35073 Wed Mar 16 18:28:59 -0800 2005 15 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 159742 Has anyone gone on the Schaffen Berger Chocolate factory tour in Berkeley and was it any good? Any other food tour recommendations in the Bay area? Thanks! Wed Mar 16 18:28:59 -0800 2005 0 Rick 1 159752 The Scharffen Berger tour is fun, but the factory store is even more fun (nothing but the tour is free, unfortunately). It's a great old brick building, and I believe that SB is the only chocolate maker in the US to open its factory doors to the public on an ongoing basis. Don't know about any other food tours, but you might make an extended outing of the SB tour by following up with a stop at the adjoining Cafe Cacao and/or Bittersweet on College Ave. in Oakland (try the European hot chocolate and the dark chocolate French-style macaroon). Wed Mar 16 19:19:58 -0800 2005 159742 0 Liz B 1 159844 i know the hershey's plant in oakdale is open for tours, so i suppose the original plant in pennsylvania is as well. Thu Mar 17 12:35:44 -0800 2005 159753 0 ed 1 159754 In Fairfield is the Jelly Belly factory tour. Live during the week, taped on weekends. Wed Mar 16 19:24:00 -0800 2005 159742 0 Louise 1 159755 We went on a Saturday, nothing was running, so kind of boring. I think the weekday tours are suppose to be more fun. The store has nice chocolat you can buy, but not at a discount or anything. I think you can get better pricing in other places. Wed Mar 16 19:28:18 -0800 2005 159742 0 Wendy Lai 2 159758 I completely agree. On a Saturday we sat in a room and looked at pictures of chocolate. Only one or two samples and very little factory. Wed Mar 16 19:38:27 -0800 2005 159755 0 Windy 3 159787 That's interesting cause I went with a group during the summer - on a weekday - and they gave us lots of samples, from each stage of the processing. The cafe is quite good too - good sandwiches and salads - and desserts of course. The Jelly Belly factory tour is fun too - but do go on a weekday to really see it in action. Wed Mar 16 21:47:49 -0800 2005 159758 0 Barbara 3 159816 What a bummer! On a weekday we saw each stage of the process and were given lots of samples to try, so that we could get a sense of what the percentages mean in practice. The cafe had not yet opened, but we enjoyed hot chocolate in the waiting area/store. Thu Mar 17 08:46:51 -0800 2005 159758 0 bernalgirl 3 159823 I also went on a weekday last September and was impressed by the impassioned explanation of the process, especially how moist and gross cacao seeds get, and the multiple samples of the process and their varieties. I've been to other chocolate-making factories, and this was the most informative. They also make you wear hairnets and bright red ear muffs, which make for good photos :) Thu Mar 17 10:30:37 -0800 2005 159758 0 AppleSister 2 160082 Hi Wendy- You mention the candy pricing at the factory is not all that good- any recommendations on where to buy their candy at reasonable prices? Is their candy available pertty much everywhere? Thank you Fri Mar 18 15:06:06 -0800 2005 159755 0 Rick 3 160111 Lowest prices are at the Berkeley Bowl or at Trader Joe's, which has a slightly different label but does say Scharffenberger on it. Worst prices are at SFO--perhaps 100% markup. Fri Mar 18 18:35:31 -0800 2005 160082 0 Windy 1 159786 The Anchor Steam Brewery tour is a winner. I think you need to make a reservation about a month in advance, though. Link: http://www.anchorbrewing.com/about_us/tourinfo.htm Wed Mar 16 21:47:13 -0800 2005 159742 0 Liz 2 159817 I second the Anchor Steam tour, this is a good one. Lots of fun for a small group. Thu Mar 17 08:48:11 -0800 2005 159786 0 bernalgirl 1 1750825 I just went on the tour this past Sunday, and it was a lot of fun. The tour guide was very nice and had interesting and amusing things to say. We had a lot of chocolate during the tour, and even though the factory wasn't exactly buzzing, we did get to see the machines grinding the cacao beans and the conveyor belt shooting out chocolate bars. Let's put it this way -- it was a fun enough experience for me that I wanted to come here and say it was worth doing. I also wrote this blog post about it, which contains some pictures. http://www.consumating.com/blog/2006/07/but_where_were_the_oompa_loomp.html Tue Jul 18 06:01:36 -0700 2006 159742 10042 Ben Brown 2 2417378 I think its pretty cool that Scharffen Berger does tours...you don't find many fine chocolate makers that will let you walk through their factory...fun tour. Robert Chocolate Connoisseur Sat Mar 24 12:40:09 -0700 2007 1750825 77989 aguynamedrobert 1 2418443 Fun and intersting tour. Cafe Cocoa is very good. The ladies room smelled like chocolate! Sun Mar 25 00:09:42 -0700 2007 159742 85649 debbonow