Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge

What are these people thinking charging about $ 1.5 for .05 oz. of chocolate. I think it’s a great idea to have a «lounge» area for eating chocolate and drinking tea but really it’s quite the luxury to come in more than once a month.
I took a look at their displays and the counter person did explain that they’d stayed sitting out for 10+ days and yes those were thumb prints and smudges on the chocolate imprints. Despite that, the descriptions sounded appetizing enough and the ones I’d be taking home were fresh anyhow.
They can wrap them in 12 or 24 per box so I chose 12 considering the selection was limited that day. PB&J sounds quite appetizing indeed. For a box of 12 the total was $ 16 give or take but it came in a lovely box and wasn’t anymore than what Godiva would have cost. At least this way I have a martini based chocolate which sounds cool and I can’t get this back home.
They have Forte teas which I don’t get to really see at that many stores. They come in a pyramid shaped silk satchel and sits perfectly in the middle of your cup. Do the «Tea for Two» and pick out chocolates with a friend or your significant other. Despite the prices, it’s kind of a fun treat to do.

This was my favorite chocolate place when I preferred milk chocolate, so I don’t really know how I feel about their selection now that I prefer dark chocolate. Their best chocolates used to be their turtles (that were actually shaped like little turtles!), BUT they got rid of them! Saddest day of my life (ok, exaggeration).

I liked this before they changed from Ethel M
their truffles are awesome but they changed them quite a bit. Most of their selection has changed. We’ve been buying this chocolate for years when it was ONLY available out west

I’ve been to 4 of their 7 lounges in Chi-​town and although not my favorite, this wasn’t disappointing either.
The prices are certainly on the higher end ($ 4.95 for hot chocolate) but the taste is great! Their chocolates are also very very good!
The staff is happy, enthusiastic and helpful — very pleasant experience!
Love their Mexican hot chocolate!
And also their chocolate fondue (which I haven’t tried here but elsewhere).

I’ve only tried the chocolate fondue, but it was fantastic. You even get to pick your own dippers. The service was fast service and the atmosphere is pretty nice for being inside a shopping mall type place. A little pricey, but still good.

The strawberry white chocolate milkshake was watery and gave my bf a stomachache. I tried a couple of the chocolates.
Raspberry Champagne Tart with White Chocolate — couldn’t taste the champagne at all
Cheesecake with White Chocolate — tasted like cheesecake and was probably my favorite of the bunch
Merlot Dark Chocolate Truffle — let’s just say that Merlot and chocolate truffle do not go well together. While it’s good to be inventive with new flavors, this one doesn’t work for me
I had another piece but I can’t remember what it was…
I think Teusher is close by right? Go there for the most memorable Champagne truffle you’ll ever taste. Or Garrett Popcorn is also good for a quick snack.

This place looks like it would be so good but I find their chocolates mediocre and their mocha tastes mostly like water, cardboard and a little bit of something that slightly resembles mocha. If I do purchase something here, I get their hot chocolate which isn’t bad and quite comforting on a cold winter day. They do have some comfortable seating which is helpful if you’ve done too much shopping and need a breather. If you want good chocolate, go up to Vosges which is in the same building and so much better.

You know how hot chocolate SHOULD taste? That’s what Ethel’s hot chocolate tastes like. It tastes like what I’d imagine hot chocolate would taste like, if I had never tried it before and was hearing it described to me for the first time. Creamy and delicious, not watery and weak like you get lots of other places. Yum. Expensive but totally worth it.
The truffles and chocolate bars are pretty good too but I’d probably only give them 3 stars, especially with Vosges right upstairs. I am a big fan of the peanut butter truffles but other than that, everything I’ve tried is just okay. Except the hot chocolate! The hot chocolate is to die for.

This place is super cute and it’s also very tasty. I had hot chocolate here about a month ago and it was very tasty! They made it with whole milk (I’m a skim milk drinker) so it was very rich to me. It was worth every calorie :)
I just noticed there is a new location at State & Lake which is nice and close to my office. When I’m having a bad day at work, I know where I’m going…

Apart from the slightly pricey numbers, the chocolate is excellent. I got a dozen different dark chocolate truffles for $ 14 which really isn’t cheap but at least it tasted flawless and rich and relaxing and, most of all, very indulgent. The staff were really nice and helpful and were telling me how working at Ethel’s was bad because they could eat as much chocolate as they wanted… Now, now, I always say… The good things in life are chocolaty, like ME, and fattening.

I’ve been sick all week and after 5 days of eating nothing but soup and popsicles, I was finally in the mood for solid food. …and by solid food I mean cupcakes. Luckily, my wonderful husband loves cupcakes, oh and me, and offered to pick me up one on his way home from work. Since these cupcakes were delivery, I can’t comment on the dcor or service, but as for the taste, I wasn’t that impressed. They were good, not great.
At $ 3.50 each, they seemed like a good deal considering the size. These things are huge, and topped with a big old glob of kind of melty frosting. We had one that was some nondescript coffee kind of flavored and a better one that was rich chocolate with vanilla frosting. It was okay, but would have been better had the frosting been a little more firm. I might try some of their other items if I am nearby, but for cupcakes, I don’t think I’d rush back — there are much better places in the city.

I was having a PMS induced chocolate craving this afternoon and decided to stop here instead of Vosges upstairs since I’m trying not to blow all my money… Shouldn’t have bothered.
They had free samples, that was cool. But the two truffles I had (the dark chocolate and honey truffles) tasted identical, and were way too sweet with a sugary fondant chocolate filling instead of the creamy, fatty, rich chocolately goodness I was craving. Ugh. The espresso was watery, like it came from a dispenser instead of a real espresso machine. My total came under $ 4 for espresso and 2 truffles, which was kind to my wallet, but really… nothing to write home about.
At least they had nice comfy seating?

I work with this particular location on a regular basis. They have been more than accomodating and kind on all of the occasions that I have dealt with them.
Ethel’s has a wide variety of chocolates available for any appetitie. Who doesn’t love their champagne/​rum/​liquor filled sqares? Come on! Personally I can’t get enough of their fruit filled chocolates, especially the lemon flavored.
The cute little couches allow folks to sit back with their best friend, chocolates, and melt their sorrows. My boss loves the fact that you get two free chocolates with the purchase of any coffee. I don’t know how I’ll get him out of this place now!

Totally unimpressive. Totally just lives off of hype.
$ 5 (after tax) for a hot chocolate??? Give me a break. Get a life. Even their plain old coffee drinks are significantly more $ than they are elsewhere. (a small plain old brewed coffee is $ 3.50).
This is one of those places that puts adjectives in front of everything in their menu to make things sound better on paper than they actually are. Their hot chocolate could not just be called that, no no no no. It’s «heavenly hot cocoa»
And it comes in one size. I typically order a large of just about anything in a coffee shop, so I assumed that their one size and enormous price tag would mean it’s a decent sized cup of hot chocolate… but when she reached her hand for the very tiny (12 ounce???) cup I almost told her to forget it… but I said in my head I’d give it a shot.
Well, what a waste of money. It was good, but not *that* good. The hot chocolate served at Starbucks – or anywhere else – is equally as good and cheaper.
This place makes Starbucks look cheap. Apparently it’s a chain owned by Mars.

So unless you read all of my reviews, you probably don’t know I am a chocolate fool. I don’t know how it happened, because I loathed it as a child, but alas, I love it.
So we were walking through the mall and saw Ethel’s and if I remember correctly I had been to the Ethel’s factory as a youngin’ in vegas. So I thought, oooh I should try their hot cocoa. After prying myself from the case of delectables, I ordered my hot cocoa with whipped cream. Really I should give this a 3 star rating because the service wasn’t great and they ended up giving me someone else’s hot cocoa without whipped cream. But the cocoa was so rich and yummy, I can’t bear to mark it down a star.
perfect for a crisp afternoon. Oh, but I only was able to drink ¹⁄₃ of it because I sloshed ¼ of it on my face while trying not to burn my lips. Joy. Then the rest was just too rich for an afternoon treat.

Ethel’s chocolate was good. The Cabernet piece was OK. If you really wanted chocolate and cabernet executed well, then you will have to get the cabernet truffles from
These are the ones we tried.
Cabernet
Ginger Citrus truffle
Maple Brown sugar truffle
Earl Grey Truffle
Chocolate and raspberry
Chocolate and orange
If I had to choose a favorite out of the bunch I would say it would have been the Earl Grey truffle. The chocolate was a good match to the tea. Each ingredient provided a deeper layer of flavor to the other and the tea providing a smoky like flavor that was surprisingly good.

The best darn hot chocolate. Ever. I“m not a big truffle person, but their basic dark chocolate is excellent, too. Did I mention that I like the hot chocolate?

I am by no means a «chocolate connoisseur,» but I know what I like. & this location had what I like.
We went in to buy a simple bday gift for a co-​worker & came out with a cute little box full of yummy goodies for her & two free samples for us. She was pleasantly surprised & we looked like the two coolest co-​workers.
Also, the guys here were extremely friendly, funny, & helpful.

I just went here last night and it was great. I went for a little meeting and the couches we were on were super comfortable and the chocolate was great. We had fondue, which I didn’t know they did, but how awesome. The staff was very attentive to our needs, but also left us alone while we were in the meeting.
I can’t wait to go back to hang out with my girlfriends and eat some fondue, nothing is more fun then that.

This is a relatively new outlet in the North Bridge mall, and what a prominent location it has. It is just off the main Michigan Avenue entrance so you cannot miss it. The candy counter is colorful and the lounge seating is cozy (I even saw a woman breastfeeding her baby here). What sets this Ethel’s apart from the others is the cool graphic blocks that have been retained after the gutting of the McGraw-​Hill Building where this mall resides. Marvel at the bold figures as you enjoy some chocolates or a drink.