Long Grove Chocolate Fest

Like many others that came, my boyfriend and I decided to go to this event because of the seemingly interesting Facebook page. We were noobies to the area and broke college students, hoping to find a little kick off to our summer vacation.
Short version of my review:
Long Grove Chocolate Fest: a dud. Not an actual «Chocolate Fest.» Cute town, but no longer in its prime. $ 5 free chocolate samples? Not exactly worth it. Overall as a street fest? Entertaining in ways and has a lot of potential for fun. Just a bunch unnecessary booths here and there. In order to «get the most» from the fest… you need to be ready with some cash in hand you’re willing to blow off. Family friendly, but the event seems to be mostly geared toward older adults. Mostly a lot of vendors trying to sell and advertise. Disorganized. Parking not so great despite «free parking.» Gets overcrowded easily. Wide variety of food either way. Just barely any chocolate.
Detailed version below:
We looked at previous Unilocal reviews from past years to see if it was worth it. There weren’t as many recent ones so we decided to go see for ourselves. It was an experience at nevertheless. We decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and check it out, while still being under the impression of going to a «CHOCOLATE Fest» hoping that it stepped up its game since past years. Nonetheless the previous reviews held true to form. I’ll admit, if it was considered as any other type of fest or something like «Taste of Long Grove,» then I might’ve given it a higher rating. But as it was advertised as a Chocolate fest, it was rather disappointing. As it was our first time attending anything remotely near a chocolate fest, we had high expectations such that there would be rows of booths with different kinds of chocolates and small free samples to get people to try and buy them. But… There were maybe like 3 booths with actual chocolate. But basically had the same thing at each one. If anything, we had more pretzels and dip than actual chocolate. The only chocolate sampling that we had was this chocolate covered toffee bark from one of the actual Confectionary stores when you first arrived. Random side note but the old owners were really nice and sweet.
As disappointing as it was (cause lets be honest, we only came for free chocolate samples) I still tried to see the light in the fest. We went early so it wasn’t as crowded. The people selling and running the booths were overall nice to us, but they were the typical «let me waste 10 min of your time by explaining my product that you probably don’t care about but I’m bored so hopefully you take pity on me and buy it.» The street food being sold was decent. (Hotdogs, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered bacon, DQ, Turkey legs, corn on the cob, Chinese food, cheese curds, pizza, etc)
All the booths were spread out and placed randomly, none having related themes to one another. I wish that at least for the booths that did have chocolate in them, they were more near each other. But everything is placed at different locations.
Overall, Long Grove Chocolate Fest was basically a bunch of random booths selling/​advertising what the rest of the other stores and shops located in the area had. (Jewelry, Roofing and Shingles, Small Restaurants, Wine, Dips, etc). Wouldn’t come back unfortunately.

I haven’t read the other reviews for this fest, but I have a feeling I know why it only has ²⁄₅ stars.
A CHOCOLATE fest should have lots of CHOCOLATE, right?
Nope.
Out of the, maybe, 30 – 40 tents set up, only THREE featured chocolate. Really???
This place doesn’t deserve to call itself a chocolate fest.
One of those three tents, one was really good, with a bunch of chocolate options like chocoate bark with chili & dried jalapenos, huge chocolate covered apples, chocolate covered bacon, white chocolate peppermint bark, etc. This is the only tent that had a line & I can definitely see why. One of the ladies working it said they were getting so much business, the fest made them move their tent all the way to the end of the line of tents. A bit pricey, but worth it.
Another chocolate tent was right beside the Long Grove confectionary & sold only a few things. Third have more chocolate options, but not as many as the one with the line. A couple of the food tents had chocolate covered cheesecake, bacon & strawberries.
I was super disappointed in the lack of chocolate. At least we went early on the first day & didn’t have to pay admission. I do admit the food tents looked really good. They had a stage with live music & few shopping tents. Way too many advertisement tents with business selling roofing or bathroom renovation stuff — always a buzz kill at a fest. Seriously, who actually goes to those? Aside from the tent with all the chocolate, they did have a Puffs of Doom tent, which has awesome cream puffs. Those were the only two tents I liked & bought stuff from.
I probably wouldn’t go back unless they promised to feature more chocolate tents/​vendors.
Long grove, I love you, but you need to step up your game a bit.

Why should I pay $ 5 to see nothing when it used to be free to park and it was much better than then now the village had a lot of nice thing like the donuts and Christmas ornament shop now the village went down the drain. any other local town festival you don’t have to pay to park. I hope 53 goes right through it it would be a plus.

With chocolate in the name one would think chocolate fest would contain chocolates! Am I right? Well wrong! Unlike one previous post that highlighted the quaint town vibe and that it was a gem of a town which don’t get me wrong, Long grove is a nice place. The purpose of the visit with my family was to have some chocolates.
We did not attend quaint town fest or tiny gem town fest or long grove fest. We attended Chocolate fest, where there supposed to be chocolates! I didn’t make the name up, its the name given by the organizers! For heaven sakes just call it taste of Long Grove or something else.
To be fair the time had by my family was good but I’m not writing this review about the time we had but for the misleading advertising. We came here for chocolate and were treated with overly crowded streets and three stands for chocolate that had lines extending to Wisconsin. The stores were fine and the food okay but I would hope the event organizers either recruit more chocolatiers to participate or just change the name altogether. Chocolate fest = Fail.

I visited the chocolate fest yesterday for the first time and it was fun especially the bubbles that kept my daughter entertained. Shopped a few different stalls and overall was a good event.

What a HORRIBLE experience. Horrible planning, there was no place to park. There were no police directing traffic. After going to 2 lots that were full and spending an hour trying to park, we just left.
Don’t waste your time.

First time attending this, and the last time. disappointing, boring, and hardly any chocolate. It was like a carnival without the carnival. You had to buy tickets to buy unhealthy food such as funnel cakes, fried twinkies, hot dogs, burgers, etc. there are restaurants, which were just as packed as the streets.
There was like two chocolate stands, one chocolate store and a candy store. All the products were overly priced and can be purchased at other stores outside of the fest.
Check out the winery, it might be the best part of the fest!

My Fiancé and I missed this last year so we made it a point to go this year…
Talk about a depressing ass experience.
Overcrowded, which it is what it is. Pay the $ 5 cover and the first tent/​booth thing you’re greeted with is like jams and jellys. Next to that is 1 chocolate booth that has a line like you’re waiting for a ride at Disneyland or some shit.
Noticed one local shop mentioned «chocolate inside» sign and all they had was this tiny table of chocolate candles… such a joke.
It’s filled with mostly businesses trying to promote themselves and hand made arts and crafts.
Literally like 3 spots where you can get actual chocolate, that is… if you wanna wait in those lines.
Overpriced
Overcrowded
Very misleading
We were wondering why people were walking back to their cars all bummed out and depressed… well now we know why lol.
Will never go back, also the gas station owner was like «you see me pumping any gas?! This fest is a waste!» Just a miserable bastard man…
Don’t call it Chocolate Fest if you’re not going to have the supply for the demand idiots.
Call it Long Grove fest. Such a scam guys… stay away!

My husband and I went to the chocolate fest with one of my friends yesterday. It was fun, even though it was crowded. It was fun visiting the different booths. Also, we went to the Long Grove Confectionary and bought some sweets.

There is nothing «chocolate» about the chocolate festival. This is the 1^st time I went there with my toddlers expecting every stall will have chocolate. I was utterly disappointed. There were only 3 – 4 stalls that actually sold chocolate. rest served hot dog, pizza, chinese food etc. Please change the name to «food festival» or «taste of long grove» instead of «chocolate festival». Please don’t fool people.

We did the Chocolate Scavanger Hunt. You get chocolate tastings from 5 locations for $ 5. We go to the fest mainly for the apple cider donuts. The vendors on the street by the covered bridge are using a ticket system for the purchase of food and beverages.

Do not waste your time attending this. This should not even be called a chocolate festival it should just be a basic street festival.
There were hardly any stalls selling chocolate. For the stalls that were selling chocolate items, the crowds of people waiting were so long. Also I felt like the long grove confection shop was made to be the main attraction. You can go there any day of the week!
There were more stalls selling food, home improvement projects and crafts. I walked away with apple cider donuts. Does that sound like a chocolate festival to you? I think not.

Not a chocolate fest, barely any chocolate. They have a scavenger hunt that consists of little jewel Osco store bought candy… One chocolate candy shop and the annoyed employee told me she doesn’t know ingredients since they don’t make any of their products… There was one booth selling chocolate cheesecake and Chocolate grapes but it must have been bad since every time my friends and I walked passed there were no one in line. however there were a bunch of drunk angry parents hitting their kids or kicking their dogs. no wonder the town is going under :/

I’m not sure what’s with all the bad reviews but I absolutely loved Chocolate Fest. I thought that it gave a good opportunity for local businesses to get some recognition with the scavenger hunt and I loved the quaint town of Long Grove. I really hope other people will recognize how much of a gem this town is compared to the big name corporations taking over many Illinois towns nowadays! Will be coming back next year or maybe sooner for Apple Fest!

I was very disappointed this year with chocolatefest. They seemed to get smaller this year, and where was the pony rides? Bouncy house? It was lacking in the kids activities. The amount of chocolate vendors, wAs one. There were shops, but the problem is they were «closed for renovations». I really hope next year will not be like this, it wasn’t worth it this year. Maybe applefest will be better?

We decided to venture out to Long Grove Chocolate fest yesterday and lucked out with it not raining… YAY! By «we» I mean me, my husband, and of course the dog. We arrived around lunch hour and surprisingly found a free spot on the street. When we walked up to the fest they now have it completely roped off to ensure NO ONE doesn’t pay the five dollar per person admission fee. After paying we entered the fest and it was so sad seeing how there just wasn’t as many people as there used to be when this fest was in it’s prime. The place is literally a ghost town when these festivals aren’t occurring with only a handful of stores and shops. I had always wanted to go to Seasons of Long Grove for their brunch buffet or afternoon tea, but never dined there. I was shocked and sadden to see the place is now closed with a green sticker on their entrance.
They had some good vendors including a pet vendor that we purchased a few items from. We spoiled our pup with sweet potato treats and got a cute Chicago Bears magnet. A lot of the food vendors were moved around to different spots. Also, one end where majority of the food is they had it set up like The Taste of Chicago with food and drink tickets that must be purchased beforehand. That kind of stinks and means these food vendors may have to give profits to the City of Long Grove and also so revenue can be tracked easier. They cut out some great food vendors including the Chinese, and Gyros vendors. They had neighboring restaurants close by providing food including Smokin T’s, Luke’s of Mundelein, and Prairie House Tavern. We wished they had burgers given out from Prairie House because their burgers are AMAZING, but sadly they did not. They did have dark chocolate raspberry dream bars for 4 tickets. I LOVE anything chocolate with raspberry and it did not disappoint. Fresh raspberries along with dark chocolate and white chocolate chips. As a chocolate lover this was probably the best chocolate item here! The chocolate covered bacon wasn’t too great for 6 tickets. It was mushy instead of crispy bacon and was disappointing. We also shared a mediocre hot dog from Luke’s. We also went to the Long Grove Confectionery tent to get one chocolate covered strawberry and Apple Haus Apple Cider Doughnuts. The chocolate strawberry was delicious and the doughnuts as usual were outstanding! We ordered half a dozen doughnuts so that we could have some for breakfast the next couple days.
All in all less crowds mean ample parking spots, and no lines for food. We’ll come back again as long as the fest is still there lol.

While this review is of Chocolate Fest, you can say the same for Strawberry and Apple Fest’s since its essentially the same event. In my opinion, a money sucking exercise that doesn’t benefit the Long Grove retailers, who desperately need it, but the event company who conned the village and state tourism dollars.
Being a 30 plus year resident of the area, I’ve seen Long Grove from its heyday in the 80’s and 90’s to the «big box effected» shell of retail that it is today. The Fest parks gypsy food vendors and almost every home improvement company into booths on the street, blocking the retailers who pay monthly rent only to be shut out of the biggest crowds. The kicker this year was the $ 5 per person admission charge. What do you get for $ 5? A coupon for $ 5 off at a retailer when you spend $ 25. Good luck finding anything to spend at the retailers, let alone a retailer.

I’m a chocolate beast so when my friends talked about going to Chocolate Fest, I was fully onboard. I wish I could say it was the best thing ever, but it was just an alright experience for me.
It’s hard to find parking here later in the day, but if you get here first thing you can find free parking on the street or in the school’s parking lot. Chocolate Fest consists of mostly booths from various local & nonlocal places (I would say mostly non local), some with chocolate offerings but a lot just had merchandise they were selling. It’s a fun event and you can find some cool things to buy, but overall it’s not chocolate centric which is a bit sad. I was hoping to see some really inventive food options tat incorporate chocolate but it all seemed quite standard and I honestly was not blown away by anything I experienced.
For $ 5 you can buy a tasting card and try 6 tasting portions at various locations. See my picture for the options this year. My friends and I got chocolate macaroons from Sweet Whimsy Bakery, a chocolate flavored cigar (real one, not candy!) from Neumann’s, a Chocolate Mint Tea Bad from Potpourri (it was very tasty tea!), Chocolate Baklava from Long Grove Café, Chocolate Mousse also from Sweet Whimsy Bakery and something else which is escaping me right now.
Chocolate Fest was fun but I can’t say it’s something I would go to again.

The Long Grove fests (Chocolate, Strawberry, Apple) are always fun and a good excuse to visit the antique village. I hadn’t been to Chocolate Fest in a very long time so it was a joy to finally check it out again. There were definitely a lot of chocolate-​inspired booths lining the Long Grove streets, along with regular street food. My first stop was the Sweet Ride Chicago truck, a food truck I’ve been DYING to visit!!! I bought a red velvet whoopie pie and it was phenomenal.
Next I bought some yummy street tacos, which were served on small fresh corn tortillas and had a flavorful salsa. And for dessert (besides the whoopie pie) I ordered a nutella crêpe with strawberries. So good! I can’t wait for strawberry and apple fests. I always have to make a stop at Apple Haus for those flavored donuts during those weekends. Parking has gotten better over the years and the little town will never lose its charm.

Three full days of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate? Sign me up!
Today marked the end of Long Grove’s annual Spring Chocolate Fest weekend and I’m sure all that attended are sitting the same way I am tonight. With a belly ache!
As with most street festivals, Chocolate Fest is all about the food. Indulging your taste buds in all things bad for you is the name of the game here. While I expected miles and miles of dark chocolate paved streets, what I got was typical festival grub… corn dogs, funnel cakes, cheese fries, burgers, brats and dogs with only a few true blue chocolate offerings peppered in. Vendors were offering chocolate covered strawberries, choco-​dipped frozen bananas, chocolate chip cookie dough sundaes and chocolate cake donuts side-​by-​side with their pedestrian fare. Was hoping to see some really unique, fabu, inventive cocoa gone crazy — think along the lines of Vosges Mo’s Bacon Bar — but deep fried Oreos and waffles on a stick smothered in fudge were on hand instead. So be it. I’ll get down with the grease mongers, hand me a fried Snickers and let’s get this biznasty on the road!
In addition to the fatty, fatty, boombatty foodstuffs there are fortunately plenty of other activities to keep you entertained. Live music on four stages throughout town, ice cream eating contests, artisan booths (though not many), and shopping the adorable boutiques and grocers in the picturesque, historic village of Long Grove. Stop by Farmside Country Store for great wines and tasty Wisconsin cheeses or meander in the Confectionery for real chocolate treats like hand-​crafted truffles and fudge.
A nice blend of shopping, nostalgia and fest tents, though they need to work on amping up more than just junk chocolate offerings to really call this the consummate chocolate experience.