And guess who has recently completed her special mission? That’s right, it’s me 
I forgot if I’ve told anyone on this forum, but over the past few weeks I’ve been going to different spots all around Chicago to find the city’s best hot chocolate. I’ve just visited my last stop earlier this week, and I’m excited to present:
Stella’s Chi-Town Hot Chocolate Tier List
We’re gonna kick off with Katherine Anne Confections in the northwest side, a local woman-owned chocolatier with locations in Logan Square and Irving Park. Their hot chocolate is on the pricier side but it is genuinely excellent. You can order a flight of three hot chocolates for about $13, or stick to a single cup for about $7. They come with a toasted marshmallow of choice which dissolves into this gooey goodness as you drink it 
And yep, they add chocolate “caviar” too!
Not too far away is Mindy’s Bakery in Wicker Park! Also a Chicago-based, woman-owned establishment. Their hot chocolate also comes with a marshmallow and is so rich, it’s practically half a breakfast. Or a full breakfast. It filled me up pretty well for sure.
But before you trot out here, be warned: it costs $13 per cup 
their pastries on the other hand are less wallet-breaking and just as delish! My writing buddy who went with me can at least confirm that their snickerdoodle cookies are elite.
Forgive the lack of an inside photo; it was a very busy hour and there was no place to sit inside and chill.
Last but not least is the American chocolatier, L. A. Burdick in River North! Also the most convenient option for tourists, anyone downtown, and if you want to relax indoors and work on your laptop. The founder of this company was determined to bring European-style chocolate to America after tasting chocolates in Europe, and I think he succeeded. Their hot chocolate costs about $6 or a little more per cup, which again isn’t cheap, but it is also very good and nowhere near as bank-breaking as Mindy’s.
The croissant was good, but the chocolate was better.
Their bars aren’t too pricey for the quality as well: $10 for European-quality, American-made chocolate bars. I shared some with my college roommate who claimed she hated most chocolate products. My friends, a small piece was enough to change her mind 
I may or may not have also blown up at my younger brother for stealing the unopened bar I had been saving AFTER I GIFTED HIM HIS OWN BAR. AND HE STILL TOOK MINE 
Up next we have the cups that may not be the absolute best, but still clear a good chunk of the competition. They’re also relatively budget-friendly!
I have to start off this tier with what I believe to be the best bang-for-your-buck hot chocolate, and that would be the Mexican hot chocolate from Café Jumping Bean in Pilsen. This café was my last stop on a three-part hot chocolate hunt earlier this week, and I only had the space—and money—for the smallest cup they offered. And guess what: it was only $3-ish! For the best Mexican hot chocolate I have ever had in town!
This was taken while I was awkwardly standing by the window for twenty minutes because they ran out of seats inside but I also didn’t wanna stand in the cold outdoors.
It was in a convenient location too, since it was on the same street as some of the best tacos around Chicago.
If you’re craving a unique cup of European hot chocolate that isn’t the famous Parisian style, Sfera Sicilian Street Food in Edgewater offers a citrus-infused hot chocolate up north. And get this: they come not with one, not two, but three marshmallows! And the marshmallows are citrus-infused too 
It’s $5-ish per cup after taxes. That’s cheaper than boba tea prices 
This place was also featured on a Guy Fieri show—not for their hot chocolate, but for their arancini and other savory Sicilian treats. Great if you want something salty and meaty to complement the sweetness!
Forget pizza, gimme my orange-y Italian hot chocolate this season!
Moving continents again, we arrive at Chocolat Uzma in Pilsen—a woman-owned, minority-owned, Chicago-based small business with a solid cup of hot chocolate! The owner is of South Asian heritage and many of her products have South Asian touches to them. They also sell chocolate bars for $9.50 each, and I can attest that they’re wonderful 
See that chocolate bar in the back? I may or may not have finished it earlier than expected.
Bringing this back to Europe for a bit with a trip to Hotel Chocolat, a UK-based chocolatier with locations up north in Lakeview and Lincoln Park. A cup was about $5-ish and they have several options. Their chocolates seemed pricier though, I remember seeing chocolate bars going for $15 each but I remember @CoffeebyNight saying they were pretty good in another thread!
This place lowkey feels like a cozy hotel lobby—free wifi, a spacious seating layout, and sleep-inducing lighting!
While Hotel Chocolat might have a more French-sounding name (the French word for chocolate removes the letter “e” at the end), Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Café in Lakeview arguably has a more French vibe. The really neat thing about their hot chocolate is that they serve it on a tray if you’re dining in, and the taste is one of the most interesting I’ve come across. It has unique notes of… fruitiness? Nuttiness? Berry-ness? I can’t pin it down. All I know is that it’s different.
Even the glass is served separately!
To close it out with something a little more classic, we’re heading to A Taste of Heaven in Andersonville, the Scandinavian part of town up north. I didn’t order food but the rest of the table did when we went there, one of whom had been a few times but couldn’t recall what any of the stuff he ordered in the past tasted like 
thankfully, their hot chocolate was memorable!
That is not ice cream—that’s a thick and giant scoop of whipped cream!
This is for those cups that aren’t near the top of the pyramid, but still definitely above average.
The first entry of this tier was also the last hot chocolate stop I visited: Cocoa + Co in Old Town, right across from Lincoln Park. They had multiple kinds of hot chocolate. My friend who was with me got the La Parisienne, while I ordered the Classic Dark and Mayan Magic. I think the Classic Dark was my favorite of the three, while my friend wasn’t a fan of the Mayan Magic and couldn’t taste much of a difference between the other two (other than one having more sugar than the other). I think it was $6-ish per cup too, which wasn’t the cheapest.
I was far too lazy to open both lids for a pic.
Heading further north is Loaves and Witches in Edgewater, a witch-themed café right across a public library. As a non-coffee drinker, it was refreshing to find a café with good non-coffee drinks that was great for laptop work and also open late (on some days)!
Their matcha lattes are good too!
If you’re more in the mood for desserts or sugary snacks and just want something hot to drink with, head to any Xurro location! Their Mexican hot chocolate, while good, isn’t mind-blowing. Their churros though? Amazing. And it’s only $1.50 per churro!
@Churro look, your namesake!
Hot chocolate was good, but the churros were way better.
Keeping things Mexican, we have Xoco in River North. I went here with a friend after watching KPOP Demon Hunters in the movie theater. He got the Aztec hot chocolate while I got the Mexico City hot chocolate. The former was poured in front of us at our table, which was neat; as for the drink itself, it was thinner than I expected and also strangely… sour? There was a tiny bit of spice but it wasn’t as spicy as I expected. Their Mexico City hot chocolate was much richer.
Those are Xoco’s mini churros! Their churros were good, but Xurro’s were better.
Concluding this with a chill café called Chiqueolatte in the northwestern part of town, in Logan Square. They had free wifi and pretty cool seating. Unfortunately they had to close early on the day I went due to a private event happening that night. On the bright side, they offered me a free strawberry waffle from someone else’s canceled pickup order!
Is it just me, or do those tables in the back look like they’re floating?
If you’re wondering why I ended the tier list at the mid-top tier, it’s because I felt like it would be mean of me to include the places I didn’t really like 
which was a shame for some of them too because it includes places I really wanted to like, but didn’t but if you still want the names, I can readily tell y’all.
Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait! I know I had a lot of fun doing this, and so did the friends who joined me! 
And nope, they did not follow me to every spot. I did a lot of these solo. I think the most I’ve checked out with another person were three hot chocolate spots, including Mindy’s as a starter… needless to say, by the third stop, we were so full we shared a cup and still couldn’t finish it
I also loved how a lot of the good spots were local businesses, and there’s hardly anything better to support than a good neighborhood spot 
For those wondering about my wallet, don’t worry, I am not gonna exclusively get hot chocolate at a fancy shop from now on 
it’s back to Milo or whatever store-bought powder is already laying around in the house. These places shall remain as once-in-a-while treats, whether for myself or for other people 
@NatilladeCoco remember those chocolatiers I mentioned a long while back? Well you have more options to explore
@Akje oh and remind me to try out the Aldi chocolate next week, in case I forget!
Yeah, that’s pretty cool you weere able to see so any stars. And that’s a pretty good aurora capture 
I have one like that last year as well–well several.
this bowl in particular is their November special, a yuzu shio with thin straight noodles, house-made pork wontons, and a wonderfully light and bright broth 
his favorite cereal ever was Special K with dried strawberries. From the packaging and the fact that it had dried fruit, it was made out to be one of the healthier cereals, and it looked just like cornflakes, one of my favorites.
and as always, I’d love to see other people’s pictures too 
