Alert, Chocoholics!

The best part of my work trip to Virginia Beach this past week was discovering (thanks to the totally random suggestion of a stranger on the street who noticed the perplexed looks on our faces as we wandered aimlessly seeking out ice cream) The Royal Chocolate.

Located in Virginia Beach's Town Center complex, the independently owned Royal Chocolate makes its own line of choco-treats and sells dozens of other brands of chocolate--milk, dark, and white--in bars, truffles, clusters, and nearly any other form you can think of. You can savor hot chocolate coffee drinks, gourmet chocolate toffee apples, chocolate fondue, chocolate covered marshmallows, and, if you can't eat chocolate but just want your house to smell like it, chocolate scented candles. The Royal Chocolate also makes thematic gift baskets such as the chocolate sea shells collection (an appropriate souvenir from Virginia Beach.)

One of the owners explained to us that The Royal Chocolate attempts to stock hometown favorites from both the USA and abroad. Because nearby Norfolk is home to the largest Navy base on the planet, people from all over the globe pass through Virginia Beach, and if they crave a particular Toblerone bar or other chocolate product, The Royal Chocolate aims to have it in stock. Nearly any chocolate brand you can think of is represented here, including many popular organic and gourmet dark chocolate lines as well as famous brands from Europe. This shop has the most comprehensive array of chocolate options I have ever seen in one spot, which is impressive, and as an ardent supporter of independent businesses, I wish the owners continued success.