Annie here. Bill Gates would sit here, sip on coffee, eat truffles, and curse Apple. And he would steer clear of any apple-​flavored truffles. Paris Hilton would hang out here between shopping at Forever 21 and Zara, if she lived in Austin and had any class.
I’ve seen just about every chocolate concoction I could conceive of here, in my few trips. Chocolate/​Jack Daniels truffles, chocolate/​bleu cheese truffles, dark chocolate/​peanut butter gelato, $ 10 chocolate bars, truffles shaped like high-​heeled shoes… Hell, I even saw chocolate Bentleys in there. Anything your top-​drawer, high-​class, upper-​crust, moneybags ass could possibly want, they have. Even to the point that an out-​of-​work ragamuffin like myself would venture in every once in a while, and actually be admitted entrance.
On my most recent trip, I got a 16-​oz hot chocolate and a chocolate/​Jack Daniels truffle. Gotta say, that truffle was some good shit, but it wasn’t worth two freakin’ dollars. Henceforth, if I want two dollars’ worth of chocolate, I’ll go to Walgreens and buy a couple of Dove bars.
The hot chocolate, on the other hand, was so good that I would’ve been happy to turn in my life’s key at the end. Game over. I won’t ever find better hot chocolate. I was told this hot chocolate was 33% chocolate. Coulda fooled me! I thought it was 100% chocolate! Nyuk nyuk. Seriously, though, it tasted like they melted down about seventeen Godiva chocolate bars into a cup. It was THAT thick and RICH. And, for once, I don’t mean «rich» as in you have to BE rich to drink it. This hot chocolate cost me less than $ 4. I wasn’t sure I could drink it all. I thought about taking it home and finishing it there, but I realized I had so little left at that point that I may as well finish it at Viva. Saw Quani C less than an hour later, and she can testify about my resulting chocolate hangover.
I went to Viva on a Tuesday because they had $ 2 truffles all day, which I think encompasses all of their truffles. The cheapest truffle you can ever buy in there, on any day, is $ 2. I noticed they have no truffle deals for Happy Hour; only wine deals. Major fail there, guys. If you had some great truffle deal for Happy Hour, I’d come back a lot more often than once every six months. (hint, hint)
Little Orphan Annie has Daddy Warbucks to buy her chocolate to her heart’s desire. Me – now that I’ve tasted the extremely rare, extra-​chocolaty, almost extinct unicorn of hot chocolates — I’m going to have to go a different musical route (in a manner of speaking) and stand outside Viva with a sign that reads, «Brother, can you spare several dimes?»

I have been twice now, and am considering making Viva Chocolato! my go to sweets store here in Austin. Why? Well, first let’s consider the negative reviews. There seems to be 3 main issues. One, the service is spotty, two the prices are high, and three, the truffles are not great. On the last point the negative reviews are dead wrong.
I love chocolate… and sweets in general. I have hit Recchiuti a couple of times this year, and while I won’t put Viva Chocolato in that rarefied air, there are some sensational truffles there. For one thing, they feature 5 makers of truffles, so to say ‘their truffles are all terrible’ means one isn’t paying attention. They feature Swiss, French, Italian, as well as 2 local artisan truffles. Frankly, it’s the locals that wow me. Pick up the Cinco Caliente (Dark Chocolate truffle with a Jalapeño, Cayenne, Paprika, Chipotle and Ancho Ganache) and tell me I’m wrong. The Basil is pretty out of this world too.
The service is fair to decent. I’m kind of a nut for decent service, so anyone that gives a poor rating based on service, I understand. And I agree that the prices are high-​Recchiuti charges around 2.75 a piece in their boxes, and they are in San Francisco.

i’m definitely a fan of this place. since it’s located in the domain, your thoughts are correct – a bit more expensive than what i would like to pay for sweets, but still worth it. they definitely offer great customer service. it is a nice place to go if you feel like having wine & sweets, with live music. Here are my recs:
Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato: i really love the fact they offer gelato, as i can eat that any time, any day. if you’re in the mood for gelato, i highly recommend the chocolate hazelnut & the smores.
Chocolate Buttercream Cake: as for sweets, my favorite, hands-​down, will have to be the chocolate buttercream cake. DELISH! i fell in love with this cake after just one bite & will hold it in high regards, as i still cannot find anything that compares. ORDER IT!

The next time you’re asked, «Is there any place to get a breakfast taco, great coffee, and an exquisite Diablotin Noir at 10am?» you’ll have the right answer.
You’re very welcome.

Having a morning out with my wife led us to stopping in Viva Chocolato after getting our fix at the Apple store. I wish I had read reviews first.
Dang.
The petite chocolates in the display are unpriced — I believe there is a sneaky reason for this. My wife got two tiny squares as tasters, I got a piece of cake and a cappuccino. $ 17. The cake was overpriced at $ 7, but I was expecting a high end chocolate experience and was willing to pay for it. That means the two little squares of chocolate and a cappuccino were $ 10. Good grief!
The cappuccino was good, but I don’t think she used a temperature probe — the milk was too hot. My wife wasn’t wild about her two chunks-​o-​chocolate and I was underwhelmed with my cake. I think my exact phrase was, «tastes like two ding dongs covered in ganache and raspberry jelly.» As we were looking around the place (waiting for the coffee to cool a bit) I noticed an old wine glass sitting on a ledge with some wine in it. It was pretty early in the day, so I’m assuming it wasn’t from today’s visit by someone. My wife also saw a bit of trash on the floor. I thought the tables were a bit squished together. I guess that is their take on «intimate.»
And to top it off, as a previous reviewer mentioned, I felt bad at having to annoy the person at the counter and get them to wait on me. We were the only ones in the shop, and it seemed like we were an inconvenience. I wonder what will be the next business in this location, because even with moderately high prices customer service and a decent product is what keeps people coming back. I’ll wait for the next business.

Viva is sinfully good. They have ruined me for other gourmet chocolate, because nothing else compares! I don’t make it up to the Domain area very often, but I stop into Viva at every chance I get. The first time I went in I was hesitant because it seemed pricey, but I quickly figured out that you get what you pay for. It’s worth the $ and the calories, and then some. If you can appreciate truly fine chocolate, you won’t be disappointed!
You have to try the Blue Cheese truffle. Sounds weird, but I’ve seriously never had anything like it. Great place for a girls night out to enjoy some wine and chocolate, and they have a small private room off to the side for groups.

We stopped in here after a day of walking around the Domain to get some sweets for the guys who let us go shopping all day. The décor is very French and seems very upscale.
I got a small buttercreme cake for G and some dark chocolate gelato for myself. My friend bought truffles for her husband and a toffee nut latte for her.
The cake was OK — at $ 7 it was a bit expensive, but G loves chocolate. We could not even eat it all because it was so super sweet. My gelato didn’t have a consistent flavor throughout; some bite were bland and others were super-​chocolatey.
My friend’s latte was too sweet to drink — it had a nice texture with chopped nuts in it, but after about ¼ of the drink she threw it out.
I didn’t get a report on the truffles from her husband, but if they follow the trend i’m sure they were too sweet for his taste.

Pretty cool place. And it doesn’t hurt that I can roll down the stairs out of my girlfriend’s apartment and literally land here aka I will practically live here for dessert and such. Yea!
The coffee is as bold and richly smooth as you would expect a well done Italian roast to be. The gelato is to die for — particularly the coconut, chocolate thingy type I can’t remember the name of. Most of the chocolate is good but totally not the high dollar good they are slapping on these babies. The only exception is the Bailey’s truffle.
The atmosphere is great once you run off all the stiff faced, uptight and haughty LA posers and get down to the REAL people up in here. Check out the back-​most brothel digs … you’ll know it when you see it! Pretty cozy all the way around and sectioned well for such a small place. They even have acoustic musicians and the musicians I have seen are not the ones who look like they’re half asleep and/​or half drunk with the out of tune crappy guitar either.
The service is fairly slow most of the time with some fairly uninterested chocolaters behind the counter. But if you catch them on a good day they will surprise you with a big smile, definitive interest and none of that excessive frou frou bullshitty.

Quite possibly THE worst truffles in Austin.
Being chocaholics, my wife and I had to give their chocolates a try. We bought an assortment — everything from their House truffles to the French Truffles as well as the Italian selection. This may seem hard for anyone to fathom — but NOT a single one was good!
It’s almost as if your plumber decided to make chocolates one day.
They lacked the texture, the taste and the rich chocolatiness that is a signature of any good truffle. Having made truffles at home myself — the best way I can describe them is as if they had been sitting there for days — and had hardened as a result.
And at $ 3.00 a truffle, that’s just not acceptable.
If you are a truffle lover — fortunately — Austin has other options. There’s a Teuscher now in downtown Austin. THAT is what a $ 3.00 truffle should taste like!
Also — the ‘Whole Foods’ on 5^th and Lamar — has excellent truffles — as do several other Austin places.
The chocolates at Viva Chocolato at the Domain are anything but viva… The gelato is a little better — but again — Austin has better choices (try Caffe Teo on W38th or Mandolas on N. Lamar).
All in all — a very disappointing dessert place — all the more tragic since it is so perfectly located.

I hate finding delicious dessert places. Especially when they are close by me. It brings my hopes of skinny jeans to a stop.
After a day of tutoring, I saw this and figured I could stop by and check it out — mistake number one. I walked in and the aroma of chocolates and delicious (yes, it has a smell and you know it) washed over me. I’m a sucker for ice cream, frozen yogurts, and things of that nature, so when I saw the gelato I had to check out the flavors — mistake number two. The friendly lady behind the counter said I could try little samples to see which I liked. Of course, I had a few samples — mistake number three. I gave in. Three times and I struck out. I ordered the medium cup with raspberry cheesecake and chocolate covered strawberry on top. Delicious. So. Very. Good.
Definitely check this place out when you’re by the Domain. Each small cup is a bit pricey ($ 3+) but it’s nice to splurge on yourself once in a while… or more.

Hold on to your keyboards. This is probably the first and only ‘sweet review’ I will do. Not a typical lover of anything sweets (I prefer the fried side of food) The hubs and I ventured over to this charming café that I heard ravenous reviews about. The hubs, being a dark chocolate + anything that is sweet lover, was delighted by his soon-​to-​be afternoon delight surprise… that is until we got there. For roughly $ 2.50 and up you will receive nothing more than a small tiny piece of chocolate ‘truffle.’ You will be greeted with less than welcoming staff and overwhelmed by the cleaning product smell. It’s unfortunate that such a cute little café has to be so expensive for less than stellar chocolate.
Likes:
Location (The domain, anyone?)
Quaint café
Dislikes:
The smell
The PRICES (a 3oz cup of drinking chocolate and two small itty bitty chocolates landed us at $ 10)
The drinking chocolate (anyone that has experienced Starbucks Chantico would turn their heads in disgust)

very very cute café/​chocolate/​gelato store in the domain.
came here specifically for gelato and i was not disappointed.
we were greeted instantly and given tons of samples to our delight.
i tried the strawberry cheesecake and i knew right away that’s what i needed to buy.
also the raspberry tart and the hazelnut.
and we have two winners! but what to choose?!
luckily we can split a bowl half and half so strawhazelberry cheese nutcake was what i bought.
and it was delish. however, it wasn’t the most creamiest gelato one can find. it was actually a little icy to me. but still very enjoyable. the straw cheesecake had white chocolate chunks and strawberry chunks in it. the hazelnut was creamier that the others and tasted impeccable.
bit on the expensive side but sometimes good taste comes with a price.

We were strolling through the Domain to introduce my brother (visiting from El Paso) to businesses that would gladly take the $ 190,000,000 he would have if his lottery ticket had the winning numbers. Viva Chocolato! beckoned us with their pretty outdoor tables and the interesting music that floated outside to our ears.
It was karaōke night. At a chocolate, wine, gelato bar. This was admittedly a different experience. Every person who took the mic had a fantastic voice and was sober. What the what?
I was born with chocolate in my soul but when I walked in the door the «mascarpone caramel pistachio» winked at me. So I went for a serving of this creamy, dreamy delight and I am thinking about driving over today for another go at it. So good you could take it home to meet yo mama!
As we left, the manager informed us that their gelato maker is from Italy. Hmmm? I just might take him home to meet my mama! Live music happens every Friday and Saturday and (sober, talented) karaōke is Wednesday and Sunday.

The first time I visited immediately after opening, I raved about how amazing Viva Chocolato was and how awesomely the staff operated.
The second time was in May on my fifth wedding anniversary, my husband surprised me by taking me to one of my proclaimed favorite places, here is how it went:
We walk in hand in hand and stand at the counter ignored as the staff cleaned the counters. Not even a «we’ll be right with you.» So we browse.
«I’d like a drinking chocolate» I said with excitement, I mean it is the most amazing thing I’ve ever consumed. In the tone of a 16 year old movie ticket collector, the girl said «that’s seasonal, you’ll have to get something else» to which I mentally added «my ass I don’t HAVE to get ANYTHING.»
So I point to the last piece of tiramisu and say «I suppose I’ll settle for that.» She takes it out of the case and said they don’t serve the last piece and it wasn’t available. So I pointed to another item which ALSO wasn’t available to me.
I asked «what would you suggest I get if I wanted drinking chocolate, tiramsu OR chocolate cake but don’t want a tiny truffle?» She said eyes rolling and again in the tone of an annoyed teen, «I like these» as she pointed to some truffles. I finally settled for a gelato which was good but was not suggested in lieu of the options refused me.
The reason it gets any stars is because the chocolate I’ve actually GOTTEN to consume from there has been amazing. The staff? Maybe I got them on a bad day, but I don’t expect service that crappy unless I’m getting my oil changed.

Not a lot guys love chocolate, but I was surprised by this store, in my mind that chocolate are some dark color stuff with tons of sugar in it, today this store changed my mind…
If you got a tight budget, dont even come here… unless you ready for it…

Exclamation points seem to be typically reserved for musicals and emergency phone calls, but here we were in the Domain and we wandered in to Viva Chocolato for a test drive. What’d we find? Ultimately, lots of fine chocolates, some wine flights and vintages, a tasty gelato section and plenty of subtle and largely feminine-​targeted accoutrements. It’s a fun space, and the staff here was happy without waxing overly eager, and happy to provide background on some of the items that were available.
The space is essentially a boutique style eatery with petite tables framing and giving way to a few privacy booths within. If you walk all the way back, there’s a private room which it seems you can rent. I can’t rightly say exactly how much it seats but from my peeking I couldn’t say more than ten.
At any rate, I ended up sampling a rich orange creamsicle pat of gelato, and on a hot August day, that proved not only tasty but helpful. And there was plenty of tasty looking chocolate (–o) to be seen. It’ll just have to be the next time in that I give the namesake cocoa a try. And then we can revisit those exclamation points.