South Carolina Chocolate Shop Named One Of The Best

A South Carolina chocolate shop was recently named one of the best in the country, according to USA Today's 10Best.  The top 10 best chocolate shops across the United States are voted on by USA Today's readers.

There are many independent chocolate shops throughout the country, and they all seem to have their signature items.  Some of the shops are known for creative combinations with chocolate, truffles, chocolate-covered fruit, and more.

Two North Carolina chocolate shops made the top 10 list.  But the one South Carolina chocolate shop that made the list beat both of those and came in at number 3.

Coming in at number 3 out of 10: Larue Fine Chocolate in Greenville, South Carolina.  It's about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive from the Augusta area. According to USA Today's 10Best, the chocolatier, Elizabeth Logan McDaniel, creates specialty truffles with "fun names and refined flavor infusions."

Some of the specialty truffles include Sweet Kentucky, which is dark chocolate with a salty and tipsy caramel.  There's also the Dora Larue with peanut butter and graham cracker crunch all covered in milk chocolate.

Larue Fine Chocolate sells McDaniel's creations, but according to their website, they are "so much more than just a chocolate shop."  They have craft cocktails, a hand selected wine list, a small beer selection, small plates and sandwiches, and more.

Address: 556 Perry Avenue, B115, Greenville, SC

The two North Carolina shops came in at number 9 and 10.  At number 9, you have Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, North Carolina.  They do public tours and sell signature chocolate bars.  And they also have frozen drinks and milkshakes.

Address: 327 West Davie Street, Raleigh, NC

At number 10, there's French Broad Chocolate in Asheville, North Carolina. This is a "bean-to-bar" chocolate maker.  They source cacao from trusted farmers. In addition they have tours and tastings at the Cafe and Factory. And you can enjoy bonbons, various cakes, ice cream, brownies, cookies, and beverages.

Address: 10 S. Pack Square, Asheville, NC

Chocolate comes in so many various forms.  And these chocolate shops have definitely earned strong reputations for their unique, creative items.  Perhaps you should add them to your travel itinerary this summer to sample some of these delectible treats!

What are the CSRA's favorite chocolate bars? We found out today with The Friday Five. It's World Chocolate Day, so I figured this was the perfect tie-in. There are so many different choices out there. Which ones are the most popular here in Georgia and South Carolina? As always, y'all helped us put this list together.

I have been a fan of chocolate ever since I was a little kid. And while I'll pretty much try any chocolate, I do have my favorites. Cody did as well. We started the list with our picks. Cody's were Snickers with almonds and Hershey's with almonds, do you catch a pattern with her picks? I couldn't pick a winner, for me, it's between KitKats and Twix. I love them both evenly.

So what would y'all pick? We took your phone calls and Facebook comments all morning long. If you'd like to see all of the Facebook comments, just click here.

These are some of the honorable mentions of the best chocolate bars.

Those are some of the ones that didn't make the official list. One thing I can say, is there weren't really any surprises with the list this morning. All of the chocolate bars you would expect to make the list pretty much did.

So what are the CSRA's favorite chocolate bars? Check out this week's Friday Five Top 5 list to find out.

This was one of my picks, and it was number one on the list! I love Twix because its like you're getting two chocolate bars for the price of one.

This would for sure be my wife's pick! She loves a Milky Way, and apparently so do a lot of y'all out there in the CSRA.

I haven't had a 3 Musketeers in forever, but when people brought up the "fluffy chocolate" on the inside of one earlier this morning, it kinda made me want one!

While the regular Hershey bar did get some votes, it didn't get as many votes as the Hershey with almonds bar got. This was Cody's first pick, she was happy it made the top five!

I mean I don't guess it's a chocolate bar, it's more of a chocolate circle, but its solid chocolate, and it got a lot of votes so I'm including it on the list. I could eat my weight in Reese's peanut butter cup.