Our Favorite Chocolate Shops in Santa Fe
Santa Fe has a surprisingly diverse chocolate scene, featuring everything from historic drinking chocolate elixirs to chocolate bars, truffles, baked goods, and more. This makes sense when you consider Santa Fe’s extensive history - chocolate was a coveted ingredient before European colonization in traditional Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, Mayan, and Aztec cultures. A thousand-year-old pottery shard from Chaco Canyon was even found to have trace amounts of chocolate on it.
Today, Santa Fe has many more chocolate shops than you might expect for a city of its size. Whether you’re looking to get a gift for someone special, grab a bite to eat on the go, or just want to treat yourself to something sweet, the City Different has plenty of options to choose from.
The Best Chocolate Shops in Santa Fe
Best hot chocolate: Kakawa
Best cafe: Chocolate Maven
Best truffles: Sweet Santa Fe
Best bars: Art of Chocolate
1. Kakawa
Located off of Paseo de Peralta near downtown Santa Fe, Kawaka Chocolate House is a specialty chocolate shop with a passion for authentic and historic drinking chocolate elixirs. A more authentic version of the typical American hot chocolate, these drinking chocolates have a history stretching back centuries, with origins in traditional Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, Mayan, and Aztec cultures.
Kakawa sells and serves chocolate drinking elixirs in Mesoamerican, historical European, and contemporary styles. They also offer chocolate bars, individual chocolates, chili flavored chocolates, chocolate mendiants, caramels, truffles, and more. This unique chocolate shop is a must-visit if you’re looking for something sweet in Santa Fe!
Our picks: Chili Elixir, Kakawa House Blend Dark Chocolate Bar, truffles
2. Art of Chocolate
Art of Chocolate, otherwise known as Cacao Santa Fe, offers handcrafted bean to bar specialty chocolate bars made locally in Santa Fe. They also feature single-origin coffee. Their chocolate and coffee beans are sourced from all over the world, including Hawaii, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and more.
Our picks: Goat’s Milk Dark Milk Chocolate, French Lavender Drinking Chocolate
3. The Chocolate Smith
On Cerrillos Road just a short walk from downtown Santa Fe, the Chocolate Smith is a chocolate lover’s paradise. They offer everything from craft chocolate confections with red chile to caramels, mendients, barks, and more. The owners of the Chocolate Smith also own Whoo’s Donuts, which is right next store if you’re looking to complement your chocolate selection with some tasty baked goods.
Our picks: Red Chile Pistachio Bark, Coconut Clusters
4. Chocolate en La Plaza
As the name suggests, Chocolate en La Plaza is located right off of the Santa Fe plaza, making it a great stop if you’re exploring downtown. They offer delicious craft chocolates and truffles with creative blends featuring ingredients like earl grey tea, honey, lavender, and red chile. Chocolate en La Plaza also offers delicious drinking chocolates and lattes to take with you on the go for a day of exploring Santa Fe’s sights!
Our picks: Ginger Lavender Bar, Earl Grey Truffle, Salted Drinking Chocolate
5. Sweet Santa Fe
Sweet Santa Fe is a chocolate shop and cafe located on the south side of the city in the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe. While it may be a little off the beaten path, this chocolate shop is definitely worth the drive. Sweet Santa Fe’s truffles are a stand-out item - each truffle is handmade in small batches, then hand-rolled and hand-dipped.
Sweet Santa Fe also operates a cafe that serves desserts and drinks as well as breakfast and lunch options like the New Mexico Sunrise, featuring farm fresh eggs, sausage, and white cheddar on a red chile salt bagel, or their Toasted Tomato and Cheese sandwich. From artfully prepared sandwiches to artisanal small-batch chocolates and other sweet treats like truffles, fudge, and sipping chocolate, Sweet Santa Fe’s dedication to quality shines through in all of its offerings.
Our picks: Truffles, Sipping Chocolates, New Mexico Sunrise
6. Chocolate Maven
The Chocolate Maven is located in Santa Fe’s thriving Second Street district, a few miles from the center of town. Not only do they sell delicious chocolate, but they also prepare and sell baked goods and offer breakfast, brunch, and even high tea in their cozy cafe. The Maven has been a Santa Fe staple for decades, with origins over fifty years ago as a tiny Santa Fe pastry shop known for brownies, hot chocolate, and late-night poetry readings. Since then, the Chocolate Maven has grown into a thriving bakery, cafe, and confectioner.
Our picks: Belgian Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Flourless Chocolate Torte
7. Chocolate and Cashmere
The proprietors of Chocolate and Cashmere offer a winning combo: delicious craft chocolate and cozy, soft cashmere sweaters. Located just a short walk from the plaza, this shop is a must-visit whether you’re a fan of chocolate, cashmere, or both! They also feature other clothing items, jewelry, bags, and beauty items. If you make a visit to Chocolate and Cashmere, it will be hard to resist walking out the door with at least one or two items from their artfully curated selection.
Our picks: Chocolate Bon Bons, Caramels, Chocolate Brittle
8. Senor Murphy’s
Senor Murphy’s is the perfect image of a kid’s favorite candy shop. This festive store has two locations, one in the DeVargas Mall, and one downtown near the La Fonda hotel. Both locations offer all kinds of candy and confections to choose from, including chocolate bars, fudge, bark, roasted nuts, and more. This is a great store to bring kids to, and it’s also a fun place to browse and pick up some sweet treats!
Our picks: Chocolate Chile Bar, Lavender Turkish Lemon Bar
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