Chocolate Moose

So I stroll up to the Moose at 4:00 pm on Saturday before Father’s Day Sunday to get a kitschy card and some wacky last-​minute presents for my dad, and I find the gate down and the door locked even though the shop is supposedly open until 5:00 pm on Saturdays, according to the front door and to Unilocal.I ended up with a bad-​punny card from CVS instead. That’s a terrible substitute for a Trump-​bashing political card.
Update your hours, Moose!
But still five stars for the store. Such unique stuff. I hope it sticks around… there was a similar shop on 14^th Street called Pulp and it shut down. So I am glad to have discovered the store and I will try to get there earlier from now on.
Still: Update your hours, Moose!

This place stocks one of my all time favorite chocolate candies! They’re called the ultimate chocolate covered malted milk ball and they have it all! These babies are layered with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and dusted with cocoa — all over a crunchy malted milk ball! Enough chocolate for you? Now, you can see why these are my favorite. Look for them. You’re welcome.
Maybe one day I will actually try some of the other chocolates from this cute little specialty shop? Or, maybe not.

I adore this store. It’s just one of those stores that I was walking by, saw the display, and immediately had to check it out. It has tons of quirky little knick-​knacks ranging from Sloth tea-​infusers to mini zen gardens to umbrellas with the DC Metro Map on them. I got all of my boyfriends stocking stuffers from here and he loved it! He brags about them to this day because of how unique they are. The staff is also super friendly and helpful — I’ve never had anyone be rude to me. They also offered chocolate goodies which include the usual chocolate truffles and even chocolate covered bacon! It’s such a quirky store and I love it. The only thing to keep in mind is that most of the stuff in here is a little pricey but I think some of the novelty items are worth paying for.

Great place for cute gifts and chocolates. The chocolates are sold by the pound and come in a nice red gift box. My friend that received them said they were enjoyable. I also picked up a gigantic wrapped peanut butter cup, s’mores flavor!
In addition to chocolates they sell little knick knack type things like corgi salt and pepper shakers, magnetic holders for your fridge, jewelry, and handmade art.
Service was friendly. Overall a nice place for gifts, chocolate, or for small items for your home.

Snooty owners upset about the presence of a bike lane out front go out of their way to sabotage it. Need overpriced sugar and/​or crap? Look elsewhere.
Avoid, avoid, avoid.

A staple of DC, this is the place to go to get gifts, cards, and chocolate. There is something in this store for everybody. Whether you are getting a gift for a newborn or a card for someone turning 60, this store has it.
Chocolate Moose has some of the best customer service I’ve ever encountered. Employees offered help as soon as I walked in the door. And there’s always good blues/​funk music playing.
And to top it off, they have the best chocolate! They are the only store in the city that carries Leonidas Belgian chocolate, and they have other kinds of chocolate/​candy as well.
Definitely my favorite store in DC!

Bought almost all my Christmas gifts here for family and friends. While all were well received, favorites seem to have been the «cheese puzzle» game for the car, and some chocolates for my sweetie. The dog butt magnets have been well utilized too.
Staff proved it could scurry from one spot to the next while staying polite, helpful, and cute to boot.

Love love love the unique items in this store. You don’t know what you want until you see it here. I found some eccentric cards and some vulgar packs of gum. This store may not be for the sensitive person. But for everyone else… check it out. The ladies behind the counter weren’t too friendly, maybe they feel they don’t have to be since their product sells for itself. I’m sure if they did something as greet customers they would get more return business or a simple word of mouth referral here and there. If the customer service was good, I would have given 5 stars.

This place is so cool. They have the neatest assortments of quirky gifts. I like coming here to see what odd things I can find, especially when I’m in need of a gift. This place will get packed around Valentine’s Day and Christmas time, because everyone else is there looking for the same thing.
Some of their gifts are a bit on the pricier side, but where else would you even find some of this stuff?

This place is my first stop for quirky cards, and because I work on the same block. The store has everything you didn’t know existed and then some, seriously.
I’ve picked up cocktail napkins, cards, a sudoku book, and a game by the makers of bananagrams. I’ve stopped myself from buying notepads and witty books for friends and family. Decent selection of coffee table-​esque books and humorous reads, as well as various puzzle like games. They also stock New Yorker cards and labels you won’t find at Hallmark.
Strangely, there is a small section dedicated to scarves/​wraps and jewelry. There isn’t any order when it comes to paying, there are always two or three people manning the registers just taking your items as you come up. It can verge on the chaotic side during holidays. I mean just go in, you’re bound to buy something and go back.

You weren’t specifically looking for a Superman apron? What about a game of Pass the Pigs? A giant peanut butter cup? Well, it doesn’t matter why you entered Chocolate Moose – it will be difficult to exit without one of their many random, goofy, and often unnecessary items. They also sell chocolate, but even some of that is random, goofy, and often unnecessary.
This store is the ultimate place to shop for White Elephant, Secret Santa, and general gag gifts. The main problem is that it’s a bit overpriced, but they sell the kind of treasures you would only be able to find on Amazon by searching specifically for «oven mitt tattoo.»
There is no other store like this in the area, which is why I love it so much. Shopping there is fun and funny, but more importantly, I seem fun and funny when I’m the girl with the cow-​shooter at the next party.

This place is so cute. Lots of quirky little gifts. I was just passing by and stopped in but I ended up walking out with christmas gifts for three different people.

Are you looking for a quirky gift? Look no further! Chocolate Moose is the place to go… Nestled under some scaffolding (for now), this place has the most unique things, at fairly reasonable prices. They also have chocolate, which looks really delicious, but I haven’t tried it yet. They have witty and sarcastic cards for all occasions, and tons and tons of STUFF. Do you need chattering teeth? Maybe a rubber chicken? Obama magnets that you can dress up and write on? It’s all here. My latest success story was buying a wedding gift for a friend. It was last minute, and she was going to be in DC. I found the CUTEST card for her and her now wife, and I also got them «Haikubes.» Now they are a big fan of Haikus and writing them all the time, so I knew this would be perfect. They’re basically dice with words on them, and you arrange them into Haikus. Very unique — and they LOVED it! Side note, I found a bag that had BACON on it to use as the gift bag. They also had a bag with macaroni and cheese, a bag with cats, etc. I could go on forever. This place is fab. Come with a sense of humor!

Great greeting cards and kitschy gifts.

I have a wind-​up monkey and pig proudly perched on my desk at work which gives people the wrong impression that I’m rather juvenile. Mostly because I wind them up and then crack up when the monkey does back flips.
The point is that the Chocolate Moose is full of totally absurd knick-​knacks and a lot of really randomly cool things like board games, cardboard cut outs of President Obama, Vosges chocolates (which I love!), enviro-​sac bags and hand made jewelry.
Stop by if you’re looking to pick up small gifts for friends who have a sense of humor. Or for those aforementioned wind up toys. Because silly things like that make my day!

I work nearby, so I’ve been to the Moose several times since I wrote my first, very clipped review. I do think this is still THE place to buy knick-​knacks and silly greeting cards. If you need a white elephant gift, this is the place to come. However, I’ve been less than impressed with the attitude of the staff in my last couple visits.
I went in and bought an Enviro-​Sac bag a while back. The girl at the check out counter asked if I wanted a bag. I giggled, since the only thing I was buying was a bag. «Uh, no I don’t want a bag for my bag…» She was not amused. Not sure how you can work in a place like this and not have a sense of humor, but apparently it’s possible.
On another trip, I asked about a particular Christmas tree ornament that was hanging on a display. I wanted to buy it and it was the last one in the store, so one of the employees went to the back to get the box for it. By the time she got back with the box, I had changed my mind and chosen a different ornament. How could I resist? This place will give anyone ADD. I apologized to her and said that I’d changed my mind and wanted to go with another one and she rolled her eyes as she all but slammed the ornament (in its box) back on to the display.
Again, it’s a fun place to come because of the product on the shelves, but don’t expect stellar customer service (or even a smile) when you do.

Chocolate Moose is an eclectic little shop full of oddities and strange presents for your friends that are hard to buy for – and they have chocolate! I actually went in because the name/​storefront caught my eye as I was passing by on a sweltering DC day, and I’m glad I went in!
Though I ended up not purchasing anything (the items in there are awesome, but waaaay over my price range,) I was very amused by things such as the risqué greeting cards, novel board games, and inventive new twists on household items. The chocolates/​desserts looked delicious as well, and were cutely organized in a clean display case.
My only real complaint would be that the staff was pretty apathetic towards the customers – almost on the verge of being rude. However, if you can afford to splurge a little, I’d recommend checking out Chocolate Moose, if you are ever in need of a silly item for yourself or a friend. Just don’t expect the staff to be very warm/​welcoming, and expect your wallet to weep a little.

Sometimes you need a «I RARELY MAKE SUCH POOR DECISIONS WHEN I’M SOBER. I“M SORRY» card.
They’ll have it here. They won’t have it at Paper Source or Papyrus. ‘Nuff said.
They also have goodies that are targeted toward people who feel the need to bring some joy to their nearby downtown offices (God bless those good people)…de-motivating post its, mugs with funny cartoon characters on the bottom, etc…
For a more traditional gift, consider the candy case, where you can purchase Leonidas chocolates by the piece/​pound, as well as goodies such as chocolate-​dipped oreos and sea-​salt caramels. The employees tend to be a friendly, helpful lot.
Prices aren’t cheap here, but they are what I would call reasonable by downtown standards.

This was a fun little place to shop. They had toys, gifts for everyone, clothing, ecclectic stuff really. The chocolates were fantastic too — seems like they are mostly imported but they were unique alright. It was worth the stop!

Great for fun and unexpected gifts. Some fun cards and candy are also available. Unique and over-​the-​top but yet still somewhat tasteful :)

If you need a last minute greeting card or interesting gift, look no further than Chocolate Moose! As a paper enthusiastic I love that they carry a wide range of interesting greeting cards, as well as creative knick knacks and gag gifts that you aren’t likely to find elsewhere in DC. As the name suggests, they also have a chocolate counter where you can buy specialty sweets.
To give you a better idea of the random assortment of pleasantries you will find in the store, I will disclose that my last purchase was of the following:
–A «Who Am I?» card game for parties
–A set of temporary tattoos in the shape of dinosaurs that go on your hands to make them into dino hand puppets
–2 birthday cards
–A pen shaped like Jesus
Um, LOVE IT.

An Elvis Presley cutting board, color on me place mats, Belgian chocolate candy, a pizza plate that looks like an actual pizza, fun kid’s toys, funky boxers, retro martini glasses, unique picture frames — this is just a sampling of what you’ll find at this place.
Every time I walk past it or go inside, the place is generally pretty busy. They seem to have a steady stream of traffic and the people who work there seem to know their customers and chat it up with them.
I love the randomness of this store. Most recently I was able to buy a hilarious «good bye» card for one of my co-​workers that I would’ve never gotten at any Hallmark or Borders.
I saw a couple of bags I’d love to rock. They seem to change up the selection of things often. This stores is just a few blocks from my office and I love that every time I go in I discover something new and off the wall. Great spot to pick up a unique and funky gift!

Normally, I love paper dolls. Except for when that doll is my president and I’m forced to debate whether to put boxers on him or… wait for it… a gold chain.
Regardless, Chocolate Moose has a ton of fun, kitchy, cards, key chains, games, art and other cool knick knacks that make for great gifts. Think Spencer’s with a little less pour-​some-​sugar-​on-​me and a little more creativity and taste.
This is the perfect place to go when you need that not-​so-​generic and yet a bit generic gift for someone dear.
Can’t wait to come back soon and check out what’s new.