Sunday 24 July 2011
GHIRARDELLI SQUARE, SAN FRANCISCO
On the walk towards Ghirardelli Square from our dinner at Scoma’s, we passed by another one of these “In-N-Out” burger restaurants. I now regret not having eaten a burger here as my cuz said this is the place you would eat a fast food burger if you wanted a fast food burger. I asked if it compares to White Spot burgers. My cousins have tasted White Spot burgers and said it’s really not as good as White Spot, but way better than McDonald’s. I suspect that White Spot has an edge because of its special sauce.
This is the walk along Jefferson Street towards Ghirardelli Square.
The SF trolleys had a huge lineup! yikes!
You can kind of see a part of the lineup in the left of the picture behind the trolleys. I imagine it would be over an hour wait.
Getting closer…
Inside Ghirardelli Square, there are gift shops and other eateries.
I noticed a cupcake shop in the square and had to walk through it to see what goodies they had to offer. They looked very cute.
Ghirardelli has two points in the square where you can purchase chocolates or eat. There is a small chocolate shop and cafe on one side of the square.
In the bigger location, where the chocolate factory is, you are greeted by a welcoming treat: a piece of Ghirardelli chocolate. Yum! We tasted the caramel-filled chocolates.
My, my. So much chocolate. I had a limited amount of space in my carry-on luggage and thought I should forgo the super deal that was advertised: 80 count overstock only...$24.95 Buy 2 bags, get $5 off; buy 3 bags get $10 off. I was sorely tempted though.
If you take the other entrance, you can see another section of the store, where there is a much quieter soda fountain and chocolate shop upstairs (where you are greeted with a piece of chocolate again) and some stairs that lead to the factory downstairs. Amidst the churning chocolate, you can sit down to eat your confections and your desserts.
It’s free to take a gander at the chocolate making process and the kids liked seeing it…especially my 8 year old. The 4 year old got bored pretty quickly. It’s definitely a good place to have a snack and purchase some good chocolates. I ended up with a huge bag of caramel-filled chocolates (thanks cuz!), and a box of dark chocolates (my chocolate of choice) to take home to Vancouver. The caramel-filled chocolates are so good…like an upscale Cadbury Caramilk bar; but every element is so much more refined. They leave me wondering “Just how do they get the caramel filling in the chocolate bar?” I like how the chocolates are two-bite sized, individually wrapped and wafer thin too. So elegant. So Yum!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I haven't been to San Francisco in years. Almost every shop you mentioned is "new". Of coarse Ghirardelli had it's shops, but I don't remember being able to watch them make chocolate.
I don't think we ever stood in line to ride the cable cars either.
Post a Comment