Ethel M Chocolates

Seeing the small chocolate factory was pretty cool. If you read the information you get the history and how they do things. Chocolates were really good. We came here for the cactus garden lights for Christmas… Enjoyed the chocolate factory while we waited.

Pretty boring TOUR, however had a good time in the CACTUS GARDEN taking pictures with my family. mmm’ worth the free candy at the ead of the tour. YUM ;)

I was very excited to head to Ethel M’s flagship factory. I had heard they had a beautiful cactus garden and that it was covered in holiday lights. I have to break this review into two parts as a result.
Cactus Garden 4 Stars. It is beautiful, well labeled and the lights are very pretty. I have seen better Cactus Gardens elsewhere but only slightly better. There are many paths through the gardens and it is a very pleasant way to spend an hour.
Chocolate factory 1 star.
I like the chocolates. But I have to say I am very spoiled when it comes to factory tours having lived only a few hours away from Hershey PA and the Just Born candy company.
The «factory tour» consists of what has to be less than 50 yards of plexiglas where you can look in on machines and a few personnel and read a very short blurb about the procedure.
Even Disney Land puts on a better 50 foot tour with flashy videos. Further, the free sample they gave out was a nickle sized piece of chocolate. The truth is the factory is only a funnel for their store. Their store had a nice variety of items but their prices were high and the staff less than friendly. If you think I am being too harsh because Ethel M is a «local» brand, remember it is now owned by M&M Mars, a multimillion conglomerate who can afford to upgrade the tour.
While I may head back to walk the gardens, I can find much better things to do with my time than to waste a minute inside the factory and i f I want to buy Ethel M goods, the M and M store on Las Vegas Blvd has more M and M stuff and many of the same Ethel M products.

I don’t think it’s the greatest chocolate in the world, however it was good. The chocolate is on the pricey side. We sampled their Milk Chocolate Caramel, Say Cheesecake, Rum Runner, Pina Colada, Irish Cream, and their Coconut Chews. My favorite was the Irish Cream. The rest were just fair. Ethel M’s definitely caters to the drinking crowd with their chocolate cocktail candies. However they were good. We really enjoyed the novelty of the ornate chocolates. However I still prefer See’s Chocolates.

Greatest chocolate in the world hands down. I have friends that I act as «dealer» for around the country. A bit overpriced but hey when you’re an addict, not a lot you can do… LOL Check out the chocolate lounge, a bit too corporate and froo froo but you have to try their hot chocolate, old style european drinking chocolate. Skip dessert later, I shudder to even think about the fat grams…;-)