Make your own Chocolate Bars & Chocolate Box

Badge of Excellence

Santa Barbara, USA

High interest

Booked 2 times today.

1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.6

· Barbara_K ·

Aug 2026

Loved that we got to choose what type of chocolate we each wanted our chocolate bars to be. Also loved that we had a wide range of toppings to choose from. And the unexpected surprise was that we each got to paint and decorate our own box to store our chocolate bats in! My 11 yr old granddaughter thought this was the best activity on our vacation!

· Antonio_V ·

May 2026

To quote my girlfriend, “better than See’s Candies.”. Very fun activity!m and delicious chocolate! Owners/Guides are very helpful, kind, and friendly!

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Overview

Santa Barbara is known for its artisan food scene, including its bean-to-bar chocolate offerings—but while anyone can visit the city and pick up a sweet treat, it takes insider knowledge to craft authentic chocolates. On this 1.5-hour workshop, fill a box with your own handmade vegan, gluten-free goodies. Then, put your art skills to the test as you decorate from dozens of toppings, from candied ginger to pretzel sticks.

Choice of midday and afternoon start times for easy, hassle-free scheduling
Smaller group—never more than 20—ensures a less hectic feel and more relaxed pace
BYOB: Glasses and bottle openers are on hand in case you’d like to bring drinks
At under a couple of hours long, this tour slots perfectly into packed itineraries

Sample Menu

Dessert

Chilled Cacao Husk Tea

What's Included

Chocolate Samples
10 oz. of fluid Chocolate (60% Dark, Oat Milk, & a white craft choclate
Lots of Art Supplies at The Art Bar
Coffee and/or Tea

Hot or Cold Cacao Husk tea
A variety of wooden Box styles to choose from.
40 different Toppings to drop into fluid chocolate

Any Extra pre-packaged Shop Chocolate that you'd like to purchase separately (optional)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Menchaca Chocolates
4141 State St E-1, Santa Barbara, CA 93110, USA
Once you've entered El Mercado, go half way in and we are on the lower level to the right. In the corner and slightly under ground!!

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

shaninei

We had such a wonderful time at this shop! Three of us ladies came for a friends’ outing, and it was the perfect experience from start to finish. We each got to make our own set of three chocolate bars, choosing from four types of chocolate and mixing in our favorite additions like nuts, dried fruit, and spices. It was so much fun to get creative and customize each bar. Afterward, we decorated the small box that would hold our chocolates, and the shop had an incredible variety of supplies to choose from—inks, acrylic paint pens, gel pens, stamps, stencils, washi tape, wood cutouts, and more. It really brought out everyone’s creativity, and we loved making our boxes as unique as our chocolates. Aprons were provided, which made it easy to relax and dive into the fun, and the owners were absolutely delightful—so welcoming, helpful, and kind. We truly enjoyed every minute of this experience and would highly recommend it for a girls’ day out or any creative outing with friends!

Reviews

4.6

based on 50 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Sort by: Most recent

Great Experience!

Daniel_R, Aug 2026

Fun experience to do with any number of people. The staff and owners were gracious and welcoming. Art class meet chocolate making...

Chocolate with Surprise

Barbara_K, Aug 2026

Making chocolate

Scott_J, Jul 2026

Fun, crafty event. Good time for couples. Small kids might struggle with the activity. A good way to spend a couple hours.

Better than See’s Candies

Antonio_V, May 2026

To quote my girlfriend, “better than See’s Candies.”. Very fun activity!m and delicious chocolate! Owners/Guides are very helpful, kind, and friendly!

This place is so much...

Sara_D, Apr 2026

This place is so much fun. People are nice, helpful and fun. I would recommend it to any group of people.

A Must Do in Santa Barbara!

Catherine_E, Mar 2026

This was an amazing family activity along our California road trip! The owners were adorable, and so wonderful to chat with. We had fun painting our boxes with the variety of art supplies, and had fun tasting and making the chocolate bars. It was a memory we will all cherish, and one of our highlights along our Spring Break Road Trip! Please go if you’re in the area, we left with smiles on our face and hearts full!

Disappointed

Elizabeth_M, Feb 2026

This is not a chocolate making class. You don’t actually get any instructions about th chocolate making process. This is an elementary school art class, decorating cheap wooden boxes, with paint markers, (the kind you get at Michael’s). The only portion of this class the involves you in the chocolate process is sprinkling topping on top of melted chocolate that the shop has melted, and poured for you into molds. Save your $. Don’t take this class.

Fun activity

Gabriela_P, Oct 2025

We had a great time! Decorating our boxes plus trying different chocolates and being able to make ours was super fun! Everyone was super friendly!

Discover Yourself

Christa_W, Oct 2025

It is not a tour. It is an interactive art experience & chocolate 🍫 bar making. Therapeutic & FUN!!!

Sweet outing with friends

shaninei, Sept 2025

Date with the wife

David_g, Sept 2025

Wonderful time. The host were very welcoming. They had all the essentials and the candy bars were so yummy.

A Perfect Outing!

Rachel_P, Aug 2025

Menchaca Chocolates is an absolute treat! What an original and fun way to combine arts and crafts with gourmet chocolate. We were impressed with the variety of chocolate, delicious toppings and darling boxes to decorate and personalize. It was a perfect way to surprise my best friend with an unexpected birthday experience. Loved it. We will definitely come back and bring our grandkids!!!

Even better than I...

Deanna_K, Aug 2025

Even better than I anticipated and the people running it are fabulous. My friend and I had a lovely time.

Girls trip

Trenece_T, Aug 2025

We were celebrating a birthday for one of my friends. It was six of us and we had the most magnificent time. I would recommend this to anyone who’s in the Santa Barbara area very relaxing, and fun.

So much fun. Chocolate...

Laura_O, Jul 2025

So much fun. Chocolate was soooo yummy. Decorating & painting both chocolate & wooden boxes made each one special. Loved this Bday gift from my Sis❤️

Great activity with my teenage granddaughter

Cindy_W, Jul 2025

Wonderful activity with my 14-year-old granddaughter. Everyone was friendly and accommodating, and we just had a great time!

Awesome and unique experience!! A must!!

Janet_K, Jun 2025

What an awesome, unique, and fun experience my girls and I had!! We just thought we’d be making chocolate but you do an arts and craft thing beforehand…ours was designing boxes. When making the chocolate, you choose your ingredients/toppings and then wait for 15 minutes until ready. The final step is wrapping the three pieces of chocolate in pretty foil. The husband and wife owners are so helpful, friendly, funny, and kind. I’d definitely recommend this experience and would totally return!!

This class was a fun and...

susannah_c, Jun 2025

This class was a fun and unique way to spend the afternoon in Santa Barbara! There is plenty of parking and a cute Mexican restaurant in the same complex if you want to get something to eat before or after class.

Yummy experience

Holly_P, May 2025

Very chill experience. It wasn’t a “factory” tour just a 15 minute chocolate selection and the ability to create delectable candy. Wonderful couple who run it. The boxes you paint for the candy bars are worth $1-2 and they charge $50-$78 which is a huge rip off. My husband’s box had the price tag of $1.25. Fun experience and yummy candy but highly overpriced for the experience. We still love to support small business and hope you would also stop in for the yummy candy.

Not as expected

Laura_T, May 2025

We thought there was a “tour” to see how the chocolate was made. Did not know we would be doing an art project but it was fun.

Chocolate Making Arts & Crafts!

Maggie_R, May 2025

My husband and I had creating different types of chocolate bars and decorating boxes for them for a fun anniversary activity!

Fun But Expensive

Stephanie_C, Apr 2025

We had fun doing this experience, and the owners were very nice. The options to put in the chocolate were plentiful and you are able to sample the chocolate available for your creation. Please note, though, that you do not get a 14 ounce wooden tile tray. Instead, you have the option of decorating a small wooden box that holds 3 square pcs of chocolate or 2 wrappers that will each hold a bar of chocolate. You get a little more chocolate with the bars. There was no factory tour as well. You go into the shop and the kitchen is right there where you decorate your bars. I gave this a three star because my kids enjoyed making their personal chocolate bars and the owners were kind. But this is an overpriced activity. I do not feel I received the value that I spent which was almost $300 for five people. At best this activity should be half the cost.

Fun experience

dgamez38, Mar 2025

The owners were nice and the chocolate was good. After speaking with the owners I think sharing the story behind the chocolate-making process and the meaning of the logo can create a deeper connection with customers. It can make the experience more memorable and personal.

Great experience. Will probably try it again.

Edwin_R, Mar 2025

A nice place to experience something different. Owners are great and very helpful. Make you feel at home.

This was such a fun...

Teresina_H, Mar 2025

This was such a fun activity and experience! The owners are so nice and welcoming and very intuitive of the chocolates so many to choose from and very delicious. You don’t have to be creative but definitely open minded on your designs she has so many to choose from love every bit of it!

Fun 1-1.5 hour activity for family or date

Richa_N, Jan 2025

My family and I had a great time decorating boxes and a bar of chocolate. Had a great time! Would be a cute place for a date too.

So much fun!!!

Nakia_H, Jan 2025

This was so much fun. However, there wasn’t a tour. But rather, adding inclusions(dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, cookies, and a variety of salts and spices) to freshly poured chocolate. And all three of their varieties were delicious. Even the dark chocolate which is typically a bit bitter for me. Theirs was perfect. And the strawberry white chocolate was my favorite. We were able to decorate a box to keep our chocolate in. So much fun. My teens were very much engaged. This made my birthday weekend. Oh and the family loved their hot chocolate too.

Wonderful way to wrap up our vacation!

Lynn, Jan 2025

For reasons that I didn't completely anticipate, this ended up being a wonderful way to wrap up our trip to the Santa Barbara area. The making of the chocolate bark/bars was a fine but small part of this experience (it took probably 4 minutes in total to choose and place my desired toppings on my four bars of melted chocolate). Since this is a small chocolate-making establishment, there is no "tour" per se. The fun part for our family was spending well over an hour decorating our various wooden chocolate boxes (the melted chocolate cools inside while you decorate your box outside). The art supplies were amazing - and inspired significant creativity from my family members (three adult children ages 22, 24, and 26, my husband, and me). Ink pads/stamps, paint markers, ink markers, stencils, etc. provided a ton of options to personalize each person's box. There are multiple high-top tables outside in front of the shop (in the shade) and you have all the time you need to decorate to your heart's content. Customers of all ages were clearly having fun working on their boxes - it was endearing to see everyone so engaged in creating their own little masterpieces! We are enjoying the chocolate and I love that the boxes will serve as a lasting reminder of our wonderful vacation!

Do It !

Rebecca_G, Dec 2024

This was a delight. I let out my creative outlet creating a box, added fruit to my dark chocolate, and am proud of how it all turned out. I would highly recommend this and hope to encourage our chocolate maker in my town to do this too!