Chocolate Cafe

1855 Northwest Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43212
614.485.2233
website

A romantic little shop that sits along Northwest Boulevard between Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington, Chocolate Cafe has a wide variety of chocolates and confections to take to go, plus a light menu of sandwiches and lunch items. This is a neighborhood favorite haunt, there’s always a ton of people filing in during the mornings for a coffee or a sandwich, and mulling in and out throughout the day for a romantic lunch or a little dessert. There’s always more chocolates and candies than you can possibly try in one sitting and so it’s worth it to come in, and to come back.

The menu is mostly pretty light but let’s talk about those great desserts:

• Breakfast sandwich: An egg sandwich served Florentine style with spinach, tomatoes and a little bit of fruit on the side. Grilled kind of like a panini, but nothing like the classics!
• Brownies: Order these in the restaurant and they’re served warm and topped with a little chocolate sauce and fudge for a good extra sweetness.
• Truffles: There are a dozen or so flavors at a time, many of which provide simplicity and with some charm, like coffee or dark chocolate or coconut. My favorite would be the raspberry flavor, which adds a deep fruitiness and a lasting deep flavor.
• Chocolate covered rice krispes: Of course the treats are naturally sweet but dipping them in a nice sweet milk chocolate adds the delight of chocolate.

The restaurant has an easygoing charm to it, mostly because it’s a smaller shop and a pretty casual feeling emphasizing a laid-back feel and a friendly staff. It’s an inexpensive place and really, it’s all about the environment here. Food comes quickly, and people here really are just wonderful.

This part of Columbus, where Fifth by Northwest, Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington come together, has a lot of residents looking for good hang-out spots and they’re well-served by a place like the Chocolate Cafe. It’s part breakfast, part coffee shop, part dessert and part bistro in a way that isn’t replicated even in an area that is dense with restaurants. This little shop is just to cute to pass up.

Recommendations

• Parking is limited in that lot especially at meals, but there are plenty of places to park in the neighborhood around it.
• The chocolates can be packaged to-go.
• A good spot for breakfast in a part of town that has few local charms of its type.