The South Bend Chocolate Company

When I was in high school I worked downtown one summer and would meet my father for lunch. We would get pizza at the spot right by where there is now a Starbucks (an extra slice for this homeless man my father had befriended) and go to South Bend for hot chocolate.
12 years later and a Starbucks nearby later? I still adore this place.
Service is hit or miss. One time I was standing by the register and the woman helped everyone at the display case before helping me. And no I did not get there after them… I was there first and had been waiting for awhile prior.
But when the service is friendly, it is quite friendly.
And the hot chocolate there is the absolute best i have ever had (minus That French Bakery in St. Louis). The price for it is equally phenomenal.
Oh and you must also try the chocolate covered Oreos.
The chocolate cover pecan clusters were not my favorite.
What else?
Oh apparently in all these years I never noticed the frozen treats in the back.
Oh and also the restroom is in the basement…

So many negative reviews has me concerned that I’m missing something, but safely put: I’m a chocoholic. LOVE me some dark chocolate. The more cocoa, the better.
When you have the option to taste test anything (of course, limited quantities) take advantage! The South Bend Chocolate Factory is a must-​have when I’m on the circle with friends or by myself and feel that I need to treat myself.
The staff have always been extremely friendly to me, and I love that. They always have bright, shining faces to greet you, whether you’re a local or a tourist. My favorites are always the chocolates in the front case, but you can never go wrong with the hot chocolate, the cake/​desserts in the back glass, or the ice cream. Basically, nearly everything!
4 instead of 5 stars because the bathroom is a pain. When you’ve enjoyed your treats and need to use the restroom, don’t even think about going here. You have to go through some creepy hallway to get there, and it’s quite the (scary) experience.
The location is a double-​edged sword as well. I only go here if I’m already walking near there; never if I am in my car. Parking isn’t the most convenient for the shops on the store, but that’s to be expected!
Keep calm, chocolate on Hoosiers!

Only went here because I was forced. Maybe my subconscious mind is genius lol. Ok, I went here during the week and they still seemed extremely under staffed and overwhelmed. One staff even vanished completely for me to be asked 10min later «no one has helped you yet»? Anyway the ice cream we ordered was freezer burnt the chocolate mouse cheesecake cake I got to go home was cut to so unevenly it was barely cheesecake. Now to the main event… the chocolate, was average at BEST. I hate to say would of been satisfied with a snicker. Maybe it was just a off night. might try them again. Everybody deserves a second chance right?

I wanted to like South Bend Chocolate Company. I’ve given it so many chances. But here’s the problem (s):
— Coffee and espresso drinks are weak, watery, generally terrible. Don’t waste your money.
— Bakery items are stale. Always.
— Staff is disinterested to the point of being rude.
— The fro-​yo side «Indy Swirl» is definitely not fro-​yo. It’s watery, slimy ice cream, and there’s only five flavors. All of the toppings were stale — I threw out mine halfway through eating it. It was inedible.
I’m so consistently disappointed by this storefront, and they’re making no effort to improve. I’d like to see them free up this spot to a company interested in contributing value to the circle.

All of the local dentists love this place! If you have a sweet tooth STAY AWAY.
TSBCC is a great place to take someone on a first date or 37^th date: you can share a slice of cheesecake or chocolate cake, you can munch on some delicious Indiana made chocolates.
Is it cold? Have the hot chocolate!
Is it warm? Have the ice cream
It doesn’t matter what you try, you will not be disappointed!
Atmosphere– A
Taste– A
Quality– A

Service not great, not fast, but the products are delicious!

Great location right in the center of downtown. They have amazing variety and quality products. Doesn’t get any better for a sweet tooth!

Stumbled upon this place while walking around the Monument Circle. From the outside, one would assume that it is a cute little chocolate shop, and knowing the sweet tooth that I have, my husband and I decided to go in.
The further back into the shop that you go, the more «run down» it starts to look. I got a slice of cake and a latte. The cake was a complete disappointment. It was not fresh at all. The latte… was an even bigger disappointment. It was scorching hot! The barista was frothing the milk for about a good 5 minutes, I could smell the milk burning. It took about three tries to finally «make» the latte. We were the only customers in at that time.
We took the cake and coffee back to the front counter and the employee immediately, before we could say anything, said «Do you want your money back?». We found this very unprofessional. We did not want our money back, we just wanted to leave at that point.
Also, the music playing (Rap with profanity), was inappropriate for a coffee/​chocolate shop.
Will not return to this place. It has great potential, but unfortunately our experience wasn’t even worth one star.

Delicious milkshake! Excellent customer service also. The cashiers strike up a conversation with you as they prepare whatever you order. You feel right at home.

Why I go to South Bend
–ice cream
–hot chocolate
–the circle
There really isn’t anything better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to get some ice cream and sit on the circle steps and watch the time go by. Or in the winter get a cup of hot chocolate to keep you warm while you take a winter stroll.
I would give their ice cream a 4.6 but they haven’t had my favorite for awhile, the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough. The past 4 times I’ve been in, they’ve been out and every time I am very disappointed.

Love this place! There isn’t much to say as there really is something for everyone (unless you have an allergy to nuts/​coffee/​ice cream/​or chocolate). Love the chocolate dipped nuts the best! Get a chocolate spoon with your beverage!

This is a great place if you are hanging around downtown! It’s right on Monument Circle, so I like to grab some chocolate and peanut butter ice cream and then sit on the steps of the monument. The ice cream is solid — it’s heavy so make sure you have room if your heading here right after dinner. They also have some excellent cakes slices at are as large as my head and delish.
Location: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Ice cream: ⁷⁄₁₀

So this was a perfect place to stop for some delicious chocolate fondue on the patio and people watch at Monument Circle. This was a most wonderful way to spend an afternoon with a friend and catch up and really although the store itself was very busy the wait was worth it! The fondue came with the perfect amount of items to dip in the chocolate and the staff were very good about letting us keep the lighter in case the candle went out until we returned the dishes to inside the restaurant. This was really quite luxurious for a way to enjoy some time. The chocolate and ice cream all looked like delicious treats as well, but we really just wanted the delicious fondue.

I went to the Chocolate Company for the chocolates, not the frozen yogurt. The time it took for me to get two chocolates was too long. It took about 15 minutes for the employee to come back to the chocolate side. I did not have the chocolate because I gave it to my parents, but they seemed to like it. They have a pretty wide selection of chocolates and you pay by the weight.
Stop by and look because it’s a cute shop.

Primarily for Indy Swirl:
Was recently walking around the circle with my wife and we decided to grab some froyo as we walked by The South Bend Chocolate Company. We entered from the SB CC side and noticed no one was in Indy Swirl. We waited around for a few minutes looking at the different flavors, toppings, etc. before deciding to go find someone. An individual working the counter at SB CC came over to help us out.
My wife and I have been to quite a few self-​serve froyo places and this place would definitely rank at the bottom. They only offer 5 or so different flavors at any given time. The place is smaller than your typical full-​fledged froyo shop, so I won’t knock them too hard on the lack of options. However, we were sorely disappointed by the toppings. We like to top ours with a variety of fruit and we found quite a few bins empty or nearly empty. There would be a lot of toppings choices (fruit, candy, etc.) assuming they were all filled.
All in all, it wasn’t really worth the $ 5 (we split a cup) and we won’t be coming back. We will just stick to the SB CC side.

This place reminded me of those faux chocolate places in a mall or near the Alamo. I was expecting to find quality but instead there was quantity and bad chocolate. I asked about the ice cream and if it was made locally and they said YES, its from Michigan. In a world where deluxe in in and can be found anywhere, I could not believe that these people did not have like ONE original item! I wanted dark chocolate almond bark or something and some little angry blonde showed me a stack of chocolate almonds that I could’ve bought at a grocery store. Nothing made right there, nothing tantalizing. I suppose they serve tourist from Lyons Kansas and Jasper Arkansas and they are all amazed but really make this place cute and serve things that you make locally and then wow people. That’s not too much to ask.

Strictly for Swirl (the FroYo part of the business)…
DONT. Just don’t. If you are going to waste some calories on Frozen Yogurt — you should at least make it worth it!
This place has 5 ice cream flavors — I tried 3 of those 5 and didn’t like any. HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE FROZEN YOGURT? I don’t even know. But it was bad. (Cake Batter, Vanilla, and Eurogurt.) And for the toppings? Good luck! Over 50% of the bar of toppings was empty. Not like they ran out, but like they just didn’t fill them. No Oreos, no fruit, no nothing… For the first time ever, I had to throw my FroYo away because it was so gross. (Insert crying emoji here.) Two stars are given because they did have brownie bites… But yeah… Not much else.
Save yourself the wasted money, calories & heartache and go somewhere else!
(PS Im not a complete hater — I like the South Bend Chocolate side.)

Short and sweet review — This place sells the BEST hot chocolate I’ve ever had. The white hot chocolate is simply dreamy. I look forward to getting one… or two every winter. Now my summer treat is the Superman ice cream, which I enjoy as I walk around Monument Circle. An ideal treat. They also offer an assortment of decadent cheesecakes, cookies, and of course the delicious chocolates and fudges. This place is a bit on the pricey side. Two scoops of ice cream will cost you 5 bucks. Its good, but not that good. I still enjoy coming in a few times a year when I’m hanging out downtown. The white hot chocolate is a must!

Went there after a day of walking around the Circle in downtown Indy. Their location is excellent, and overall I found the experience to be very good. We got ice cream and sat outside, enjoying the view and the city. Service was courteous, and overall cleanliness was good. The crowd wasn’t too heavy that day, so that helps.

This review is mainly for the froyo part, Indy Swirl.
The froyo here is pretty good. I think it’s similar to the Orange Leaf on W 10^th but one of my friends thinks Indy Swirl is a lot better. Indy Swirl does have Original Tart, though.
There are a good amount of toppings, including some items from the chocolate store part of South Bend. They had multiple types of chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate cover Oreos, chocolate covered everything.
If you want samples, you have to ask the employees and they’ll get it for you. But otherwise, the froyo is entirely self-​serve.
All the employees that I’ve interacted with throughout the store have been nice & friendly.