Fannie May Candy – Best Chocolate in Chicago

Fannie May Candies are the best in Chicago and possibly rival the best gourmet chocolate in the world. They are one of the required things to check out if you are visiting Chicago. They are the Ghirardelli of Chicago. Fannie May opened in 1920 and has been producing quality gourmet chocolate candy for every holiday and special occasion you can think of. They briefly shut down their stores in January of 2004 as parent company Archibald Candy Co tried to emerge from bankruptcy filings that were made in 2002. The lines outside the stores wrapped around the block as many candy lovers tried to stock up on the candy that they may have been ignoring latley due to a lack of popularity and image. (they were known as an old lady’s chocolate for a while)

It ended up happening that they re-opened the quaint and friendly Fannie May stores 12 months later in December 2004. This led some people to believe that they just closed stores to create scarcity of the chocolates and then re-open them once there was a higher demand and a lot of press attention. No one really knows if that is true. One thing is true, they haven’t changed the chocolates at all. The ads are more about high end luxury looking gourmet chocolate now, and less vintage looking catering to the 50-60 yr old crowd, and people of all ages flock to stores to buy pixies, trinidads and mint meltaways.

One of my favorites are the Mint Meltaways. They are a green or regular chocolate covered mint chocolate cubes. They are a soft creamy chocolate on the inside and they do melt in your mouth. They are also addictive chocolates! You can go through 1/2 a box in one sitting easily. Mint meltaways do make a great Hostess, Christmas or Birthday gift for someone. I give them as gifts in the office to bosses and coworkers because everyone loves them so much. The Trinidads are also a Chicago favorite. They combine the sweet exterior of white chocolate and toasted coconut with the soft inside creamy dark rich chocolate. It is a great combination.

Many people eat Trinidads out of the mixed assortment boxes first or buy a box of Trinidad Chocolates on their own. The only thing that could be better than a trinidad is a Pixie. Pixies are a base of walnuts with a layer of caramel on top and a layer of milk chocolate on top of that. They are amazingly rich. These too make a great gift. Latley Fannie May has updated it’s products to include Truffles that are amazing as well. Check them out on Michigan Avenue in their Flagship store or in one of the suburban locations. They also have a wonderful catalog that you can sign up for here. They will deliver by mail or you can send the chocolates directly to your gift recipient.