The Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop

The Golden History of Chocolate Factories in San Francisco  - Eater SF

"If you trek all the way down to Ghirardelli Square, which locals rarely do, and get into that long line of tourists, which was a constant before the pandemic, you can smell it — chocolate in the air. Ghirardelli doesn’t actually manufacture chocolate in San Francisco anymore, but that doesn’t diminish the gloss of the Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop, with its exposed brick, brass rails, and two levels’ worth of old-timey equipment and fun history facts. Not to mention gooey hot fudge sundaes. Melted down daily from wafers, the fudge is ultra-smooth, with the telltale sheen of emulsifiers and stabilizers, and an aroma that billows out onto the square the same way Cinnabon cinnamon scents a mall." - Becky Duffett